Question

Intelectual Property Rights and Computer Technology
“Over the course of less than a decade, Facebook has morphed from a small, niche networking site
for
mostly Ivy League college students into a publicly traded company with a market worth of $148 billion
in
2014 (up from $59 billion in 2013). Facebook boasts that it is free to join and always will be, so
where’s
the money coming from to service 1 billion worldwide subscribers? Just like its fellow tech titan and
rival
Google, Facebook’s revenue comes almost entirely from advertising. Facebook does not have a
diverse
array of hot new gadgets, a countrywide network of brick-and-mortar retail outlets, or a full inventory
of
software for sale; instead, it has your personal information, and the information of hundreds of
millions
of others with Facebook accounts. Facebook’s goal is to serve advertisements that are more relevant
to
you than anywhere else on the Web, but the personal information they gather about you both with
and
without your consent can also be used against you in other ways. Facebook has a diverse array of
compelling and useful features. Facebook allows active-duty soldiers to stay in touch with their
families; it
gives smaller companies a chance to further their e-commerce efforts and larger companies a chance
to
solidify their brands; and, perhaps most obviously, Facebook allows you to more easily keep in touch
with
your friends. These are the reasons why so many people are on Facebook. However, Facebook’s goal
is
to get its users to share as much data as possible, because the more Facebook knows about you, the
more
accurately it can serve relevant advertisements to you. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg often says
that
people want the world to be more open and connected. It’s unclear whether that is truly the case,
but it is
certainly true that Facebook wants the world to be more open and connected, because it stands to
make
more money in that world. Critics of Facebook are concerned that the existence of a repository of
personal
data of the size that Facebook has amassed requires protections and privacy controls that extend far
beyond those that Facebook currently offers. Facebook wanting to make more money is not a bad
thing,
but the company has a checkered past of privacy violations and missteps that raise doubts about
whether
it should be responsible for the personal data of hundreds of millions of people. There are no laws in
the
BN201 - Professional Issues of IT - Final Assessment Trimester 2, 2020
Page 7 of 10
United States that give consumers the right to know what data companies like Facebook have
compiled.
You can challenge information in credit reports, but you can’t even see what data Facebook has
gathered
about you, let alone try to change it. It’s different in Europe: you can request Facebook to turn over
a
report of all the information it has about you. More than ever, your every move, every click, on social
networks is being used by outside entities to assess your interests, and behavior, and then pitch you
an ad
based on this knowledge. Law enforcement agencies use social networks to gather evidence on tax
evaders,
and other criminals; employers use social networks to make decisions about prospective candidates
for
jobs; and data aggregators are gathering as much information about you as they can sell to the
highest
bidder. Facebook user’s friends are not notified if information about them is collected by that user’s
applications. Many of Facebook’s features and services are enabled by default when they are
launched
without notifying users. And a study by Siegel+Gale found that Facebook’s privacy policy is more
difficult
to comprehend than government notices or typical bank credit card agreements, which are
notoriously
dense. Next time you visit Facebook, click on Privacy Settings, and see if you can understand your
options.
Facebook’s value and growth potential is determined by how effectively it can leverage the personal
data
it aggregated about its users to attract advertisers. Facebook also stands to gain from managing and
avoiding the privacy concerns raised by its users and government regulators. For Facebook users that
value
the privacy of their personal data, this situation appears grim. But there are some signs that Facebook
might become more responsible with its data collection processes, whether by its own volition or
because
it is forced to do so. As a publicly traded company, Facebook now invites more scrutiny from investors
and regulators because, unlike in the past, their balance sheets, assets, and financial reporting
documents
are readily available.
[Source: Brookshear. ICT Services Management (Custom Edition EBook), Pearson Education Australia,
2015. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.]
BN201 - Professional Issues of IT - Final Assessment Trimester 2, 2020
Page 8 of 10
Please answer the following questions:
1. Explain the ethical dilemma presented by the above case. [3 Marks]
2. Describe the weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies and features. [3 Marks]
3. Explain the management, organisation, and technology factors that have contributed to those
weaknesses?
[2 Marks]
4. Will Facebook be able to have a successful business model without invading privacy? Explain
your answer. [2 Marks]

Answer 1

1.

