Ethical Practice in IT: Data Ownership and Ethical Perspectives

This essay examines the ethical implications of data ownership in the digital era, specifically focusing on the practices of IT companies regarding user data. The essay begins by introducing the issue of IT giants collecting personal information in exchange for free services and the subsequent use of this data for analytics. It then analyzes the situation through four ethical perspectives: Utilitarianism, Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and Contract Theory. The Utilitarianism perspective considers whether the actions of IT companies maximize happiness. Deontology assesses the rightness of the actions themselves, emphasizing transparency and user awareness. Virtue Ethics examines the companies' behavior in relation to moral character. Contract Theory evaluates whether the actions adhere to societal rules and regulations concerning data ownership. The essay concludes that, based on the analysis through these ethical frameworks, the current practices of IT companies concerning user data are not ethically sound, particularly regarding transparency and user consent. The essay also includes a comprehensive list of references in APA format.

Running head: ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Utilitarianism Perspective................................................................................................................2
Virtue Perspective............................................................................................................................4
Contract Perspective........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

2
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
Introduction
The main objective of the selected paper is to discuss about the ownership of the data and
information in the digital era. It has been seen that many of IT giants are providing free services
and for those services entering the personal information into account is necessary. The
companies are collecting the personal information in this way and using this information in the
data mining and other analytical process (University, 2019). The ethical issue regarding this is
concerned about the use of the personal information by other people and groups and weather the
data should be treated like commodity or not. In this context, it can be said that most of the
people are unknown about the fact that their personal information are being cloned by the IT
organizations (Gotterbarn, 2017). The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the situation
through four aspects of ethical practices. This will help to understand the mentioned problem
from different perspective. The conclusion can be drawn from the discussion indicating whether
it is ethical practice or not.
Utilitarianism Perspective
According to the Utilitarianism perspective an act can be regarded as ethical act if the
result of the act can make maximum number of people happy. In case of using the personal data
by IT giants, this theory of ethics can be applied in order to evaluate the event.
The data and information are provided by the individuals for getting the free service from
IT data giants. In exchange of providing the personal information, people will get the free
services from these IT organizations (Abbasi, Sarker & Chiang, 2016). These free services are
making people happy (Martin & Murphy, 2017). So, in this context, it can be said that the act

3
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
carried out by IT giants are making people happy through the free services. On the basis of this
it can be said from the Utilitarian perspective the act is ethical.
However, the information collected from the individual person are used by the IT
organizations for data mining and other purpose (Newell & Marabelli,2015). In this case, the
cloning of the data is done by these organizations. In this case, the question can be raised
regarding the ownership of the data and information (Smith & Wong,2016). The use of the
information by the IT giants can cause security threats for the individuals as their personal
information can be misused. From this point of view , this can cause harm to the maximum
number of people.
It can be said that according to this theory of ethics, that data provided by the people to
the organization and the use of information by the organizations is not ethical as in short term
this practice can make people happy in short term but can be harmful in long-term.
Deontology Perspective
The deontology theory suggests that the rightness of the action can indicate ethical
rightness of that respective act. This theory gives emphasis on the act itself rather than the result
of the work. The data and information are given by the person himself or herself. In exchange
they are getting the free service. The personal data and information are treated as the commodity
in this case. However, people are not aware that their personal information are used and cloned
by the organizations like Google and Facebook. This can violate the security of the people. The
organizations are not taking any steps about their activities to the common people. The free
services provided y the Google and Facebook can create happiness for the large number of
people, however, it has been seen that there is lack of transparency in handling of the data

4
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
(Conway & O’Connor,2016). Apart from that the question raises if the free services claimed by
the IT organizations are really free or not. It has been seen that the users are getting “free
services” in exchange of their personal information which is valuable for them. This also raises
the question about the ownership of the information.
The lack of transparency in data handling and not mentioning the future of the personal
information provided by the individuals indicates the act is not ethical according to the theory of
Deontology.
Virtue Perspective
Virtue perspective of the ethics implies that the practice of belief of doing the right thing
and maintaining natural inclination towards the rightness is more effective than following a set of
rules and principals. In the virtue perspective, the act of doing ethical things is largely dependent
on the person.
People are providing personal information and data to the IT giants like Facebook and
Google for getting the free service. These data are collected by organization and are used for the
data analytics. In this case, the data are not stolen from the database, however, data are cloned.
Most of the people providing information to the internet are unaware about this act of IT
companies. However, IT companies know the whole process and scenario and they are aware
that there is chance for the misuse of the information, but these companies are not taking step to
maintain the and enhance the security of the individual’s privacy (Diakopoulos, 2015). It has
been seen that the practice carried by the IT organization does not support the rightness and the
behaviour of these organizations in this matter does not inclined towards the rightness as they are

