Bsb111 | Business Law | Assessment Answers
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 (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/04/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-user-privacy- issues-my-mistake.html)
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 third- party 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.
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-personality- cambridge-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 pre- planned 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.
Answer:
Case Study One: Facebook Data Breach
a. Utilitarianism theory
The Utilitarianism theory focuses on the consequences of a situation while evaluating the morality of the situation. It is a part of normative ethics, and it evaluates the consequences rather than actions. Based on this theory, the actions are not immoral or unethical themselves, instead, the consequences of such actions affect the morality of the situation (Milner & Browitt, 2013).
The elements of this theory are that happiness of each individual is equally. The theory focuses on the happiness of a larger number of people rather than only few. Another element of the theory is that actions which lead to the happiness of a large number of people are ethical even if they are considered as unethical (Mulgan, 2014).
Based on implementing this theory in the case of ‘Facebook Data Breach’, three key stakeholders can be identified. In order to evaluate whether the decision of Facebook to use the clients’ information is moral or not, it is important to analyse both positive and negative implications face by the stakeholders. The first stakeholder is Mark Zuckerberg who is responsible for taking the decision to use the information of clients for the benefit of the company. The positive impact face by him is that this decision will increase the profitability of Facebook which will result in increasing his income as well. The negative impact is that his reputation will adversely affect by this decision of using the private data of clients. The second stakeholder is Facebook; the company will face positive consequences because the number of organisations who wanted to use the website to advertise their products will increase. Based on using such information, the company will be able to target users based on their preferences which will increase the number of advertisers. On the other hand, people might leave the platform after they found out that the company is using their private information to show them advertisements. Final stakeholder is the public who uses Facebook; their personal information will be used by the company to show them relevant advertisement which will improve their experience. However, the negative consequence is that private data of millions of people can be leaked and used incorrectly for the wrong purpose. A good example is the 2016 US Presidential elections in which data of Facebook users was used for finding potential votes (Castillo, 2018). Thus, a greater number of people will be unhappy with this decision, thus, it is immoral for Facebook to use their private data of its customers.
b. Kantian Deontology Theory
This theory is part of normative ethical theories which judges a situated based on the actions rather than consequences. The theory provides that actions which are immoral are unethical even if they have favorable consequences (Dierksmeier, 2013).
The elements of this theory include that morality cannot be achieved based on breaching of duties. The theory provides that consistent ethical behaviour is that key to achieving a positive outcome without which an ethical framework cannot be established in the country.
The maxim of this case is that ‘the objective of Facebook to improve its customers’ experience by using their own data rather than breaching their privacy’. The stakeholders, in this case, include Zuckerberg, Facebook, and people who use Facebook. Individuals who make account on Facebook choose to share their private information with the platform. The terms and conditions of the agreement provide that the company can use their data which is shared by its users for different purposes. While using the data of customers, Facebook is not breaching any law. Furthermore, the objective of the company is to improve the experience of its customers for their own benefits. Thus, the decision to use personal data of clients is not immoral based on Kantian Deontology Theory.
Case Study Two: CEO Traits
a. Virtue Ethics
The virtue ethics theory focuses on the characteristics and traits of a person to judge the morality of a situation. The theory focuses on different attributes of a person to identify whether the decisions taken by him are moral or immoral (Hackett & Wang, 2012). The elements of this theory provide that characteristics such as kindness, generosity, gratitude, discipline, and others are good habits and decisions taken by such person are focused towards morality.
In this case, the aspects given by Aristotle can be applied in order to identify whether the actions of Mark Zuckerberg are moral. The aspects which apply in this case include (a) function, (b) developing the virtues and (c) goals and the good, virtues (Yu, 2013). The characteristics and virtues of a person are developed throughout his life based on factors such as life experiences, continuous practice, and learning.
The Aristotle’s approach can be used to identify the virtues of Zuckerberg in order to determine whether the actions taken by him are ethical or unethical. Firstly, Zuckerberg has various positive virtues such as courage, humility, fairness, honesty, creativity, curiosity and others. These virtues have a positive impact on his character. On the other hand, his emotionless attitude, introversion, insecurity, and insensitivity reflect negatively on his character. In the case, Zuckerberg admitted the mistake of Facebook, and he told before that jury that only he is liable for such incident. It shows courage and honesty from his part because he accepted in front of everyone that he is the person who started Facebook, and he is responsible for taking its decisions which shows good virtues approach of Aristotle (Hamill, 2018). Thus, he is responsible for the fact that Facebook failed to keep its users’ data secure. On the other hand, it was given in the news story that he might have used a booster to increase his height which shows insecurity on his part. Moreover, while answering questions regarding the leak of data, he was giving answers in an emotionless way which shows her insecurity. However, Zuckerberg also admitted that he would improve the policies of Facebook to ensure that incident such as this does not repeat in the future which shows that function approach of Aristotle. He told that jury that Facebook has already started the process of improving its security infrastructure, and he personally held himself liable which shows developing the virtues approach.
b. Theory of Moral development
This theory is developed by Lawrence Kohlberg, and the theory provides that the morality of a person is developed from the early childhood. Kohlberg argued that there are six stages based on which moral principles are developed in humans (Gibbs, 2013).
The two stages which apply in this case include social system perspective and contractual perspective. Firstly, Zuckerberg has always wanted to create a platform through which people can connect and share with each other across the globe which shows her social systems perspective. Furthermore, Zuckerberg recognised that this platform could be used to increase welfare for his and other parties as well. In college, he created a website to rate women based on their attractiveness which shows bling egoism stage, however, Zuckerberg has passed more passed it (Hamill, 2018). For example, he has donated 99 percent of his shares in Facebook to charity, and he engages in initiated to help underdeveloped countries (Goel & Wingfield, 2015). Thus, it shows that Zuckerberg has a moral character, and he wanted to help a large number of individuals.
References
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
Dierksmeier, C. (2013). Kant on virtue. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(4), 597-609.
Gibbs, J. C. (2013). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Goel, V. & Wingfield, N. (2015) Mark Zuckerberg Vows to Donate 99% of His Facebook Shares for Charity. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/technology/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-charity.html
Hackett, R. D., & Wang, G. (2012). Virtues and leadership: An integrating conceptual framework founded in Aristotelian and Confucian perspectives on virtues. Management Decision, 50(5), 868-899.
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/
Milner, A., & Browitt, J. (2013). Contemporary cultural theory: An introduction. Abingdon: Routledge.
Mulgan, T. (2014). Understanding utilitarianism. Abingdon: Routledge.
Yu, J. (2013). The ethics of Confucius and Aristotle: Mirrors of virtue. Abingdon: Routledge.
Buy Bsb111 | Business Law | Assessment Answers Online
Talk to our expert to get the help with Bsb111 | Business Law | Assessment Answers to complete your assessment on time and boost your grades now
The main aim/motive of the management assignment help services is to get connect with a greater number of students, and effectively help, and support them in getting completing their assignments the students also get find this a wonderful opportunity where they could effectively learn more about their topics, as the experts also have the best team members with them in which all the members effectively support each other to get complete their diploma assignments. They complete the assessments of the students in an appropriate manner and deliver them back to the students before the due date of the assignment so that the students could timely submit this, and can score higher marks. The experts of the assignment help services at urgenthomework.com are so much skilled, capable, talented, and experienced in their field of programming homework help writing assignments, so, for this, they can effectively write the best economics assignment help services.
