Ethical Analysis of Telstra Case Study: Privacy and Security Concerns in Digital Technologies

The report conducts an ethical analysis of Telstra case study to find different ethical issues in the case. The ethical issues raised in the assignment include privacy and security concerns of customers’ data due to use of digital technologies. Various recommendations are given which can assist the company in sustaining its competitive advantage in the industry by protecting the privacy of customers and increasing the security of the data of the company.

Ethics and Professional Practice
Case Study Analysis

Executive Summary
The aim of this report is to conduct an ethical analysis of the case study of Telstra in order to
find different ethical issues in the case. Doing ethics technique is used in the report for
evaluating the ethical issues and providing different solutions. The ethical issues raised in the
assignment include privacy and security concerns of customers’ data due to use of digital
technologies. In the second part, the role of IT governance is discussed along with the
technologies used by Telstra for gaining a competitive advantage in the industry. The
advantages of such technologies and the tools used by the company for improving its security
and data control are included in the report as well. Various recommendations are given which
can assist the company in sustaining its competitive advantage in the industry by protecting
the privacy of customers and increasing the security of the data of the company.
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Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations and Assumptions made...........................................................................3
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the situation – Doing Ethics Technique..................................................................4
Assessment of the ethical consequences....................................................................................8
IT governance.........................................................................................................................8
IT governance and Issues.......................................................................................................8
Technologies..........................................................................................................................9
Advantages...........................................................................................................................10
Security and Data Control....................................................................................................10
Recommendations....................................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13
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List of Abbreviations and Assumptions made
IT: Information Technology
ICT: Information and Communication Technology
Introduction
In today’s competitive business world, organisations generate competitive advantage by
relying on the latest technologies in order to perform their operations. Effective use of the
latest technologies enables the organisations to improve their existing operations while at the
same time provide their customers with high-quality services. The use of ICT technologies in
the companies has proliferated in the past few years, and they enable enterprises in improving
their customer services and overall efficiency. The primary advantages include reducing
overall costs, improvement in efficiency, flexibility in operations, and ubiquitous data
(Kritzinger and Von Solms, 2010). However, along with advantages, there are many issues
relating to these technologies as well which resulted in negatively affecting the companies.
There are many ethical issues which occurred due to digital disruptions. One of the key
disadvantages of these technologies is the vulnerability to the cybercrimes. It is easier for
cybercriminals to hack into a system of organisations when they rely on technologies to
perform their task. There are many other ethical issues relating to the use of modern
technologies as well. Organisations are required to comply with these information ethics
principles while facing an ethical dilemma. The information ethics provides a relationship
between ethical and moral principles along with use, collection, access and maintenance of
data (Bulgurcu, Cavusoglu and Benbasat, 2010). The corporations also required implement
policies of IT governance to ensure that they are able to avoid related issues effectively. In
this report, the case study of Telstra will be evaluated by using ‘doing ethics technique’ or
DET in order to analyse the ethical issues in the case. This report will also evaluate the role
of IT governance and related issues and what technologies can be used by Telstra to avoid
these issues. Furthermore, recommendations will be given in the report for Telstra in order to
address the issues faced by the company.
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Analysis of the situation – Doing Ethics Technique
The ‘doing ethics technique’ or DET assists in evaluating care from an ethical perspective.
The technique focuses on asking simple questions which assist in evaluating the major ethical
issues in a case (Al-Saggaf and Burmeister, 2012). The main focus of this technique is to
evaluate the care ethically rather than finding the best solution.
What’s going on?
Telstra is the largest telecommunication company in Australia; the company was founded in
1975 and its operations it provides its services in the telecommunication sector. The
corporation has an international presence in over 20 countries, and it is the fastest national
mobile network in Australia. The company provides over 17.6 million retail mobile services,
5.1 fixed voice services and 3.5 million retail fixed broadband services to its customers in
Australia (Telstra, 2018a). In order to provide better services to its customers, the corporation
has adopted a digital route. The company relied on digital disruptions in order to maintain its
competitive advantage in the Australian telecommunication sector. In 2010, the corporation
chanted it conservative engineering culture and adapted a must fasted structure based on
digital technologies. The corporation focuses on the interest of its customers based on which
it has developed 24/7 Telstra application along with crowdsupport platform.
