The Right to Privacy and Personal Life - Research Proposal Example

1. Basically the central ethical problem here pertains to the aspect of confidentiality with regards to whether to divulge any sensitive information they would retrieve from hard drives which may be out of their jurisdiction. By ethics, we mainly refer to the aspect of doing something that is morally good and beneficial to the society as a whole. The main question surrounding this case is most probably this one; ‘Is it proper to loose public trust over divulging unsubstantiated information?’ First and foremost, it must be borne in mind that Recoupabyte Confidential Inc is a data recovery company that specializes in recovering data from different kinds of computers. Their main guiding principle is the aspect of confidentiality with customer data. Indeed, there is need to inculcate public trust in order to get more customers. Data recovery business is a very sensitive one which deals with handling customer information hence there is need to maintain good reputation in order to remain in business. One of the guiding principles of this data recovery company is the aspect of confidentiality and this company is working as a private entity not a jury or ought to perform other undercover investigations which is vital for the sake of earning public trust. Except in cases where someone is planning criminal actions such as murder, the company should not easily divulge any other personal information which in most cases is private that would have been retrieved from customers’ computers. In the given case, a technician comes across what seems to be a sensitive murder case. However, he should basically take into consideration the fact that their company is guided by principles which seek to ensure public trust. On the other hand there is need to safeguard the interests of the public such as safety against criminal activities. The only problem emanating from this case study is that the alleged evidence of murder found in the study may not be abundant enough to lay a case against a client given that it may be fictional writing. After all, this company is not out to probe or do investigative work but only to recover data foe the clients. 2. Roughly translated, an organisations ethics come down to the standards that are followed in relationship with others. This basically is the real integrity of the organisation. Mills’ principle cited in Fraser Seitel (1995) states that, “ethical considerations always seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number.” The operations of any given organisation should be within the generally acceptable standards in society of which they operate from. The aspect of privacy is also one very important component of the concept of ethics. Every human being is entitled to the right to privacy and personal life. Some information deemed to be private should be respected and treated with confidentiality for the sake of safeguarding other personal interests whereby life is often treated with due respect. In this given scenario, the client’s privacy is ought to be respected for the sake of gaining credibility and moral trust among the public. It is also in the interest of both the company and the customers to trust each other wherever there is business being conducted which gives a lasting impression of satisfaction among a wide range of people that would be affected especially by the operations of that company. Some of the potential solutions to the problems raised may involve positive engagement with the client before rushing to divulge any information that may lack evidence at the end of the day. In this case, there is need to verify the evidence found if it may be of any substance. But after all, Recoupabyte’s business does not include doing investigative work which would be out of its jurisdiction. So basically, one main solution to this problem raised is for the data recovery company to concentrate on its core business which is data recovery not to venture into any other extra business which may not be meant for them to do but which may only detract their normal operations. This alleged information on murder found in the case may be fictitious so rather than wasting time pursuing other business which is not designed to be theirs would only help create a bad image about them. This information which particularly state that ethics should seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number is quite relevant to this given case. If the customers are satisfied, it means more happiness to them and this would also mean that there would be more trust among the people in the society who would make up the clientele base. They would also build trust and confidence. On the other hand, the recovery data company would build public trust which would be for its own benefit in business. So basically, the relevant aspect is the need to build trust and confidence in each other. 3. In this given case there are most likely two main solutions that may be taken in resolving the issue arising from reading the case study carefully. Recoupabyte may either leave the case to rest then just retrieve the customer’s data and give it to him as per their stipulated operations or either they may seek the intervention of the law enforcing agents who may be better positioned to take appropriate measures. However, both these solutions have certain implications on different stakeholders. By simply leaving it, the company would have nothing to loose. In fact its reputation would not be affected and it would continue to enjoy the trust of the public. By virtue of valuing confidentiality, Recoupabyte is most likely to establish itself as a force to reckon with in the society as many people would know that their data would always be in the safe hands which is a positive move towards building a positive image. By just doing their job of retrieving data, Recoupabyte would continue to enjoy the trust of the public. By not divulging any would be sensitive information, they would not raise any curiosity in the public or any suspicion. It would not be very proper for them to raise curiosity in the public which would like to probe further into getting full details of the case involved which in turn would affect its operations in several ways. The most negative impact would be its loss of credibility which would mean that it would loose its customers as they would no longer have any trust in them. On the other hand, Recoupabyte may need to alert the law enforcement agents to investigate into the issue. This would be a positive move for the good of the public, morally. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the social environment is safe to live in without the elements of criminality. By alerting the security agents about the issue, this would help the society to get rid of unwanted criminal elements which may make the place dangerous and unsafe to stay which would be a positive move for the benefit of the public. However, it must also be noted that this would have negative implications on various stakeholders involved. There would be likely chances that it would loose the bulk of its customers because they would no longer have any trust in them. They would feel insecure to entrust them with their sensitive data. In any case if this would be proved to be a fictitious story, the company would have destroyed its own image which would mean that there would be no more customers. 