Business Ethic Discussion
Q1: Explain and distinguish the two definitions of privacy.
Response
Privacy can either be defined as the right to ‘being alone’ and as the right to control information about oneself (Hartman, 2001). In a workplace experience, it is not easy to provide the first definition of privacy, being alone. Hence, there was the need to redefine the term. Having privacy will mean that an employee has the right to own personal information without interference from the second party. Therefore, it is never that easy for one to be alone to ensure privacy but they can have the privacy of personal information.
Q2: Identify the three legal sources of privacy as a fundamental value
Response
In the United States, privacy is provided legally through three sources; the Constitution (federal or state), by the federal and/or state statues and through the common laws. The Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protection governs the public sectors where the government is the employer since the Constitution applies specifically to the state actions. The Electronic Communication Protection Act of 1986 is a statue that protects stored communications in an organization from unauthorized access (Ghillyer, 2008).
Response
There are occasions when privacy is promised in an organization yet the employees do not enjoy the fruits of such provisions. An employer can intrude into an employee’s privacy at will in case there was notice made to the employee or when the company’s policies say that at some particular times, the privacy policy can be breached or when an employee makes a voluntary communication to his or her supervisor through the organization’s communication system.
The concept of reasonable expectation privacy, therefore, is when the expected privacy provisions within a setup are not provided due to the favorable circumstances within such setup. An example, reasonable expectation privacy will not be achieved in case an employer installs a hidden camera within the office to track the movement of employees and to curb unsocial acts such as theft and misuse of office resources.
Q4: Describe the ethical sources of privacy as a fundamental value.
Response
The technological implication has been the main source of ethical privacy even for bigger companies such as Google. According to Hartman (2014), Google Company’s motto is ‘don’t do evil’; however, most people believe that the advent of technology has not made this motto to be achieved. Google itself does evil through scanning people’s emails through the e-mail system they created, the G-mail. Apart from Google, other organization in this era cannot manage the fundamental value of privacy since technology has made it possible for people to telecommute.
Q5: Discuss recent development in connection with employee monitoring.
Response
Apart from monitoring the internet use and emails within the organization, drug testing is another new way through which an organization tracks the health of their employees. According to Hartman (2001), drug testing is aimed at ensuring that an employee does not use a banned drug while under contract with the organization. Polygraphs and medical test are other ways through which an organization can collect information pertaining to their employees but this act is prohibited by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) which says that health information of an employee must not be accessed without the knowledge of the employee in question.
References
Ghillyer, A. (2008). Business ethics: a real world approach.
Hartman, L. P. (2001). Technology and ethics: Privacy in the workplace.Business and Society Review, 106(1), 1-27.
Hartman, L. P., DesJardins, J. R., & MacDonald, C. (2014). Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility. McGraw-Hill.