5
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
not taking any step in this case. From the virtue principal of ethics it can be said that this practice
is not ethical.
Contract Perspective
In order to live in a society people has to maintain some rules and regulation in order to
maintain the harmony. Rightness and the wrongness of the work can be judged on the basis of
the certain parameters. If a work is illegal on the basis of those certain parameters, the work is
not permissible.
In case of data ownership, the concept of ownership is violated by the IT organizations.
People are providing their personal information for getting the free services from the IT
organization. These information are stored by the IT organizations and are cloned for the usage
of different other purpose. Most of the people are not aware of the fact that their valuable
information are being used for the other purpose without their concern (Diouf & Boiral,2017) .
However, IT companies know the whole process and scenario and they are aware that there is
chance for the misuse of the information, but these companies are not taking step to maintain the
and enhance the security of the individual’s privacy.
There are some of the rules and regulations regarding the business run by the IT
organizations. However, no specific law is mentioned regarding the use of personal information
collected from the individuals and uses them on other purpose (Mikal, Hurst & Conway,2016).
However, it can be said from the discussion that the use of the data and information collected
from the common users is not ethical from contract perspective of the ethics as it does not
support the moral parameters,

6
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
Conclusion
The discussion has been done regarding the ownership of the data in the internet. The
data and information related to the individual person in provided to the internet and data giants
like Facebook and Google. However, with providing these personal and sensitive information
people are getting free services and access to the various online platforms. The IT organizations
are cloning the information and using them in various analysis purpose without letting people
know that their information is being used by them. This practice of the organizations enhances
the chance of data breaching. However, the organizations are not taking any steps regarding this
and people becoming the main victim of data breaching. Apart from that it raises the issues
about ownership of the data. It has been said that the free services are not free as they are
claiming personal information of the individuals. The discussion is done through the application
of the different ethical perspectives. The different ethical perspectives allows to view the
problem from different points of views and different attributes of this problem has been
discussed. From this discussion it can be said that the practice carried out by the IT organization
regarding the use of the user’s personal data and information for other purpose in not ethical as it
does not support any of the ethical theories.

7
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
References
Abbasi, A., Sarker, S., & Chiang, R. H. (2016). Big data research in information systems:
Toward an inclusive research agenda. Journal of the Association for Information
Systems, 17(2).
Conway, M., & O’Connor, D. (2016). Social media, big data, and mental health: current
advances and ethical implications. Current opinion in psychology, 9, 77-82.
Diakopoulos, N. (2015). Algorithmic accountability: Journalistic investigation of computational
power structures. Digital Journalism, 3(3), 398-415.
Diouf, D., & Boiral, O. (2017). The quality of sustainability reports and impression management:
A stakeholder perspective. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 30(3), 643-
667.
Gotterbarn, D. (2017). The use and abuse of computer ethics. In Computer Ethics (pp. 57-62).
Routledge.
Martin, K. D., & Murphy, P. E. (2017). The role of data privacy in marketing. Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science, 45(2), 135-155.
Mikal, J., Hurst, S., & Conway, M. (2016). Ethical issues in using Twitter for population-level
depression monitoring: a qualitative study. BMC medical ethics, 17(1), 22.
Newell, S., & Marabelli, M. (2015). Strategic opportunities (and challenges) of algorithmic
decision-making: A call for action on the long-term societal effects of ‘datification’. The
Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 24(1), 3-14.

8
ETHICAL PRACTICE IN IT
Smith, L. C., & Wong, M. A. (Eds.). (2016). Reference and Information Services: An
Introduction: An Introduction. ABC-CLIO.
University, S. (2019). Do You Own Your Data?. Retrieved from
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/privacy/do-you-own-your-data/