4. The consequential theory is more often concerned with taking appropriate action in attempting to solve a problem raised. It is of the view that taking appropriate measures would ensure that an amicable solution is found to the problem which would satisfy everyone involved. Thus according to Mills’ utility principle which recommends the “greatest happiness for the greatest number” categorically states that any course of action should seek to impress almost everyone involved. For the sake of the benefit of the stakeholders involved, I think this central principle would be most appropriate with reference to conducting business interest. By attempting to strike a balance between satisfying both the public and the company, it would be most likely that positive results would be seen based on mutual trust and respect among the various stake holders involved. This would involve the observation of confidentiality which is very vital in the operations of business. In this case it would imply that respecting other people’s confidentiality is a very positive step towards achieving public trust. In attempting to resolve the problem outlined in the case study above, I think this would be more appropriate in that it would not create unnecessary restlessness which at the end of the day may be proved wrong. So basically the whole issue here is concerned with the aspect of confidentiality. On the other hand the natural rights law put more emphasis on people’s private life which should be respected. It is everyone’s right to enjoy privacy in life therefore this right should not be infringed. The outlined case study points to a sensitive issue with information related to murder. However, every human being also has the right to pursue his or her own goals in life in a peaceful environment. It would therefore, be morally right for Recoupabyte to expose such information that has links to murder. This would be in the interest of the public safety. Though there would be likely chances that this case may be proved to be fiction, the public would still be sympathetic with them as this would have been done in the interest of the safety of the public. It should also be taken into consideration that each and every human being should enjoy to live peacefully in any given society hence any information related to murder must come out for the sake of safety. 5. I personally think that the most appropriate action that can be taken here is to simply put the issue to rest given that the information retrieved from the computer alone in this case cannot be in all earnest proof that the murder was committed for real. After all, this organisation is guided by the principles of respecting confidentiality by virtue of fully knowing that they would deal with a lot of sensitive information. It may prove costly for the organisation should they try to take another route of working on the information to probe the truth about the matter. Therefore this course of action would be ethically best though it may not reflect morality on behalf of the society. Firstly, they would need to make investigations which point to the effect that this murder case was real. Evidence from the case study shows that there was no murder reported but rather just a missing person reported around the dates recorded on the pictures. This may just be a coincidence but above all, there is need verify facts before proceeding with next step of alerting the law enforcements agents as there would be so many logistics involved. It must also be assumed that maybe it is just fictitious writing which has no connection whatsoever with the missing person. What if the missing person was not murdered? These are some of the questions that need to be addressed before attempting to rush into premature decisions. Whilst it would be morally good for the public to report murder cases, in this case the only evidence available cannot be relied on too much given that only a missing person was reported and it is not known if he was murdered. This would cause a public outcry as they would need to get full details of the whole issue. This would cause mistrust which would result in the loss of credibility over divulging unsubstantiated information. 6. Whilst the decision mentioned above not to divulge information is considered to be ethically best, morally it may not be the right thing to do for the benefit of the members of the society who should enjoy to live in a peaceful environment. From a moral point of view, it can be argued that the society has the right to know the elements which are life threatening such as murder related cases as there is need to get rid of criminal elements in society. However, regardless of the arguments against the decision raised above, in defense, it can still be argued that there is every need to respect confidentiality when you are dealing with other people’s sensitive data. Above all, respect of confidentiality is the guiding principle for Recoupabyte which should treat all the information with the strictest confidence it deserves. It can still be argued that this information alone found in the case study is not evidence that a murder was truly committed. Instead of wasting time and resources in trying to find out the truth about this case, it would be advisable to carry on with normal business operations as this may be costly to the company. Firstly, it would affect it reputation where clients would loose confidence in them and secondly, it could be proved in any way that the whole story would have been just fiction that would likely to send a negative impression. After all they are not mandated to do investigative work which is the responsibility of the police though there would be need to provide them with links which can be used in fighting against crime. 7. In this case I learned a lot of experience with regards to ethical considerations especially when in business. The most important thing that should always be done is to show respect for the guiding principles which determine and shape the operations of your business. If you violet your own principles, then there would be a very big problem in attempting to achieve the goals set and to establish a positive reputation for the company. I also learnt that it is equally dangerous to make premature decisions as they would negatively impact on the operations of your business. Whilst it would be in the public interest to expose information related to murder cases, there would still be need to take precautionary measures such as attempting to verify if the information would be of any substance. In trying to solve such problems in future, I would clearly specify all the necessary information for easier understanding by all customers. For instance, instead of saying all the information is confidential, I would need to specify certain information that may not be confidential which is related to murder in any case. Most importantly there is every need and reason to uphold the company policies and principles which always guide the operations of that company. Failure to do so may result in loosing credibility from customers as they would no longer trust in your organisation. Read More