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Whistle-Blowing and Ethics: Facebook’s Data Selling Report (Assessment)

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Introduction

It is astonishing that the world presently acquires new wisdom faster than understanding. Inventions, such as the internet, globalization, information technology, social media platforms, and smart devices, comprise basic survival necessities for improving human lives. However, the percentage of people comprehensively understanding these inventions is substantially less. Wylie’s revelations concerning Facebook’s involvement in illegal business with Cambridge Analytica reveal social media platforms’ predisposition to misuse by investors without customers’ knowledge.

Facebook’s Responsibility to Secure Customer Data

Like any other organization, Facebook operates based on specific laws covering different business acts. Lack of compliance attracts substantial penalties described by the regulation. The data protection decrees are a definitive provision providing irreducible minimums for digital organizations like Facebook to continue operations (Cadwalladr, 2018). Accordingly, the firm must observe the laws or face the stipulated consequences. These fundamental accounts on business operations’ laws answer whether Facebook exhibits the responsibility to protect consumer records when its primary purpose is to collect information on users to use it for profit. It is non-negotiable that Facebook is obliged by the law to act responsibly. The company’s failure to comply with the regulations depicts punishable violations.

Providing false information to the regulator and stage-managing issues concerning consumers’ data security by Facebook’s CEO generates another serious offense regarding the firm’s responsibility. During investigations regarding the organization’s collaboration with the ill-branded Cambridge Analytica, Zuckerberg provides rehearsed responses to the American legislators investigating the matter. For example, the investor pretends not to understand the question of whether he plans to change Facebook’s business model from making supernormal profits while illegally selling people’s data (Cadwalladr, 2018). Zuckerberg is not untouchable, nor is Facebook an organization above the law. The two (Facebook and Zuckerberg) should serve as a lesson to the world in case further investigations prove their violation of customer data security law.

Disagreement with Christopher Wylie’s Logic for Being a Whistleblower

Hatred towards bullying and the exploitation outlook are the two reasons behind Wylie’s confession. The IT guru behind Cambridge Analytica’s unlawful deals, which he says would not have materialized but for Facebook’s fraudulent contract on personal data, claims to feel remorseful for the action. Wylie notes that the desire to correct his past mistakes and end guilt pushes him to blow the whistle on the matter.

Analyzing the issue deeply makes one disagree with Wylie’s argument. An interview with Cadwalladr (2018) predominantly implies the IT guru’s betrayal by Dr. Aleksandr Kogan, leading to the desire to spoil the whole plan. Kogan initially promised to offer the data from Facebook to Wylie to establish a social science platform worth volumes of money but failed to do so (Cadwalladr, 2018). Perhaps, Wylie’s confession may arise from a mental issue that makes it hard for him to keep secrets or from the desire to ruin Cambridge Analytica, which continues making money using his idea long after firing him.

Conclusion

Wylie’s confession reveals a significantly hurting truth about social media platforms’ illegitimate dealings. Providing a free communication channel to the masses hardly grants Facebook the right to violate fundamental customer privacy laws. The company and the CEO are punishable for abusing customers’ rights by getting involved in fraudulent dealings. The world knows Facebook’s illegal dealings with Cambridge Analytica through a whistleblower, thus justifying Wylie’s whistleblowing actions. However, the motive behind Wylie’s confession is not clear, leading to significant doubts concerning his pretentious intention.

Reference

Cadwalladr, C. (2018). . The Guardian. Web.

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IvyPanda. "Whistle-Blowing and Ethics: Facebook's Data Selling." April 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/whistle-blowing-and-ethics-facebooks-data-selling/.

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