After implementation of these technologies, the customer interaction with the company was
revolutionised because it provides them the option to resolve their queries at any time while
staying at the comfort of their homes (Deloitte, 2018). However, along with advantages, there
are a number of issues relating to these technologies as well which negatively affect the
customers and the company. Firstly, the main concern regarding the privacy of customers. In
crowdsupport infrastructure, the customers can openly interact with others, and they can
resolve queries and issues face by others. It raised many privacy and security concerns
relating to the people using this platform. Furthermore, there is also the issue of job loss
because based on this model the company promotes automation which resulted in job loss. A
digital-based infrastructure increases the vulnerability of the company towards cyber-attacks
based on which their data could be breached by cybercriminals.
What are the facts?
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 Telstra has adopted a digital model by developing a 24/7 mobile application and
crowdsupport platform.
 These devices assist the customers in resolving their issues quickly, and it improves
their customer service experience.
 Along with many advantages, there are various issues relating to the use of
crowdsupport platform because it raises various privacy and security concerns.
 While using this platform, the data of customers is at the risk of breaching and
cybercriminals can hack into their account to collect their private data.
 This infrastructure also increased the vulnerability of the company against cyber-
attacks and the cybercriminals can easily hack into their data to collect private
information regarding their customers.
 The company is also pushing automation which resulted in job loss in the company.
What are the issues?
Following are different issues which have risen in the case study of Telstra.
 Due to use of a crowdsupport platform, the risk of breach of customer data has
increased substantially. It is easier for the cyber criminals to hack into the accounts of
members which use the crowdsupport platform and collect their private data.
 While using a crowdsupport platform, the security of the customers is at risk, and they
are under the threat of cyber-attacks.
 By using this platform, the company is promoting automation due to which many
people losses their jobs.
 The data of the company is stored in the cloud which makes it vulnerable to cyber-
attacks.
Who is affected?
Telstra
The main stakeholder is the company itself; it has adopted a crowdsupport platform in order
to reduce its operating costs and provide fast services to its customers. In 2010,
implementation of this platform was a digital disruption based on which the company was
able to reduce its expenses and fulfil the requirements of its customers. However, there are
many issues relating to the technology as well (Taylor, 2015). Firstly, the data of the
company is stored in the cloud which makes it vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Furthermore, the
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company is constantly criticised for not taking appropriate actions to protect the privacy of
customers who use its crowdsupport platform. The corporation was also criticised because it
uses automation while performing its operations which resulted in the loss of jobs of many
employees. Moreover, after a period of time, the shareholder value of the company started
decreasing along with the profits of the company as the company reported a drop of 37
percent in its profits in 2017.
Customers
By using 24/7 mobile application and crowdsupport platform, the customers of Telstra are
able to resolve their queries more efficiently. The customers can use the mobile application of
the company to ask regarding their queries any time, and they find the solutions for their
queries must faster. However, the members face issues regarding data privacy while using the
crowdsupport platform than compared to traditional methods. It becomes easier for
cybercriminals to hack into the servers of the company and collect the private data of its users
(Sharma, 2014). It is easier for the cybercriminals to breach the security of the customers of
Telstra. Thus, along with benefits, there are a number of issues faced by the customers which
are relating to the breach of privacy of users.
Cybercriminals
Due to the adaptation of a digital framework, it has become easier for cybercriminals to hack
into the servers of Telstra. The company is the largest telecommunication enterprise in
Australia, and it has a large customer base which makes it a primary target for
cybercriminals. They can hack into its servers and collect the data regarding its users for
blackmailing the company or use the data to gain an unfair advantage (Barwick, 2014).
What are the ethical issues and implications?
