BSB111 Business Law and Ethics | Case Study of Facebook Data Breach
Case Study ONE: Facebook Data Breach
Adapted from “Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: 'I'm responsible for what happened' with data privacy issues”, CNBC, April 4, 2018
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took personal responsibility for letting malicious parties have access to user data. The company will embark on a three-year push to prevent these issues from happening in the future, but expects the process to take years.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking personal responsibility for letting third parties access Facebook user data without permission, and says the company will embark on a three-year push to prevent it from happening in the future. "I started this place, I run it," Zuckerberg said during a call with reporters on Wednesday. "I'm responsible for what happened here."
No one has been fired at Facebook due to the Cambridge Analytica data leak scandal, he revealed. But he admitted the company did not do enough to focus on preventing abuse and minimized the impact of its platforms, calling the lack of action "a huge mistake, my mistake." He added, "I'm going to do the best job running it going forward, but I'm not going to throw anyone under the bus."
Facebook has been under heavy scrutiny over its use of user data, especially after evidence of Russian interference through advertising during the 2016 U.S. presidential election was discovered. In March, The Guardian and the New York Times reported consulting firm Cambridge Analytica used personal data which was obtained improperly through a quiz app to find potential President Donald Trump voters.
The process to safeguard Facebook is a multi-year effort, Zuckerberg said adding the company will focus on a three-year push but is committed to on-going work. While it may incrementally get better over time, Zuckerberg doesn't expect it will be fixed anytime soon "given how complex Facebook is and how many systems there are and how we have to rethink our relationship with people."
Facebook has 15,000 people working on security and reviewing content, and will have 20,000 by the end of the year, Zuckerberg said.
'We're never going to sell your information'
He also emphasized that Facebook does not sell the information it gathers about users, although it may use that information to help advertisers target ads more effectively. "I think we need to do a better job of explaining the principles of what we operate under," he said regarding users understanding that they chose to share profile content with friends. "We're never going to sell your information."
It makes no sense for Facebook to broker user information to advertisers, he emphasized. Allowing thirdparty data services to help advertisers target users was a "relatively smaller part of what we are doing." "The way we run the service: People share info," Zuckerberg said. "We use that to help people connect. We run ads to make it a free service everyone in the world can afford."
Multiple journalists asked Zuckerberg whether he would continue to stay in a leadership position at the company. One asked [if] the board has asked him to step down as chairman. "Not that I'm aware of," Zuckerberg said. Awkward silence ensued.
(a) Imagine you are Mark Zuckerberg and an employee comes to you claiming the company’s digital system, including client files, would be profitable for the company. You have to decide whether your company should engage in the deal to share information from the server pertaining to client information. Using Utilitarianism, determine whether engaging in this business decision is a moral act.
(b) Now apply Kantian deontological ethics to the decision in (a) and evaluate the issues raised in the article. (6 marks)
Case Study TWO: CEO Traits
Adapted from “What Mark Zuckerberg revealed about his personality during historic Senate hearing”, Metro UK, April 11, 2018 (https://metro.co.uk/2018/04/11/mark-zuckerberg-revealed-personalitycambridge-analytica-hearing-7457656/)
Mark Zuckerberg is often painted as an enigmatic introvert who gives little of his true character. So yesterday’s Congress hearing was a rare opportunity to get to see the ‘real’ Zuck. Normally, the Facebook founder appears at tightly stage-managed events where he’s asked relatively easy questions.
At one ‘Townhall’ Q&A he answered queries by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Professor Stephen Hawking, which are unlikely to have surprised him all that much. It’s likely Zuckerberg was training as hard as a marathon runner before the hearing, which was intended to discuss privacy and the Cambridge Analytica but touched on everything from tech addiction to Facebook’s ‘arms race’ against Russian propagandists.
During some five hours of Senate questioning Tuesday, Zuckerberg apologized several times for Facebook failure. He batted away often-aggressive questioning from lawmakers who accused him of failing to protect the personal information of millions of Americans from Russians intent on upsetting the US election. He appeared with a long set of notes and had also clearly anticipated most of the questions he was going to be asked. But although he didn’t give much away and escaped the hearing without revealing anything which would bring down Facebook, the trial was a fascinating chance to learn a bit more about the billionaire. Here are some of the things we learned about Mark Zuckerberg when we watched the Congress hearing last night.
The surprise guest at yesterday’s hearing was Zuckerberg’s personality, which unexpectedly gate-crashed the party after he got over the initial shock of his dramatic entrance. At times, he actually appeared rather warm and even sincere, particularly when discussing the well-being of the Facebook ‘community’ of users. When the boyish billionaire walked in, he appeared almost shell-shocked as he faced dozens of flashing cameras. But when he began to answer questions, the appeared to relax and even congratulated himself at one point, saying: ‘That was pretty good.’ He did get very nervous at several points throughout the interview, stumbling a bit when talking about allegations that his firm ‘tips the scales’ towards the political left when making decisions about which content should be promoted, censored or banned on the platform. He also seemed evasive when talking about Palantir, which Senator Maria Cantell likened to a ‘Stanford Analytica’ based in the US.
