Privacy of the Users on the Web - Essay Example

? Privacy on the Web Privacy on the Web Introduction With the growing popularity of internet and information technology, today a notable percent of people depend on web services to perform their various daily tasks effectively and to save considerable amount of their time and money. Nowadays, people use internet to shop online, pay electricity and telephone bills, and to carryout banking transactions. In order to process these activities, websites require users’ sensitive personal information such as name and address, contact number, and credit card details. Although web providers guarantee the confidentiality of user data, security of customer information is often compromised due to several reasons and this situation negatively affects users’ privacy on the web. This paper will apply the decision making framework to analyze ‘privacy on the web’ and discuss the ethical approach that comes closest to the decision made. Decision Making Framework Reynolds (2011, P. 18) has outlined five phases in the decision-making process such as developing problem statement, identifying alternatives, evaluating and choosing alternatives, implementing decision, and evaluating results. Stakeholders affected by the decision are identified in the problem statement phase without making any assumption. Evidently, internet users are the primary stakeholders of any decision regarding the privacy on the web because they face increased threat to confidentiality and security of their personal data on the web. In addition, marketers represent another major stakeholder group because the way the privacy on the web is protected can greatly affect the users’ confidence in organizations, which in turn would significantly influence organizations’ business growth. The government and other official authorities concerned are some other main stakeholders because they are responsible for securing the privacy of users on the web. There are many ways to protect users’ privacy on the web. First, strict website policies can greatly promote user privacy on the web because websites directly receive and store abundant customer data such as name, contact numbers, and credit card details. Secondly, well stated technical and privacy policy protections can enhance privacy on the web to a great extent. Thirdly, some recent proposals for government regulations can be a better alternative to promote the confidentiality of internet users. As Tracy, Jansen, Scarfone & Winograd (2007) report, tt seems that organizations often compromise their website policies to entertain their personal interests and this situation in turn negatively affects security of user information on the web. Similarly, technical and privacy policy protections may not often ensure privacy on the web considering the growing prevalence of computer hacking and other malware attacks. Hence, it is better to choose new proposals for government regulations as a potential strategy to enhance privacy on the web. When the government directly regulates organizations’ privacy protection policies, privacy on the web is likely to be protected effectively. In order to ensure government intervention in user privacy protection on the web, it is vital to define the areas where the government can regulate and restrict websites’ activities. It is advisable for the government to strictly limit websites’ rights to use customer information/data beyond the purpose for which the data/information was actually collected. Finally, it would be better to establish a separate governmental agency to monitor websites’ efforts to secure privacy on the web. The governmental agency must comprise policymakers, law professionals, and technical experts. Undoubtedly, the direct government control over websites’ privacy protection practices can be effective to manage different challenges to privacy on the web. This approach will certainly promote the interests of organizations, online customers, and government authorities. However, this privacy protection strategy can sometimes prevent organizations from executing their business ideas freely due to rigid privacy laws. Impacts of the Decision It is obvious that the decision to increase governmental intervention in safeguarding user privacy on the web can positively influence the interests of web users. As discussed already, today people widely use internet to make their life more convenient and flexible and to take advantages of time and money. According to Katz (2012, p. 201), since the modern people increasingly depend on virtual shopping, they need to share their credit card details and other bank information with many websites. In this situation, increased government control on web privacy protection can encourage people to engage in web based activities or transactions confidently. At the same time, this decision can have positive and negative impacts on the firm. Evidently, increased confidence in organizations privacy policies may persuade customers to purchase goods and services more frequently via online; and such a customer attitude would contribute to fast business growth. In addition, increased governmental intervention can assist organizations to defend their position in the case of data theft or network attacks. However, organizations are strictly restricted to use customer data/information for other promotional purposes and hence they may find it difficult to attract new customers. Considering the attitude of customers to this policy change, suppliers and other stakeholders are likely to support this decision because they are striving to promote customer loyalty and information security. Fairness Approach to Privacy on the Web In the view of Reynolds (2011), there are four common approaches to ethical decision making, including virtue ethics approach, utilitarian approach, fairness approach, and common good approach (p.20). While analyzing these four approaches to ethical decision making, it seems that the fairness approach greatly fits with the issue identified (privacy on the web). Referring to Reynolds; “the fairness approach focuses on how fairly actions and policies distribute benefits and burdens among people affected by the decision” (p.21). It is clear that the decision to support more government control would positively affect all stakeholder groups neglecting the fact that organizations’ operational freedom will be limited to some extent. Furthermore, the stated goal of this policy change is to protect the user privacy on the web and therefore fairness approach is more fittable. Conclusion In short, privacy on the web is becoming an obstacle to the growth of web based services like online shopping as a result of malware attacks and unfair information management. Increased governmental intervention in privacy protection seems to be the most effective strategy to address this issue and this solution can meet the interests of majority of stakeholders. The study also indicates that the fairness approach to ethical decision making can greatly fit the issue under consideration. References Katz, A. (2012). Cyberbullying and E-safety: What Educators and Other Professionals Need to Know. US: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Reynolds, G. W. (2011). Ethics in Information Technology. US: Cengage Learning Tracy, M., Jansen, W., Scarfone, K & Winograd, T. (2007). Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers. National Institute of Standards and Technology. 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