Students and Sensors: Data, Education, Privacy and Research

The case study discusses the ethical implications of collecting private data from students for research purposes without their consent. The four ethical theories, utilitarianism, deontology, virtue, and contract theory, are used to analyze the situation.

Students and Sensors: Data, education, privacy and research
REDDY
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Students and Sensors: Data, education, privacy and research
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Utilitarianism Theory.................................................................................................................3
Deontology Theory....................................................................................................................4
Virtue Theory.............................................................................................................................4
Contract Theory.........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................6
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Students and Sensors: Data, education, privacy and research
Introduction
The case study discusses about a research which is carried out with the students of the
University of Arizona. In this research, the data is collected from the Cat Cards of the
students to analyse the reasons and behaviour of the students. Cat Cards are basically identity
cards that are provided to the students by the university. These cards are used to enter and
exit from different locations within the university campus. The researcher collects this data
from the Cat Cards to determine the attrition rate of student and the reason for not getting
back to college after freshman years. The data collected is private and has personal
information like different places visited, routine, and the circle they interact with, the places
student likes to hang out (Raicu, 2018).
The discussion will be focused on the ethical implications of the research as the data gathered
through this process is private and sensitive to students. Also, the students are unaware of the
fact that their personal information is not personal anymore. Although the University has
ensured that the data which is collected and sent for research is anonymous, still the academic
advisers are exposed to these details of the student. In order to get more accurate results, the
university is planning to install around 8000 Wi-Fi hotspots so as to get more efficient results.
This data collection raises an issue on the privacy of the students and is a serious concern
which violates the ethical principles. The case will be discussed by considering the four
ethical theories which are utilitarianism, deontology, virtue, and contract theory.
Utilitarianism Theory
The utilitarianism theory discusses the greater good for most of the people. The action which
results in the betterment and is beneficial for most of the people is the right action that should
be considered. The theory states that an action is said to be moral when it generates the
greatest amount of goodness for the maximum number of peoples. The theory asks whether
an action taken is ethically moral or immoral, good or bad (Mill, 2016). For example, if a
politician is spending a lot of money on campaign ads then it raises a question whether the
money spent is beneficial for the betterment and improvement of people's lives or not.
In the case study, the action that is carried out by conducting the research with the data is not
ethically correct. As the theory defines that the action should benefit most of the people, and
in this case students signifies most of the people. The university collects the personal data
without the consent of the students which raises ethical concerns. The data is beneficial from
the perspective of University as they can analyse the reasons behind student's attrition from
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Students and Sensors: Data, education, privacy and research
college. This act of University is immoral and doesn't oblige with the theory of utilitarianism
and is completely unethical.
Deontology Theory
The term ‘deon' in deontology means duty. The ethics of deontology theory states that an
action is good and morally correct due to the characteristic of that action itself rather than the
outcome of the action. This means that an action's morality should be judged on the basis of
the action taken but not on what the consequences are going to be. Deontology theory holds
the fact that at least some actions oblige with morality irrespective of the consequences. The
action taken should be according to the set of rules and the principles, which is ethically
correct. In this theory, the actions are always given an importance rather than their outcomes
(Lazar, 2017).
In the case study, the action taken by the university is to collect the private data from the
students CatCards. As the theory states that the action taken should be morally correct but in
this case, the consent of the students are not taken into consideration and the research is
conducted without getting an acknowledgment from the students. The action doesn't oblige
with the conventional theory of deontology. The action of collecting private data is unethical
and there is the absence of transparency between the university and its students (Koszegi,
2014). The university should make sure that the students are made aware of this data
collection process and should be educated the need of this research. A large amount of
personal data is at stake which might be created of the threat of cybercrime.
Virtue Theory
Other than the two other approaches of normative ethics, virtue theory emphasizes on the
morality of a character or its virtues, in contrast to the deontology that emphasizes on duties
and utilitarianism which emphasizes on the action's consequences (Bright, Winn & Kanov,
2014). In this theory, a person's character is given importance rather than the consequences of
the action taken by the person.
A person develops his virtues and moral by gaining experience and being exposed to society's
ethics. Every person's actions might not be the same as their character; it differs to a great
extent (Star, 2015).
