Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Bradley Smith
Professor Flores
ENG 1201
4/18/19
technology occupations is projected to grow 13 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the
average for all occupations.” (Computer and IT Occupations). The glaring growth in technology
and innovation has spiked the growth of IT fields and as stated will continue to grow at an
alarmingly fast rate. This exceptional growth will introduce many concerns and ethical issues
that will be unregulated. A particular and serious concern that stems from this rapid growth in
Information Technology is the concern for Privacy and ethical issues that can and will arise from
it. “Data Privacy is about access, use and collection of data, and the data subject’s legal right to
the data.” (Lee). What is personal data? What does it mean to violate someone’s right to their
own data or privacy? What kind of practices in relation to Privacy would be considered ethical or
would violate Data Protection laws? Would some practices be considered legal but not
necessarily ethical? All of these questions provide curious thought into dangerous scenarios if
not handled properly. Severe dangers through the ethical issues of Privacy stem from practices
involving or related to data collection and mining, spyware, and workplace monitoring. What
techniques used such as data mining, spywares, and workplace monitoring? How do these
unregulated providing employers and those with access to personal data with infinite power with
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not enough legal restriction and the relationship between personal data and privacy rights is
heading down a dangerous route because of this lack of regulation and legislative
implementation. The dangers of practices relating to Personal Data and Privacy such as Data
Mining, Spyware, and Workplace Monitoring go glaringly unnoticed and they can too easily
Personal data is defined as any piece of information that can be tied to an identity or
individual. The General Data Protection Regulation in the UK explains this as data that includes
information relating to people that can be directly or indirectly identified by that information.
The main list of identifiers can include things such as a name, identification number, data about
location, or online identifiers and handles including IP addresses, cookies and more. You do not
need someone’s name to directly identify them from personal data and other information
obtained. It can be processed and extrapolated to reveal someone’s identity based on correlation.
Information that can indirectly identify a person can also be considered personal data. This
involves data that “relates to” an individual and provokes questions that must be answered such
as if the content of the data, the purpose you will process the data, and the results or outcomes of
that can reference to or link to an individual. Data mining and processing information can be
tricky because some organizations may process information for purposes that the identity does
not matter while other organizations can process the same information for purposes that can be
Jeroen van den Hoven, a professor specializing in the ethics of information technology,
evolution of Privacy and Information Technology and how they are related. Hoven articulates the
perceptions and value of privacy and personal data and discusses some regulations on the matter.
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One of the principal regulations implemented through data protection laws involve the
requirement of consent of those whose personal information is being obtained. Hoven continues
by discussing the impacts of IT evolutions on privacy stemming from technologies such as social
media and Big Data. Social media infrastructures have impacted privacy in ways such as
provoking users to provide personal data for access to their platforms. Other functions such as
the ability to “like” things on these platforms can provide information to anyone who can see that
information. A way to counteract the dangers of this is to implement privacy settings but that
does not limit the access of the platform itself to your information. Big Data demonstrates an
even more dangerous thought as user behavior becomes the target of information then. Things
such as browsing history, search terms entered and internet transactions can play a big role in
creating a profile about a specific user. Hoven also expresses later on that evolutions of
Information Technology can also provide solutions to these ethical issues implementing privacy
techniques and algorithms to provide better security for users. Hoven provides insights into the
powers of practices such as data mining and how it is violating privacy and personal data rights.
In summary, the insight and expertise Hoven produces demonstrates the necessity of regulation
and legal implementation on Personal Data and protection over the privacy of that information.
