Critique of Act Deontology and Rule Deontology

Running Head: Ethics and Professional Practice 1
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
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Ethics and Professional Practice 2
Question 1
The 2018 Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal raised major ICT related ethical
concerns. It has been exposed that Cambridge Analytica had harvested the personal data of
millions of Facebook users, from their Facebook profiles, without their consent and used it for
political purposes. Research the ethical issue/issues surrounding the 2018 Facebook–Cambridge
Analytica data scandal online and analyze them using the philosophical ethics perspective
Exposing personal data to Cambridge Analytica was distinctly unethical because various
ethical codes were violated. What illustrates this condition is the fact that the personal data on
Facebook was used for political reasons instead of its original purpose without individual
consent. To start with informed consent is considered when a person who has the capacity to
make decisions and to whom information has been fully disclosed and comprehends the
disclosure intentionally agrees with the treatment (Weckert, Lucas, & Selgelid, 2013). The
fundamental idea is that in case of any research that needs access to people’s information the
individual should be fully informed about the importance of research, the use of the results
obtained and based on these they decide whether they want to be the subject of the research. In
this case, Facebook users could have been informed that their information will be used for
political reasons and decide whether they want to participate or not (Rogosch & Hohl, 2012).
Also, another ethical issue is privacy which is the right of a person to protect information
from release to unwanted sources and to have every data gathered with their consent safeguarded
from unapproved access. Invading this ethical issue is a power threat to the information society.
This can deprive the individual opportunities and in this case, they might be politically
neutralized. The original purpose of this data was violated without the individual's consent by a
distribution of allegedly confidential data. Privacy protection depends on the technical safety

Ethics and Professional Practice 3
measures and other controls that restrict access to records and other information collected in the
computer memories and other networks. Facebook failed in its responsibility to keep the user's
information private and confidential despite the fact that it has various policies dictated to
safeguard the computerized information. For instance, it has various commands that allow the
user to decide where and when to share personal information. A person is allowed to decide
whether to keep his/her information confidential and private or to authorize it to gain public
access (Hasselbalch & Tranberg, 2016).
Data trustworthiness is an ethical concern where an individual trusts the public networks
with his / her information and guaranteed that it cannot be disclosed to unwanted sources. In this
case, Facebook has various policies such as data trustworthiness and reliability where it promises
to keep a person data secret and not t share without the user consent. From such policies, it
upholds trust from users that personal information is safe. Trustworthiness as a key ethical issue
is an important element which every social network should uphold to protect the public interests
(Abramowicz & Paschke, 2019).
Consequently, exposing personal information to unauthorized contact can cause possible
harm. A person can face physical, emotional and mental harm when he/she discovers that his
information was used for wrong reasons for example in this scandal the data was used for
political purposes. The possible harm could be as a result of a violation of the right to vote
because the outcomes were maybe against individual interest. The outcome of the politics could
be the direct opposite of what the results would have been in there was informed consent.
Unwarranted disclosure of personal information can cause harm to the individual, public or both
(Quigley, 2011).