Select 2-3 postings from your peers (attached) to analyze in your personal assignment response. Write a 1-2 page summary on your analysis of the discussion comments and how you believe this content h
Nathan Javins
Week 6 Discussion
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Google was on the forefront of combining the internet with an easily used search engine to scour the internet to provide superior search results. It has been able to retain 64% of the global market share despite other significant comparable search engines (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2019). As it has grown in popularity it has created joint ventures which have led tow questionable tactics regarding the management of personal information which leads to profit.
As Google has been able to transcend time it has remained “the best company to work for” based on the strong stand on green initiatives and how it empowers its employees to be creative to come up with new technologies to address global challenges. Which also plays a role in how it manages personal information, based on new regulation Google has been forced to draw a line between using information to generate revenue which may cross into violating user privacy. As Google skirts this line it is continually changing and adapting to new innovative technology to manage user privacy and continues to lobby for and against legislation which will be unfavorable for the company. (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2019)
As Google moves through a mine field it not only has to understand how to legislate for the global populace’s privacy information it must also provide the same provisions for its employees. As tensions have risen over the use of personal information for profit it has also grown within the realm of employee/employer relationships. Continual changes require consistent law reviews and legal protection to both employers and the global populace. Although different global locations the law appears to remain the same across the board as it pertains to the protection of personal information and the growth of profits for numerous companies. (Evans, 2007)
As Google continues to grow globally it has learned to adapt ethically, which it continually struggles with, as expansion has reached new cultures. Based on this growth it has reached new economic systems which have encompassed new ethical values systems and it has been forced to alter some of their practices (not always successful) at times to reach into new economic systems to ensure growth and stability. With continued growth and expansion Google has been forced to find new ways to adapt ethical decision making practices as well as ensuring risk compartmentalization. As a multinational corporation Google has successfully maintained its growth through the acquisition of new companies and consistent updates to its ethical practices which at times are questionable but it remains an innovative company to work for which create new technologies and are a staple for the global consumer.
REFERENCES
Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., Ferrell, L. (2019). Case 10: Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit. Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases, Twelfth Edition. Cengage, 20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210.
Evans, L. (2007). Monitoring Technology in the American Workplace: Would Adopting English Privacy Standards Better Balance Employee Privacy and Productivity? California Law Review, 95(4), 1115–1149.
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William Behr
Week 6 Discussion
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I found the case study into Google and the challenges they have faced in regard to privacy quite interesting as I had no idea they had faced such concerns in the past. I have used Google extensively for years and have no complaints about my experience with their various offerings.
To be fair, I think online privacy in today’s day and age is a pipe dream. Anything we put on the internet is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to control. Maybe if we were interacting with one or two websites in our day-to-day lives it would be a different story. But, if I had to guess, I probably interact with at least ten different websites in one hour of boredom. And that doesn’t include the sites I interact with for shopping, banking, schooling, news, weather, investments, etc. On top of that, every few years or so, a large corporation or the government gets hacked which means there is a good chance my personal information is compromised from those events as well.
What I think is really hurting Google is their handling of the legal challenges they have faced. When they make an agreement not to track something but are found to still track it, it does not make them look good. And good points were made from the aspect that what works in one country or region from a privacy standpoint does not always work in another. France’s expectations from Google and how it handles privacy (Weiss, 2013) won’t necessarily match up to what the U.S. would expect.
I don’t think there is any way to get to a “one-size-fits-all” solution when it comes to privacy. At least not until the international community can get on the same page and publish their expectations. Google, in the meantime, has to focus on doing what feels right. Make it easy for users to opt out of sharing their data while making it clear that this will lead to them losing some accessibility when it comes to their products and the features within them. Furthermore, users need to start taking the user agreements they agree to more seriously by reading them in their entirety.
Fruhlinger, J. (2020, February 12). Equifax data breach FAQ: What happened, who was affected, what was the impact? Retrieved May 16, 2020, from https://www.csoonline.com/article/3444488/equifax-data-breach-faq-what-happened-who-was-affected-what-was-the-impact.html
Lord. (2018, September 12). Top 10 biggest government data breaches of all time in the U.S. Retrieved May 16, 2020, from https://digitalguardian.com/blog/top-10-biggest-us-government-data-breaches-all-time
Fraedrich, J., Ferrell, L., & Ferrell C. (2019). Chapter 5: Ethical decision making. In Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (12th ed.). Boston, MA: CENGAGE Learning.