In his article on Towards Data Science, Sidath Asiri defines Data Mining as “collecting
and inspecting data to develop and extract patterns to provide valuable insights”. Asiri has a
Bachelor’s in Computer Science and he studies and publishes articles on all kinds of Data
Science related topics. He continues by explaining that it involves a combination of various data
sources relating to aspects such as market trends, demographics, financial data, etc. Asiri then
goes on to determine that data collection is the first of a four-step process in implementation of
data mining. The following steps include Data Cleaning, Data Analysis, and Interpretation. Data
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collection is as simple as it sounds and that is to obtain large amounts of data to utilize for
analysis. Then, the data cleaning phase involves determining what data is valuable and worth
using further and removing any data that is not necessary or could falsify conclusions based on
the data obtained. Third, the data analysis phase reviews and analyzes the “cleaned” and filtered
data to determine patterns and apply algorithms to the data. Finally, after analysis is completed
the Interpretation phase draws critical conclusions on the data and can be used for predictions
based on the future of related data. There are various ways that data mining and collection can be
utilized and these ways come from many different motivations. He supports his information by
demonstrating the application and result of data mining through a graph displaying which aspects
in business have the most to gain from data mining techniques. The biggest motives for utilizing
data mining practices are in fields of Sales, Marketing and interpreting Customer Behaviors and
trends. Asiri’s studies provide a great foundation on the process and implementation of data
mining and provides critical information into the ways that it can be used and how it can easily
be exploited. One of the major ethical issues in the eyes of the general public is data mining
Social Media Mining is “the process of representing, analyzing, and extracting actionable
patterns from social media data”. (McCourt). In her article on Yale’s Media Freedom and
Information Access website, Abby McCourt details a 2017 study “published in the Journal of
Advertising that use social media mining techniques to gauge users’ perception of a variety of
common brand names.” The study utilized programming interfaces and algorithms to analyze
tweets based on company handles as keywords and found some fascinating information. They
determined that 15.7% of tweets about fast-food restaurants were about promotions the chains
were offering and that 66.7% of tweets about Comcast contained a negative statement. It
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demonstrates usage of data mining that provides useful information for these companies to help
determine what they need to focus on or work towards in being more successful businesses.
McCourt goes on to present another study to demonstrate major ethical issues in relation to data
mining and explains that there is a very fine line between what is ethical in data mining and what
is not. This study utilized the same programming interface with Twitter but this time the study
analyzed geotagged tweets revealing locations of those whose tweets were being studied. That
provides major ethical issues and invasion of privacy. This sort of data mining could be a breach
of first amendment rights in relation to freedom of speech and expression. In the second study
explained by McCourt, she states “The researchers continued this practice for one year,
seemingly unbeknownst to the Twitter-using patrons…”. These studies that McCourt presents
demonstrate potential beneficial usage on data mining techniques for corporate business’ to be
better. However, the dangers of these techniques added with the power that they possess and how
easily it could be exploited suggest even further that there must be regulation over theses
According to the International Comparative Legal Guides (ICLG), “Laws protecting data
and consumer privacy are based on the principle that an individual has an expectation of privacy
unless that expectation has been diminished or eliminated by agreement, statute or disclosure.”
This statement along with the statement from McCourt on her studies argues that the second
study is completely invasive and unethical based on the subjects having no knowledge
whatsoever or any consent that their personal data and locations be used for this data mining
study. Data mining seems to have a few beneficial uses to it through certain areas such as
studying Consumer Behavior, sales/marketing, etc. but the lines for ethical practice are clear and
must be followed strictly because personal data is sensitive. However, the relationship of Big
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Data and Privacy is an intriguing element when diving into the discussions of ethical practices
Tom Price, a journalist published articles for research databases focusing on public
affairs involving technology and science, reports and analyzes the impacts of Big Data on
Privacy and outlines the relationship between the two. He begins by explaining the evolutions of
technology and how Big Data has provided positive changes in the world such as medical
advances and scientific breakthroughs and also aiding in business modeling. He also explains
how governments utilizing Big Data have evolved into using it in fighting terrorism and crime.
Price also provides a fascinating statistic that in 2000, only 25% of the world’s information was
digital while that number today is up to 98%. This articulates the infinite power of information
and control over the digital world and domains even more supporting the crucial impacts of data
protection and privacy. Price goes on to weigh the pros and cons of big data to determine the
effectiveness versus the harm that it can generate. He provides support by showing that 55% of
Americans believe data collection is a negative and invasive practice. He repeatedly refers to life
demonstrates that the U.S. invokes laws to protect certain kinds of data such as financial or
medical information. Price continues by providing background on the history of Big Data and its
relationships with aspects of life such as politics. Then he discusses an intriguing debate on
introducing new laws to prevent collection of personal data. The positive arguments lay out that
companies and search engines have the capabilities to protect your information but simply are
not required to do so suggesting that we have the means but there are no regulations or laws to
enact them. The negative arguments examine counterarguments to the ideas that new regulation
puts users in the driver’s seat. These arguments suggest educating users on how their data is
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obtained and showing them how to protect it with the current regulations implemented already.
