It is widely regarded that privacy is an inferred right of the Constitution. However, this right, summarized in part by the thousands of precedents in U.S courts, conveys the voice of the people…and what is business than to serve the will of the people. The Information Technology industry specifically, is one to regard the will of the people in new innovative ways. These innovations however have led to some great but dangerous creations.
Within our field, we face the continuous pressure of the struggle for privacy in a new information based world. We use Google to search…many times for information intended for public use, and the world gains greatly from this access. However, privacy continually receives a back seat in the creation of new innovative technology. Recently Google launched an application called Google Buzz, intended to suffice small business owners, and individuals intending to contact many people at once. The gains from this application were to be profitable for both the corporation and user. However, this application was created with little recognition to all the parties involved. Among the affected were thousands of now anonymous individuals who had their information accessed by thousands of private corporations and individuals, who then advertised to each individuals specific interests based on their Google search results.
By not stopping to consider the individuals privacy rights, Google created a profitable disaster. The application was profitable to the multi-billion dollar IT company, but caused a disaster to the public, and public trust in this massive corporation. This is only one example of the IT industry’s ethical problems. Google Buzz eventually created some buzz, among the lawyers who filed a class action lawsuit. This multimillion-dollar lawsuit was not the first Google had filed against them, nor the cheapest.
A practical approach by all IT corporations when creating and innovating technology is to ask themselves, “who’s rights am I violating?” This should be all the information necessary to determine whether or not the creation, whether it is an application, a program, or a search engine, should be put up for all users and misusers.
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