 Utilitarianism theory (consequence): The key, in this case, is the privacy concern
regarding the security of data of users. Although the adaptation of digital framework
makes it easier for the customers to resolve their queries, however, it increases the
issues regarding their privacy and data breach. This theory judges the morality of a
situation based on the consequences of the actions. In this case, the actions taken by
Telstra are focused towards improving their customer experience, however, it
negatively consequences resulted in a breach of the privacy of customers. Many
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employees lose their jobs due to this decision as well (Pearce, 2017). Thus, these
actions are unethical.
 Deontology theory (duty): In this theory, a situation is judged based on the actions
rather than their consequences. The actions of Telstra are focused towards the
improvement of their customers’ service experience. Although, it may lead to a
breach of their privacy, but the actions of the company are not unethical.
 Contractarianism theory (contract): This theory judges the morality based on the
legitimacy of the actions. The actions taken by Telstra are based on digital disruption
in order to provide high-quality services to its customers. The company is also taking
security measures to protect their privacy. Based on which, the actions of Telstra are
ethical.
 Virtue theory (character): This theory judges a situation based on the character and
honesty. The decision taken by Telstra is focused towards improving the service
experience of customers and fulfilling their needs. The actions of Telstra are honest
and focused towards the requirements of customers.
 Although the corporation has taken steps to improve their cybersecurity, however,
they are not enough to stop large cyber-attacks. The negative implications of lack of
security measures can result in causing significant financial losses to the company,
and it could result in a breach of data privacy of customers.
What can be done about it?
There are different alternative solutions available in this situation which can be taken by the
company. In order to address the privacy and security concerns, the company can cancel its
digital framework and adopt a traditional method of customer service which is relatively
slower option. The company can take precautionary measures in order to improve their
cybersecurity infrastructure to protect the data privacy of its customers. The corporation can
also spread awareness among its customer bases in order to ensure that they take corrective
actions to protect the privacy of their data.
What are the options?
1. The company can cancel its digital disruption model and adopt a traditional method of
customer service.
2. The company can increase its investment in the cybersecurity infrastructure in order
to ensure that the corporation and its customers’ data is secured from data breach.
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3. The corporation can raise awareness regarding the cybersecurity among its customers
to ensure that they are aware of the potential risk and they take precautionary actions
to protect themselves.
Which option is best – and why?
The second option is the best because the corporation must protect the privacy of its users.
The corporation understands that there is potential threat in using a digital framework while
providing customers’ services, therefore, the company must take precautionary actions to
protect its and customers’ data. It would also assist the company in maintaining its
competitive advantage in the telecom industry.
Assessment of the ethical consequences
IT governance
The IT governance is referred to a formal framework which assists the corporations by
providing them a structure for ensuring that their business objectives support their IT
investments. It ensures that effective and efficient use of the IT in the business and it enable
the company to achieve its corporate objectives (Huang, Zmud and Price, 2010). The IT
governance provides that the process which is required to comply by enterprises for ensuring
the effective evaluation, prioritisation, funding of competition, oversees implementation,
selection and extract business benefits. The process is considered as a decision making, and
oversight process and this process is the responsibility of business management. Effective use
of IT governance aligns the IT infrastructure of the company with the business strategy of the
company. The issues relating to IT governance include the effective establishment of IT
framework, continuous auditing and assurance, IT risk management, privacy and security
concerns, cloud computing, sense of teamwork, value delivery through IT and others (Ali and
Green, 2012).
IT governance and Issues
In Australia, there are certain principles which are necessary to be followed by companies
regarding their IT governance. Following rules should be followed in the case of Telstra
which are relating to IT governance in Australia.
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 Responsibility: The business manager is responsible for the use and performance of
the IT infrastructure and ensuring that the outcomes are positive by use of IT
structure. It is a key responsibility that the IT structure should be used in the efficient,
effective and acceptable method. In the case of Telstra, the company is responsible for
the effectiveness and efficiency of its IT structure, and it is also reasonable for
maintaining the privacy of its members (Computer Director, 2008).
 Strategy: While using an IT infrastructure, proper alignment of the IT structure which
the corporate objectives are necessary. The corporate objective of Telstra is to provide
high-quality services to customers and maintaining their security, therefore, the
company should invest in improving its cybersecurity infrastructure.