They also explain the serious dangers and why implementing regulations over such practices is
necessary as some of these practices can yield terrifying results if not controlled in an ethical
Veracode defines spyware as “any software that installs itself on your computer and starts
covertly monitoring your online behavior without your knowledge or permission.” Based off of
that definition alone it can be inferred that any spyware would be deemed unethical in the
definitions of the data protection and privacy laws by the ICLG. Veracode goes on to explain
spyware further mentioning that it gathers personal information such as your name, address,
browsing habits, etc. and relays that information to third-parties. There are also more severe
types of spyware called a “keylogger” that steals your username, password or other credentials.
Not only is this unethical but it is illegal and would be deemed cybercrime. Main motivations for
utilizing spyware would be similar to data mining such as marketing strategies however most
intentions are malicious and intend to steal personal information to commit crimes such identity
Consider this account published in an article by Laura Sydell. She presents a terrifying
usage of malware from an incident in early 2018 in Ohio. “A 28-year-old man who allegedly
hacked into thousands of computers to watch and listen to users has been indicted in Ohio.”
(Sydell) The article continues by explaining that the man has been hacking into computers for
over 13 years working out of the basement of his parent’s house. It also mentions that this man
was able to remotely access computers that he had infected with malware, named FruitFly, and
turn on the cameras and microphones of the computers as well as record keystrokes. For extra
measures the man also programmed the malware to alert him if a user was watching
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pornography. This sort of case is a bone-chilling example of just how dangerous and unethical
spyware can become. In summary, based on the definition of what spyware is and how it
functions there are no ethical cases or usage for it because it intends to function without the
knowledge of those whose computers are infected with the software. Sydell’s report
demonstrates the danger and power of these practices and how they must be regulated and
However, workplace monitoring may have the most ethical issues and implications when
it comes to personal data and privacy. Workplace surveillance or monitoring can be defined as
employers monitoring or watching activity through channels such as mobile devices, computers,
etc. There are different versions of workplace monitoring and some may be a little more
extensive such as keystroke monitoring. Major motivations behind workplace monitoring include
protect corporate resources and assets. Another motivation for workplace monitor would be to
study habits of employees and develop strategy based on the information received work towards
their business goals. Ethical and legal use of workplace monitoring can be enforced as employers
can require consent of potential employees to allow for workplace monitoring upon agreement.
However, workplace monitoring is a hot topic right now as a lot of it is unregulated so while
much of it may not be considered ethical, it could still be legal. Again, this provides another
concerning thought as the power given to these employers can be exploited in dangerous ways. A
recent study reported in April 2018 describes ethical issues that arise from “the electronic
have always had legal justification for electronic workplace surveillance, as the U.S. courts have
consistently ruled in the employer’s favor Wallace outlines the tools used in workplace
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surveillance and discusses the benefits and consequences of them. He also provides ethical
consideration on these practices. Recent data claims that around 78% of U.S. businesses monitor
their employees in some way or another. He explains that civil liberties groups fighting
workplace monitoring struggle to make progress in their efforts. Later, Wallace begins to outline
the benefits of it such as increased security, risk management, and enhanced productivity. He
details that electronic monitoring severely cuts employee theft cases and misuse of time as well
as deterring unprofessional behavior. Electronic surveillance can also increase productivity based
on employees working harder and using their time more wisely. Wallace then gets into the
negative impacts of workplace monitoring discussing issues such as diminished privacy, impacts
on mental health, increased distrust and abuse of power. He outlines that humans have rights to
their privacy and not being used by others and sometimes need that personal space and time to
just be alone with their thoughts which can foster innovation and creative thinking. The mental
health issues that can plague employees from stress and emotional issues stemming from a sense
of always being watched is a dangerous impact that should not be messed with. Employees may
also view electronic monitorization as an indication of mistrust from the company which can
lead to a high-tension and hostile work setting. He explains the abuse of power that employers
have when implementing such practices through coercion, blackmail, discrimination and more.