Zuck replied with terse statements like ‘Senator, I do not know’ or ‘Senator, I have not heard that’, before insisting Palantir had not ‘scraped’ data from Facebook. During these moments of pressure, we got a look at Zuck’s more robotic side as he emotionlessly delivered his answers.
Although the Facebook CEO did admit that Silicon Valley was an ‘extremely left-leaning place’, he stopped short of explicitly stating his own political beliefs. Texas Senator Ted Cruz asked him if the social network ‘engaged in a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship’. Zuckerberg said he could ‘understand where the concern is coming from because Facebook and the tech industry are located in Silicon Valley’. ‘This is actually a concern that I have and that I try to root out in the company, is making sure that we do not have any bias in the work that we do, and I think it is a fair concern that people would at least wonder about,’ Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg mentioned the college dorm room where he launched Facebook several times throughout the hearing. The humble beginnings of the social network are a key part of its corporate narrative, although the fact it was started as a way of rating the attractiveness of women is often pushed to one side. The fact Zuck mentions this so often could mean he’s nostalgic for the naive years of Facebook’s genesis, when appearing in front of a panel of Senators would have seemed like a remote possibility. It may also have been a preplanned move designed to make him appear more human at the hearing.
At two points during yesterday’s hearing, Zuck wanted to get on with the questioning and not take a break. The hearing went on for almost two hours before Zuckerberg was offered a chance to halt for a few minutes. ‘You can do a few more,’ he said. ‘You want to keep going?’ Senator Thune replied. ‘Maybe 15 minutes. Does that work?’ was Zuck’s response Zuck then powered on before trying to work through another break. When asked if he wanted to take more questions later rather than a break, he said: ‘That was pretty good. So alright.’
The tech tycoon made the hearing laugh on at least two occasions – although they may have been giggling at him, rather than with him – and even joined in from time to time. When Senator Sullivan suggested his journey from ‘dorm room to global behemoth’ could only happen in America, Mark instead praised Chinese tech companies and said: ‘Senator, mostly in America.’ ‘You’re supposed to answer yes,’ Sullivan replied. ‘I’m trying to help you.’ He also smiled when Senator Kennedy greeted him by saying: ‘I come in peace.’ Zuck didn’t exactly have the audience rolling in their seats and didn’t really crack many out and out jokes. He drew laughter when asked if Facebook was a monopoly, to which he replies: ‘It doesn’t feel like that to me.’
Mark Zuckerberg appeared to have taken his booster seat into the hearing, which may be linked to the fact he’s only 5’7″ tall. He sat on the cushion throughout proceedings to give his height a bit of a boost. It appeared to be at least six inches tall.
As far as we know, the Facebook founder did not carry the cushion in with him, meaning that one of his minions probably placed it there before the hearing began. This could mean it does not reflect his insecurity and was put there on the advice of one of his team. There are many practical and psychological reasons why a few more inches would be useful, which means the booster could have been put there on the advice of experts rather than on the orders of a pint-sized tech titan worried everyone would laugh at his tininess. It’s impossible to say for sure, so we’ll leave it up to you to decide.
(a) Describe how virtue ethics can be applied to this case. (10 marks)
(b) Describe how Kohlberg’s theory of moral development can be applied to this case. (6 marks)
Answer:
Case Study 1-Facebook Data Breach
Utilitarianism theory
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory, and it is one of the most influential moral theories. The theory focuses on the consequences of a situation to evaluate its rightness or wrongness. It provides that effect of actions and the good or bad results which they produce are relevant rather than the actions themselves (Hayry, 2013). The elements of the theory are that greater good for a greater number of people should be the ultimate goal of an action, and everyone’s happiness is equal. Based on this theory, the decision of Facebook to use clients’ private files is morally wrong. Stakeholders, in this case, include Facebook, users and the government. The positive consequence for Facebook is that the use of client files would enable it to show relevant advertisements to them which would be beneficial for the company. On the other hand, the positive consequence for users is that they will only watch advertisement based on their interest which would not disrupt their content.
Based on such data, the corporation can improve its performance by finding new ways to interact with their users which would benefit them in the long run. Similarly, the positive consequence for the government is that the data can be used by various governmental authorities to conduct research or other official purposes. However, this decision will also have a substantial negative impact which would result in adversely affecting a large number of people. Firstly, based on this decision, Facebook is breaching people’s privacy since they did not read the terms and conditions, and data is collected by the company without their knowledge. Similarly, data can be accessed by malicious people or organisations which could misuse such data to gain an unfair advantage which would negatively affect the users of Facebook. A good example is the 2016 US presidential elections in which Cambridge Analytica used the data from Facebook to influence the decision of voters (Castillo, 2018). Along with Facebook and users, the government will suffer negative consequences as well due to breach of its data. It shows that the consequences of this decision could result in negatively affecting a large number of people based on which it is morally wrong.
