The Utilitarianism theory focuses on the consequences of a situation while evaluating the morality of the situation. It is a part of normative ethics, and it evaluates the consequences rather than actions. Based on this theory, the actions are not immoral or unethical themselves, instead, the consequences of such actions affect the morality of the situation (Milner & Browitt, 2013).
The elements of this theory are that happiness of each individual is equally. The theory focuses on the happiness of a larger number of people rather than only few. Another element of the theory is that actions which lead to the happiness of a large number of people are ethical even if they are considered as unethical (Mulgan, 2014).
Based on implementing this theory in the case of ‘Facebook Data Breach’, three key stakeholders can be identified. In order to evaluate whether the decision of Facebook to use the clients’ information is moral or not, it is important to analyse both positive and negative implications face by the stakeholders. The first stakeholder is Mark Zuckerberg who is responsible for taking the decision to use the information of clients for the benefit of the company. The positive impact face by him is that this decision will increase the profitability of Facebook which will result in increasing his income as well. The negative impact is that his reputation will adversely affect by this decision of using the private data of clients. The second stakeholder is Facebook; the company will face positive consequences because the number of organisations who wanted to use the website to advertise their products will increase. Based on using such information, the company will be able to target users based on their preferences which will increase the number of advertisers. On the other hand, people might leave the platform after they found out that the company is using their private information to show them advertisements. Final stakeholder is the public who uses Facebook; their personal information will be used by the company to show them relevant advertisement which will improve their experience. However, the negative consequence is that private data of millions of people can be leaked and used incorrectly for the wrong purpose. A good example is the 2016 US Presidential elections in which data of Facebook users was used for finding potential votes (Castillo, 2018). Thus, a greater number of people will be unhappy with this decision, thus, it is immoral for Facebook to use their private data of its customers.
This theory is part of normative ethical theories which judges a situated based on the actions rather than consequences. The theory provides that actions which are immoral are unethical even if they have favorable consequences (Dierksmeier, 2013).
The elements of this theory include that morality cannot be achieved based on breaching of duties. The theory provides that consistent ethical behaviour is that key to achieving a positive outcome without which an ethical framework cannot be established in the country.
The maxim of this case is that ‘the objective of Facebook to improve its customers’ experience by using their own data rather than breaching their privacy’. The stakeholders, in this case, include Zuckerberg, Facebook, and people who use Facebook. Individuals who make account on Facebook choose to share their private information with the platform. The terms and conditions of the agreement provide that the company can use their data which is shared by its users for different purposes. While using the data of customers, Facebook is not breaching any law. Furthermore, the objective of the company is to improve the experience of its customers for their own benefits. Thus, the decision to use personal data of clients is not immoral based on Kantian Deontology Theory.
The virtue ethics theory focuses on the characteristics and traits of a person to judge the morality of a situation. The theory focuses on different attributes of a person to identify whether the decisions taken by him are moral or immoral (Hackett & Wang, 2012). The elements of this theory provide that characteristics such as kindness, generosity, gratitude, discipline, and others are good habits and decisions taken by such person are focused towards morality.
In this case, the aspects given by Aristotle can be applied in order to identify whether the actions of Mark Zuckerberg are moral. The aspects which apply in this case include (a) function, (b) developing the virtues and (c) goals and the good, virtues (Yu, 2013). The characteristics and virtues of a person are developed throughout his life based on factors such as life experiences, continuous practice, and learning.
The Aristotle’s approach can be used to identify the virtues of Zuckerberg in order to determine whether the actions taken by him are ethical or unethical. Firstly, Zuckerberg has various positive virtues such as courage, humility, fairness, honesty, creativity, curiosity and others. These virtues have a positive impact on his character. On the other hand, his emotionless attitude, introversion, insecurity, and insensitivity reflect negatively on his character. In the case, Zuckerberg admitted the mistake of Facebook, and he told before that jury that only he is liable for such incident. It shows courage and honesty from his part because he accepted in front of everyone that he is the person who started Facebook, and he is responsible for taking its decisions which shows good virtues approach of Aristotle (Hamill, 2018). Thus, he is responsible for the fact that Facebook failed to keep its users’ data secure. On the other hand, it was given in the news story that he might have used a booster to increase his height which shows insecurity on his part. Moreover, while answering questions regarding the leak of data, he was giving answers in an emotionless way which shows her insecurity. However, Zuckerberg also admitted that he would improve the policies of Facebook to ensure that incident such as this does not repeat in the future which shows that function approach of Aristotle. He told that jury that Facebook has already started the process of improving its security infrastructure, and he personally held himself liable which shows developing the virtues approach.
This theory is developed by Lawrence Kohlberg, and the theory provides that the morality of a person is developed from the early childhood. Kohlberg argued that there are six stages based on which moral principles are developed in humans (Gibbs, 2013).
The two stages which apply in this case include social system perspective and contractual perspective. Firstly, Zuckerberg has always wanted to create a platform through which people can connect and share with each other across the globe which shows her social systems perspective. Furthermore, Zuckerberg recognised that this platform could be used to increase welfare for his and other parties as well. In college, he created a website to rate women based on their attractiveness which shows bling egoism stage, however, Zuckerberg has passed more passed it (Hamill, 2018). For example, he has donated 99 percent of his shares in Facebook to charity, and he engages in initiated to help underdeveloped countries (Goel & Wingfield, 2015). Thus, it shows that Zuckerberg has a moral character, and he wanted to help a large number of individuals.
References
Castillo, M. (2018). Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg: ‘I’m responsible for what happened’ with data privacy issues. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/04/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-user-privacy-issues-my-mistake.html
Dierksmeier, C. (2013). Kant on virtue. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(4), 597-609.
Gibbs, J. C. (2013). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Goel, V. & Wingfield, N. (2015) Mark Zuckerberg Vows to Donate 99% of His Facebook Shares for Charity. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/technology/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-charity.html
Hackett, R. D., & Wang, G. (2012). Virtues and leadership: An integrating conceptual framework founded in Aristotelian and Confucian perspectives on virtues. Management Decision, 50(5), 868-899.
Hamill, J. (2018). What Mark Zuckerberg revealed about his personality during historic Senate hearing. Retrieved from https://metro.co.uk/2018/04/11/mark-zuckerberg-revealed-personality-cambridge-analytica-hearing-7457656/
Milner, A., & Browitt, J. (2013). Contemporary cultural theory: An introduction. Abingdon: Routledge.
Mulgan, T. (2014). Understanding utilitarianism. Abingdon: Routledge.
Yu, J. (2013). The ethics of Confucius and Aristotle: Mirrors of virtue. Abingdon: Routledge.
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