Weiss, T. R. (2013). Google Faces French Order to Fix Privacy Issues Within 90 Days. EWeek, 3
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Keith Wandoloski
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Good Evening,
"GOOGLE!", "Do you even google?", "Just use Google." What are these phrases? Common things you've heard people say in regards to Google without a doubt. Google is not only a company name but has become a verb in languages. How many companies can claim this sort of product penetration into people's lives? Google though has had a long arduous road to get to the point they've attained. I say arduous because any company that is truly as multinational as Google has become there had to have been roadblocks and setbacks to its operations both from external sources and internally. Google's main problem is its constant problems with privacy. Hardly surprising because data has really become the currency of choice over the last twenty years or so for companies that deal with data and Google definitely deals with data.
What I find most irritating is that a company that could be an advocate for the consumer, while still finding a way to be profitable and beneficial to the company, for their data has really failed to be the role model we would hope a multinational corporation would become. Google does a great many good things for people and the environment (Greenwood, 2008), but they've routinely failed ethically in protecting or ethically utilizing consumer data. As we move into the future, privacy has become more important to a greater population percentage. This is reflected by the number and scale of fines being levied against companies around the world. TikTok, which has seen a significant surge in use with quarantine orders around the world, was levied a $5.7 million fine by the FCC (Cavanagh, 2019).
I hope that Google can become a company that is an advocate for consumer privacy and protection, sets the example for companies around the world to emulate, and its name becomes synonymous with ethical use of consumer data and a privacy leader.
References
CAVANAGH, S. (2019). FTC Hits Company With Record Fine Over Children’s Privacy. Education Week, 38(25), 5.
Greenwood, B. (2008). Technology Turns a Brighter Shade of Green. Information Today, 25(6), 52.
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Cody Lasseigne
Week 6 Discussion
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After reading the case study, I have to say that I am not surprised by the actions of Google and the ethical issues that encompass their business practices. Google has become an industry leader for a reason. Their business strategies and innovations have become a staple in the world that we know today. One of the significant ethical issues that Google faces is violating consumer privacy. The case study made it clear that Google could care less about user privacy. Time and time again, they have been caught violating user privacy agreements, and the lack of concern is exacerbated by the continuous cycle of apologizing or paying a fine and then repeating the same act. As a multinational corporation (MNC), Google has encountered several issues with legal ramifications due to the lack of understanding of what is deemed appropriate in a particular nation. Domestic success does not always correlate or transfer into a foreign market and requires businesses to reconfigure capabilities and develop new operational models (Chen et al., 2020). Google found out first hand that what is legal in one country is not legal in another. For instance, the European Union does not hold the same values as their American counterparts and have fined Google billions of dollars’ due to privacy violations and violating antitrust laws. The continued violations go directly against the organization’s original core value/mantra of “Don’t be evil.” Google also went against their mantra by working within China and censoring the content that was presented to Chinese customers. Essentially, Google was seeking profit by creating a communist based service for an oppressive country to increase their market share and profit margin. Being a multinational corporation, Google did not realize the image they presented to other countries, namely the United States, when they created the new service in China. Overall, MNCs such as Google must base their decisions using their core values as a guiding light and understand that national cultures will dictate certain business operations. I feel that Google could benefit by living by their core values/mantra and spend more time finding a way to be more transparent within their operations and not continue to take advantage of a lagging regulatory system.
I feel that it is up to the consumer to decide if they are being tracked or their information is gathered. The decision should be up to the user how they want to use Google services, and Google must be more transparent when providing tracking or information gathering methods. If people want a personalized experience, then let them have it, if they don’t, then they don’t have to have the “personalized experience” provided by information gathering by Google. In all reality, if a person disagrees with the user agreement, then that person can use a different service other than Google that aligns more with their needs such as Apple. Being a Google user, I do not care if my information is gathered because the advantages provided by linking my accounts suit my lifestyle. I use several different devices at any given time for various reasons; if the price I have to pay for seamless transitions between devices and the use of a free service is my information being collected, I am willing to pay that price.
References
Chen, L., Zou, S., Xu, H., & Chen, Y. (2020). Entrepreneurial orientation in multinational corporations: antecedents and effects. Management International Review (MIR), 60(1), 123–148. doi:10.1007/s11575-019-00397-4
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