The ethical dilemma presented by the above case encompasses around the use of personal information of hundreds of millions of users comfortably by Facebook for providing relevant ads which in turn is increasing the revenue of the publicly traded company itself with or without the consent of the user.Facebook utilizes profoundly explicit details, for example, relationship status, area, business status and other segment data, just as clients online action to build up an unbelievably exact image of your life. The motivation behind Facebook doing so is to serve more significant ads to the clients than anyplace else on the Web. The situation would not be worrisome had the protections and privacy controls offered by Facebook were solid enough to avoid any kind of data breaches, but from past instances, it is evident that this has not been the case and isn't so yet. Therefore, the company is generating revenue at the cost of what you ask- at the cost of your information and your usage of other platforms and sites only to serve you with 'relevant advertisements' and for the wish of Facebook of making the world more open and connected without your consent. I believe this is enough of an ethical dilemma that would keep us pondering over what we've kept our hands on.The ethical dilemma for this situation study is Facebook screens its supporters and afterward offers the data to sponsors and application designers consequently the Facebook's faultfinders are worried that the archive of individual information of the size that Facebook has amassed requires assurances and protection controls that stretch out a long ways past those that Facebook right now offers.

2.

Weaknesses of privacy policies and features:

Poor security and protection control

Client's exercises are intruded by different gatherings

Permits outsiders to gather clients private data without authorization

Presentation of client's biometric information base without clients acknowledgment

Inconsistent security assurance guidelines in various nations

3.

The executives:

Facebook expected it had the agree of clients to share data about them that is gathered through the Beacon publicizing administration on the off chance that they didn't utilize the quit highlight. Facebook changed Beacon to be an "pick in" administration and enabled clients to incapacitate it totally.

The organization completely neglected to get a handle on the degree to which the administration disregarded its clients' protection just as the turmoil such a help was probably going to cause. Something very similar happened when Facebook presented its News Feed highlight.

By and large, it is a key administration of FB's to get its client to share however much information as could reasonably be expected with the goal that FB can serve a pertinent commercial to clients. This is on the grounds that FB income comes primarily from promoting.

Association:

The individual data gathered on the site speaks to a mother burden to sponsors, yet one that will remain to a great extent undiscovered if Facebook clients don't feel sufficiently good or have adequate motivation to share it.

Clients that endeavored to erase their records were met with obstruction and regularly needed external help from guard dog gatherings.

FB needs the world to be more open and associated on the grounds that it stands to get more cash-flow. Be that as it may, the protection powers over the individual information are a long way from what FB as of now offers. Also, the majority of the clients are not generally mindful of the security setting in their FB's record.

Innovation:

Protection and client powers over the data allowed to Facebook are the greatest concerns most clients have with the site. Facebook horribly misjudged client security requests when it dispatched the organization's Beacon promoting administration since it shared data about clients that they had not unequivocally expected or consented to share.

The administration initially started as an "quit" highlight. Even after clients quit, the administration kept on sending data to Facebook whether or not or not the client was signed into Facebook at that point. The organization's workers keep up duplicates of data uncertainly in accounts that have been deactivated.

A FB client's companions are not told if data about them is gathered by that client's application. Huge numbers of FB's highlights and administrations are empowered as a matter of course when they are dispatched without telling clients.

4.

Feelings will differ on this inquiry dependent on these components:

Positive pointers:

It's one of the biggest person to person communication locales on the planet and is developing

Facebook's interface is oversimplified and spotless and will in general pull in those searching for a fresh, more organized informal communication climate

It speaks to an extraordinary open door for promoters to contact exceptionally focused on crowds dependent on their segment data and barely determined standards

It speaks to a gold mine of chance in view of the data the site has assembled and in light of the lavishness of the informal communication climate.

Part of its status as a first-mover in the long range interpersonal communication commercial center pulls in more clients

Negative markers:

It has made huge quantities of threatening clients due to its protection infringement

Facebook's own prominence will harm its odds to pull in promoters to its site, asserting that the connecting with and vivid climate that attracts guests to the site makes clients less inclined to tap on advertisements

Skeptics likewise accept that the current application framework, where applications will in general help each other by means of publicizing through different applications without the guide of broad external promoting, is an unreasonable model over the long haul. Up until this point, just 200 Facebook applications have pulled in excess of 10,000 clients for each day and 60% neglected to draw in even 100 every day clients.

It is not yet clear whether the organization can turn its hefty site traffic and stash of individual data into new income streams