 Acquisition: The decision regarding the investment in the IT structure is focused on
the success of the structure, and both internet and external factors should be evaluated
by the company while making these decisions. Telstra should carefully evaluate the
effectiveness of its IT structure before increasing its investment in the same.
 Performance: The operation and development capacity of the IT system should be in
the balance with the organisations capacity to deliver the required service and
resources. Telstra should ensure that its IT structure is capable for ensuring the
security of its users (Computer Director, 2008).
 Conformance: Both internal and external rules regarding the IT should be
communicated with the stakeholders clearly to avoid confusion and ensure their
enforcement.
 Human Behaviour: While implementation of an IT structure, attributes and needs of
people who are under contract and will be affected by the structure should be taken
into consideration.
Technologies
Following are different technologies which are used by Telstra in its IT infrastructure.
 The company offers 24/7 customer service facility to its customers by using a mobile
application which is available for both Android and iOS devices. Through this
application, the members can interact with others on the crowdsupport platform where
they can resolve their queries.
 The company uses an outage management system for accurately predicting the size
and duration of the outage, calculating costs and raise alarms regarding the same.
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 The corporation uses its platform to promote ‘internet of things’ or IoT technology. It
enables it to connect different devices and services with each other and these devices
can share data with each other to provide effective services.
Advantages
 Telstra has one of the best customer service experiences than compared to other
telecom corporations because it offers 24/7 services to its customers.
 By implementation of a crowdsupport platform, the company is able to provide high-
quality customer service to its customers. Customers can interact with others and
resolve their queries.
 The corporation is able to reduce its operating costs by using these technologies
which assist in increasing its profitability (Gregg, 2016).
 The corporation is able to reach a wider audience through its crowdsupport structure
because its customer services are not restricted based on the area in which the call
centre is established.
 Due to use of digital technology, the company is able to improve the efficiency of its
operations which resulted in increasing the effectiveness of its operations.
Security and Data Control
The corporation has established Security Operations Centre (SOC) which focuses on
managing the security of the company and its customers. The corporation has made
multimillion-dollar investment in establishing SOC to build a T4 facility which protects its
data from cyber breaches (Telstra, 2018b). The customer portal of the company is also
completely transparent, and they can easily check the security environment of the company.
The company also keep its people and premises safe from unauthorised access in order to
ensure that its data is secured. The company continuously monitor its IT infrastructure to
ensure that it is protected against cybercriminals (Telstra, 2018c).
Recommendations
Following recommendations can assist the company in addressing its IT issuers and
improving its overall security.
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1. The company should increase the budget of its IT structure in order to ensure that it
uses world-class cybersecurity infrastructure for protecting its data and customer
privacy from cybercriminals.
2. The company should use encryption to protect its data from a cyber-breach. By using
encryption, the company can convert its data into secret codes which can only be
accessed by the person who has the key to decrypt such data. It will protect the data of
company during transmission and ensure the privacy of customers.
3. The company should increase the awareness among its customers that use its
crowdsupport platform. It should encourage them to use strong passwords and other
security features such as two-step verification to ensure that they are able to protect
their data.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, Telstra is able to gain and maintain a competitive advantage in the
telecommunication industry by providing high-quality services to its customers. The
company provides such services by using its 24/7 mobile application and crowdsupport
infrastructure. In order to understand the ethical issues relating to the company, doing ethics
technique is used in the report. Based on such framework, different ethical issues are
identified in the report such as privacy and security concerns of customers, the vulnerability
of data breach, the risk of cyber-attacks, loss of jobs due to automation, and others. The best
solution is that the company should invest in improving its security in order to ensure that the
data of the company and its customers are safe. Different IT governance factors which are
necessary to be followed by the corporation are included in the report, and the technologies
which are used by the company are provided as well. The company uses these technologies to
maintain its competitive advantage in the industry, and it focuses on improving the security
and data control. Various recommendations are given to the company for improving its
security such as the use of data encryption, increase awareness among members, and
investment in top-notch cybersecurity infrastructure. Based on these recommendations, the
company could improve the privacy of its customers and data and sustains its competitive
advantage in the industry.
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