Answer to Question #252189 in Management for khanyi

Question

In 2018 the Guardian and The New York Times reported on the misuse of 

personal data by Facebook. This lead to serious economic and political 

consequences.

a.Discuss how the greatest happiness principle of Mill was breached by Facebook 

and Cambridge Analytica

b. We differentiate between work values, strategic values and ethical values. 

Describe two ethical values and how these values where undermined by 

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica

c. Would you say that Kant’s second practical imperative was followed by these 

two companies? Motivate your answer?

d.how safe do you feel about your private information after your research? 

What suggestions would you make to safeguard the ethical use of social media?

b.Explain two ways in which we as accountants and internal auditors can remain 

ethical in a world where there are so many new technologies and so much data.

Answer 1

a] Mill's Greatest Happiness Principle establishes that happiness is the ultimate criterion to establish what is moral and what is not, i.e., the ideal moral society is the one where everybody is happy and everybody is free of pain. Facebook breached the happiness by misusing peoples personal data. Cambridge Analytica's improper use of Facebook's data for political purposes presented a massive contemporary unhappiness as Facebook users were not aware of what their data was used for.

b] Facebook and Cambridge Analytica undermined certain ethical issues such as;

i) promoting conduct based on integrity and trust

ii) compliance and governance that is consistent with the organization's core values.

The above ethical issues were undermined seriously by both Cambrige Analytica and Facebook.

c] No, the two companies did not follow the Kant’s second practical imperative which states that Treat humans as ends in themselves. The idea that Kant thought we should treat all people with respect and not use them, this is the idea that you should treat people as a means but not as an ends.

d] Sometimes I feel much insecure about it and thus need to synchronize it and keep it more private. In enhancing privacy in social media, then;

1. Use participant codes to label data instead of using names, and keeping a separate list of code-to-name match-ups.
2. In interview studies, use the participant's first name only (or even using an alias) when recording or publishing data.

e] Objectivity and independence are important ethical values in the accounting profession. Accountants must remain free from conflicts of interest and other questionable business relationships when conducting accounting services. Objectivity and independence are also important ethical values for auditors. They are both faced with Pressure to Manipulate the Figures. Running a business puts you under a great deal of pressure, especially when things are not going well, or at least not as well as you need them to go, sins of omission, access to Information and Confidentiality Issues, and blowing the Whistle. The Ethics code ensures that all members of the company demonstrate integrity and honesty in their work with clients and other professional relationships. The ethics code also prevents accountants from associating themselves with any information that could be misleading or damaging to the client or the organization.