Privacy

The Right to Privacy is central to ethical issues in information technology and the Internet. Address the following issues concerning this concept.

1. Discuss two (2) organizational viewpoints and two (2) personal viewpoints related to the issues of privacy and the exchange of information.

2. Discuss Patricia Werhane’s concept of reciprocal obligation, as it applies to the workplace.

3. Discuss the Kantian viewpoint of privacy. Which issue specifically is key to a Kantian viewpoint? Explain.

4. How do privacy issues at the workplace raise ethical issues involving individual rights as well as those involving utilitarian consequences?

ANSWER

Privacy

Issues of Privacy and the Exchange of Information

Over the years, privacy and exchange of information have been of great concern among the people and organizations within the United States. Organizations within the United States emphasize integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information. Many organizations believe that data sharing should be done in a manner that protects the privacy and security of sensitive personal information. Organizations hold strong perceptions that data security measures should be upheld to keep sensitive s data secure from cyberattacks.

Americans have less confidence about their data being confidential and secure (Madden and Rainie, 2017). This is due to the increased cyberattacks and organizations sharing information with third parties. Most Americans have held strong perceptions on the need for data privacy in their day to day activities. Therefore, they offer personal information depending on the level of risk or the tangible benefits being offered since they are cautious of disclosing personal data.

Patricia Werhane’s Concept of Reciprocal Obligation

The reciprocal obligation states that an individual expects respect for their autonomy and that the individual has an obligation of respecting the autonomy of others (Werhane and Radin, 2019). Therefore, this implies individuals demanding respect for their autonomy should also respect the autonomy of others. In the Workplace, while an employee must respect the goals, objectives, and property of the employer, the employer also has a reciprocal obligation to respect the privacy and rights of the employee.

The bill of rights within an organization should include the confidentiality and privacy of an employee as well as the rights of the employers to confidentiality and privacy in terms of trade secrets and other sensitive operations. Therefore, the relationships between employers and employees should be reciprocal. For instance, fundamental values such as the right to personal freedom and freedom of speech should be upheld within an organization. Failure to protect the privacy rights of employees means that the employees fail to protect personal freedom. On the other hand, employees need to focus on protecting property rights, such as business decisions and information that need to be controlled.

Kantian Viewpoint of Privacy

Kantian is a philosopher who defines the supreme principle of morality. According to Kant, in his deontological theory, the wrongness and rightness of actions do not rely on their consequences, but whether they have fulfilled one’s duty. Kant believed that some actions should be prohibited even though the action brings more happiness. The guiding principle to Kant is the sense of duty. Ideally, ethics are not provided by the higher authority but depend on an individual’s ability to weigh the competing interest in an ethical dilemma. Kantian view of privacy focuses on an ethical duty of protecting one’s information privacy. Privacy plays a significant role in protecting people from humiliation, unjustified scorn, coercion, and recrimination.

Safeguarding other people’s privacy is considered a responsibility of an individual, government as well as business. Kant believes that it is the duty of oneself to others to protect an individual’s privacy (Allen, 2012). This he considered as a categorical imperative. The imperative is considered as the good or right action to undertake in a particular situation. The categorical imperative, therefore, means that one needs to act in a way that they expect others to work towards them, and in that way, one has universal acceptability.

One needs to treat people in the way they would want to be treated. Therefore, securing the privacy of one’s data should be an ethical course of action. This is because one would want their data to be secured too. Protection of privacy is the duty of self-respect, which are morally correct actions with an unconditional and absolute requirement that allows no exception.

Workplace Privacy Issues

Workplace privacy issues have raised inherent conflict, which has resulted from the fundamental right of employers to protect the privacy of employees. Considerably, this conflict can arise in the workplace environment through the regulation of personal choices or activities. Workplace privacy has raised ethical issues due to unethical behaviors at the workplace, such as monitoring and recording telephone conversations, electronic surveillance with close circuit cameras, recording employee’s activities such as emails and chat messages (Yerby, 2013). Keeping track of activities within the organization are strongly supported but should not be done to the extent that they will violate the rights of the employees.

Utilitarian consequences have led to ethical issues since employers and employees are both protecting their interests. With regard to the utilitarian arguments, the monitoring of employees can be considered ethical since the employees are trying to ensure that the company resources are not misused. Employers tend to argue that the only way to manage an organization efficiently and effectively is to monitor and control the activities of the employees. For instance, employers tend to monitor employee actions to protect the organization from legal issues that may arise from illegal online activities using company computes. However, employees want to maintain their privacy. Employees believe that they are most productive in a supportive environment that offers utmost respect, autonomy, and trust. The utilitarian consequences argue that employees need to be watched all the time since their activities have more control over the outcomes of the organization.

References

Allen, A. L. (2012). An Ethical Duty to Protect One’s Own Information Privacy. Ala. L. Rev., 64, 845.

Madden, M., and Rainie, L. (2017). Americans’ Attitudes About Privacy, Security, and Surveillance. [online] Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/05/20/americans-attitudes-about-privacy-security-and-surveillance/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2017].

Werhane, P. H., & Radin, T. J. (2019). Employment-at-Will, Employee Rights, and Future Directions for Employment. In Systems Thinking and Moral Imagination (pp. 409-425). Springer, Cham.

Yerby, J. (2013). Legal and ethical issues of employee monitoring. Online Journal of Applied Knowledge Management (OJAKM), 1(2), 44-55.