Deontological theory
Kantian Deontological ethics theory is a normative ethical theory. The theory judges the morality of a situation based on the action of the parties. Unlike Utilitarianism theory, the deontological theory judges a situation based on the actions of the parties rather than its consequences (Paquette, Sommerfeldt & Kent, 2015). Its elements are that actions which are negative but have positive consequences are wrong as well as per this theory. The maxim, in this case, is that Facebook wanted to increase its profits and experience of its users without breaching any regulations. The stakeholders are same as above. Based on this theory, the decision of Facebook to use client files for increasing the profits of the company is moral since it would benefit the company and its users. Based on this decision, the corporation is not breaching any laws since it has the permission to use the data of its users. Furthermore, it would result in substantially increasing the profits of the enterprise which would benefit its stakeholders. On the other hand, clients will only see advertisements and get recommendations which are based on their interest which would improve their user experience while using Facebook. The government organisations will also benefit from this decision since they will collect the data of millions of users through Facebook. Based on these factors, the decision taken by Facebook is a moral act.
Case Study 2-CEO Traits
Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics theory is a part of normative ethical theories, and it focuses on characteristics such as mind and character. The theory focuses on the person rather than actions in order to evaluate the virtue or moral character of the person carrying on the action (Van Hooft, 2014). The aspects of Aristotle approach which applies, in this case, include flourishing, virtues (or excellences and developing the virtues. The element of this theory is that it did not focus on ethical duty or rule or the consequences of the action, instead, it focuses on the sort of quality and behaviours which a good person seeks to achieve. The theory provides that virtues are developed in a person’s life through learning, practice and experiences. This theory applies to the situation based on the character and virtues of Mark Zuckerberg to evaluate the way he handled the whole situation. The theory asks how a person can be a better person and it focuses on qualities that make a person good. Virtues of Zuckerberg include compassion, humility, and bravery. For example, he clearly specified in the hearing that he is the only one who is responsible for this incident which shows his bravery and humility. He provided that he started the company, and he is responsible for ensuring that its users are not getting adversely affected by its actions based on which he is compassioned.
He did not blame others for the actions of the company, and he took all the responsibility which shows that he has a good character. Many times in the hearing, Zuckerberg was nervous which was clearly shown on his face, however, it was also seen that he had a robotic, emotionless side when he was given some answers. It can be said that he is not really affected by the whole incident, and he did not really care that the company failed to maintain the security of its users. Virtues of Zuckerberg have developed through his experience in lifestyle and his vision to connect the whole world through Facebook. The decision of adding booster on the seat was also not a good decision; however, it was not proved that it was Zuckerberg who asked to put such booster (Hamill, 2018). Overall his decision to face all the charges and blames by himself and taking initiatives to resolve the problem proves that he has a good character, and he wanted to help a large number of people across the globe.
Theory of Moral development
This theory was introduced by Lawrence Kohlberg which provides that morality begins in the early childhood of a persona and it is affected by a number of factors. The theory provides that morality of a person can be developed either negatively or positively based on the fact that how a person completes a task during each stage of moral development throughout his life (Gibbs, 2013). The stages of Kohlberg’s theory which applies to this case include social contract orientation and universal ethical principal orientation. The decision of Zuckerberg to start a website which rates the attractiveness of women is considered an immoral act. However, Zuckerberg has since improved himself for his wife and daughters. Based on the social contract orientation stage, he is focusing on connecting the world through Facebook to make it a better place. Furthermore, he has displayed factors of universal ethical principal orientation stage by involving in various charity foundations and focusing on making the world a better place. For example, he and his wife have pleaded to donate 99 percent of their Facebook share in charity for human advancement, and it is one of the world’s largest pledges (Brandom, 2015). It shows that Zuckerberg has developed morally, and he is focusing on rectifying his mistakes and contributes to the benefit of the world.
References
Brandom, R. (2015). Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to donate 99 percent of their Facebook fortune. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/1/9831554/mark-zuckerberg-charity-45-billion
Castillo, M. (2018). Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: 'I'm responsible for what happened' with data privacy issues. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/04/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-user-privacy-issues-my-mistake.html
Gibbs, J. C. (2013). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hamill, J. (2018). What Mark Zuckerberg revealed about his personality during historic Senate hearing. Retrieved from https://metro.co.uk/2018/04/11/mark-zuckerberg-revealed-personality-cambridge-analytica-hearing-7457656/
Hayry, M. (2013). Liberal utilitarianism and applied ethics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Paquette, M., Sommerfeldt, E. J., & Kent, M. L. (2015). Do the ends justify the means? Dialogue, development communication, and deontological ethics. Public Relations Review, 41(1), 30-39.
Van Hooft, S. (2014). Understanding virtue ethics. Abingdon: Routledge.
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