Wallace concludes that employers have an immense amount of power from practices such as
workplace monitorization and that employees must be aware of when it is justified and if not
take necessary action. Furthermore, this reinforces the thought that a Code of Conduct or
Wanbil Lee presents an ethical approach to Data Privacy Protection and ideas to solve the
problems facing the Information Age today. Lee articulates the process of a person’s legal rights
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to their personal data and describes the protection process of these elements. He details ways to
implement data privacy protection and the complexities of developing these methods. Lee gives
his thoughts and inputs for technical and social solutions as to creating international principles to
provide data protection. Lee provides thoughts such as implementing safeguarding data and
creating a sense of awareness on the dangers of protecting personal data. Lee explains that an
issue on this matter is that countries have different regulation and explains the different
implementations of these in the world such as the U.S., Europe, Asia and internationally. Lee
lays out a regulation provided by Hong Kong detailing Six Data Protection Principles of PDPO
that many countries reference on the matter. He concludes that implementation of a Code of
Conduct is necessary for providing guidance in creating data privacy standards to allow ethical
and professional ways of obtaining data. He finishes with stating that the two reasons this is a
necessity are information security will continue to become more complicated stemming from
new risks and the dangers of privacy infringement becoming more frequent due to these
technological advances. Lee provides in great detail some wonderful food for thought on ways to
move forward in the vastly growing industry of IT although the dangers still highly outweigh the
Take a look at these statistics researched by the Pew Research Center; who conducts
research and social science analysis on public opinion, content analysis and more. The article,
published in their Internet and Technology area by Mary Madden and Lee Rainie, provides some
fascinating reports and statistics on the public opinions of privacy in our everyday lives. Take a
Fig. 1. This chart shows the responses of Americans when asked how important these issues are
to them in relation to their privacy in their every day lives. (Madden and Rainie)
This study demonstrates the strong opinions that Americans have on their privacy and
that 93% of Americans would like to be in control of who has access to information about us.
Unfortunately, that is not the case at all and these statistics support the claims that regulation and
legal implementation over personal data and privacy is necessary because with the right skills
and software anyone can have access to anyone and 93% of America does not like the sound of
that. This report shows that accessing a person’s information without consent would be
personal data and information such as data mining and collection, spyware and workplace
monitoring. When analyzing the dangerous practices of data mining and collection it potentially
can be used for beneficial motivations and ethically however regulations suggest users require
knowledge that their personal data is being used for such purposes. Currently there is not enough
regulation to protect users from such practices. In regards to spyware, there does not seem to be
any ethical usage of it as its main intention or purpose is for obtaining information with criminal
motive. When it comes to workplace monitoring, this has been a controversial topic the last few
years as it can generate ethical implication although it is not well regulated and there are
beneficial uses of it. A conclusion to workplace monitoring would be that it allows for ethical
practice upon agreement and consent of employees and awareness throughout the company on
the ethical uses of it. In conclusion, there are too many gray areas and unregulated usages of
these issues in relation to privacy and as innovation and IT rapidly increases this margin will
grow with it. Therefore, awareness must be promoted as it will be critical in striving for ethical
practices when it comes to the protection and privacy of personal data and activities. And finally,
we must push for implementation of laws protecting personal data and privacy because 93% of
America calls for power over who can have access to your information but in today’s world with
the regulation we have over the digital world gaining access to that information is all too easy
Works Cited
“Computer and Information Technology Occupations.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.
technology/home.htm.
“Data Mining in Brief.” Towards Data Science, Towards Data Science, 23 Dec. 2017,
https://towardsdatascience.com/data-mining-in-brief-26483437f178.
Hoven, Jeroen van den, et al. “Privacy and Information Technology.” Stanford Encyclopedia of
privacy/.
“International Comparative Legal Guides.” Data Protection 2018 | USA, Global Legal Group, 12
Lee, Wanbil W., et al. “An Ethical Approach to Data Privacy Protection.” ISACA, 2016,
www.isaca.org/Journal/archives/2016/volume-6/Pages/an-ethical-approach-to-data-
privacy-protection.aspx.
Madden, Mary, and Lee Rainie. “Americans' Attitudes About Privacy, Security and
www.pewinternet.org/2015/05/20/americans-attitudes-about-privacy-security-and-
surveillance/.
McCourt, Abby. “Social Media Mining: The Effects of Big Data in the Age of Social
media-mining-effects-big-data-age-social-media.
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Price, Tom. “Big Data and Privacy.” CQ Researcher, Sinclair Community College, 25 Oct. 2013,
library.cqpress.com.sinclair.ohionet.org/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2013102
500&type=hitlist&num=0.
Sydell, Laura. “Ohio Man Charged with Putting Spyware on Thousands of Computers.” NPR,
www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2018/01/12/577761143/ohio-man-charged-with-
putting-spyware-on-thousands-of-computers.
ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Co
lumns/Ethics/Electronic-Surveillance-of-Nurses.html.
protection-regulation-gdpr/key-definitions/what-is-personal-data/.