- Ethical dilemma of Facebook
The company is facing an ethical dilemma because it is supposed to protect personal information; on the other hand the company benefits from targeted advertisement hence they are supposed to share out information with other companies to know which ads can be displayed on the Facebook page. The company promises to protect personal information and display according to the desires of an individual. To be able to attract many clients to advertise on their site, they need to have assured them that they will meet the target audience. This forces Facebook to give out personal information of users. The information given out includes; television shows, movies, books users like and even Facebook posts. This is intruding into the privacy of others on the internet.
The dilemma that Facebook faces is if they can keep their word of not intruding into personal data of its users. Users trust Facebook if they do not analyze user information it means they are going to loss advertising revenue. Although Facebook is free to join, their main aim is to generate revenue. The main source of revenue is through advertising. This remains to be a big dilemma because many people are concerned about their private details being used for advertisement.
- Relationship of privacy to Facebook’s business model
There is a close relationship that has direct consequences between privacy and business model for Facebook. Facebook gains more when it displays more ads on the pages of their users. It means that Facebook earns more when they violate the privacy of the users. The company stands to lose more when they reduce displayed data on the site. It is clear that many users are becoming more and more conscious about their security and safety on social media. This forces them to stop posting and giving out more personal information. Facebook therefore, depends on user information to generate income. The more people share on their pages the more targeted ads they get on their pages.
- Weakness of Facebook privacy policies and features.
There is a strong privacy policy by Facebook on private data. The only problem is features of the systems that resulted into compromise of the policies of the site. Some companies like Beacon when a head and posted customer details after buying from them without their consent on Facebook. Such issues has resulted into big companies such as Coca Cola to withdrawal their advisement and other supports on Facebook.
Many users have complained that Facebook has published their private messages on their timeline hence turning what was private into public. Deleted posts and other information are also still on Facebook new feature the timeline. The timeline feature shows information of an individual from the time they registered. If users deleted posts previously posted, then the company should not re-publish them under any circumstances. The company has also new features that do not give users an option of whether they want them or not. News feeds is a feature that shows activities on Facebook among your friends. This feature was created and made default or mandatory for every user without their consent. Use actions are shared on the Facebook web so that everyone can see. Users may not want others to monitor their actions on Facebook hence this feature violates the policies of privacy of users.
Another feature that has been violated is the right to opt out of Facebook it is not possible for a Facebook user to delete their accounts once they find them not useful any more. Lack of customer support is another issue that Facebook Company should address man users may want to complain directly to support about some personal issues that cannot be solved through help center. Lack of interaction with users has made policies of Facebook weak.
- Success of Facebook without invading privacy
Facebook cannot be successful without invading privacy. Even with the new platform that accommodates more developers, Facebook’s largest revenue is collected from advertisement. It can only be successful if the company looks for other method of raising revenue apart from advertisement. Without information about a target market for an advertiser Facebook will be on the level playing field with other web advertisers. The biggest asset that Facebook has for its success is data about its users.
Works Cited
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. Management information systems: Managing the digital firm (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010.