People should always follow good virtues which include being honest, having bravery and
integrity, fairness (Bowen, 2017). The University of Arizona has failed to comply with the
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Students and Sensors: Data, education, privacy and research
virtue ethics and the decision to conduct the research by collecting the sensitive information
from students is completely unethical. As per the virtue theory which states to develop good
virtues, the university, on the other hand, has firstly been breaching the privacy of the
students and collecting their data. Secondly, the university has not even allowed the students
to withdraw back from the research.
Lastly, the students are not even aware of the fact that their data is collected by their own
university. Due to these unethical actions, the character of the university doesn't comply with
the definition of the virtue theory and hence violates the conventional normative theory of
virtue ethics (Solum, 2018). In order to maintain the integrity, the university should at least
provide an option to those students who are not willing to share their details and want to opt
out of the research.
Contract Theory
The contract theory states that people living in the society should comply with the set rules
and the obligations lay in order to behave ethically. Thomas Hobbes, a political philosopher
stated that a man, in its normal and natural state would like to have unlimited and unrestricted
freedom (Darwall, 2018). They would have no obligations to others which in the case would
be brutal for the people to live in. In such situations, people will start acting on their own
terms and will be irresponsible to any obligations. That is why humans have developed a
mutual contract that ensures their behavior is ethical and a proper order is maintained in the
society (Fried, 2015).
With reference to the case study, there is a clear violation of the contract theory. The theory
states that people should act according to certain set rules and policies, which in this case is
absent. The university has not been following the rules and was continuously striving to
collect the personal data of the students. Firstly, the university has breached the contract
theory by invading the privacy of the students and secondly, the students are not even
informed about the research process going on in the university. It is important that the
university should have maintained a level of transparency when there is private data at stake.
Also, a mutual consent should have been taken from the students that would have been
ethically justified. As all these factors don't comply with the laws and regulations, the
university has breached the social contract theory.
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Students and Sensors: Data, education, privacy and research
Conclusion
The case study concludes the ethical implications of the actions taken by the university. By
conducting the research, the concern is raised on the privacy and security of the data collected
through the CatCards. The method of data collections has raised questions on the university
in respect to the ethical principles. By taking into consideration all the four ethical theories,
utilitarianism, deontology, virtue, contract theory; the university has been found the
stakeholder of unethical actions.
The main issue highlighted in the case study was the lack of transparency shown by the
university in conducting the research. Where there is a huge amount of data at stake, it is the
prime duty of the stakeholder to be the responsible element and take care of the ethical
obligations. The students were not having any information regarding the research process.
Neither did the university give an option to the students to stand out of the research, which
itself is a violation of ethical principles.
The university should have ensured that a framework is defined wherein the students are
educated about the process, the motives, the benefits and the outcomes it may have. It should
have also provided a mutual ground to students to decide whether they are willing to be a part
of this research or not. Also, the privacy and security loopholes should have been taken care
of. By ensuring all these, the university could have obliged with the ethical principles.
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Students and Sensors: Data, education, privacy and research
References
Bowen, R. T. (2017). What Is Ethics?. In Ethics and the Practice of Forensic Science,
Second Edition (pp. 19-36). CRC Press.
Bright, D. S., Winn, B. A., & Kanov, J. (2014). Reconsidering virtue: Differences of
perspective in virtue ethics and the positive social sciences. Journal of Business
Ethics, 119(4), 445-460.
Darwall, S. (2018). Philosophical Ethics: An Historical and Contemporary Introduction.
Routledge.
Fried, C. (2015). Contract as promise: A theory of contractual obligation. Oxford University
Press, USA.
Koszegi, B., 2014. Behavioral contract theory. Journal of Economic Literature, 52(4),
pp.1075-1118.
Lazar, S. (2017). Deontological Decision Theory and Agent-Centered
Options. Ethics, 127(3), 579-609.
Mill, J. S. (2016). Utilitarianism. In Seven Masterpieces of Philosophy (pp. 337-383).
Routledge.
Raicu, I. (2018). Students and Sensors: Data, education, privacy, and research. Retrieved
from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/internet-ethics/resources/students-and-
sensors-data-education-privacy-and-research/
Solum, L. B. (2018). Virtue as the end of law: an aretaic theory of
legislation. Jurisprudence, 9(1), 6-18.
Star, D. (2015). Knowing better: Virtue, deliberation, and normative ethics. Oxford
University Press, USA.
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