STEP IV CASE STUDY & FINAL PAPERA. Based on the analysis in Ste.docx

STEP IV: CASE STUDY & FINAL PAPER
A. Based on the analysis in Step III, choose which theory best
applies to this situation. Add any arguments justifying your
choice of these ethical principles to support your decision.
Consequentialism (Utilitarian) Theory
Deontology Theory
Kant’s Categorical Imperative Principle
Social Contract Theory
Virtue Ethics Theory
NAME THE THEORY HERE: Deontology Theory
B. Explain your choice above: THIS AREA SHOULD BE 4-7
sentences or roughly 100-200 words.
Deontology is an approach to Ethics that focuses on the
rightness or wrongness of actions themselves I choose this
because ethical actions based on normative theories can be
effective in developing better privacy practices for
organizations. A business should be able to admit to making a
mistake. This is especially important to shareholders,
employees, and other stakeholders.It is important for businesses
to operate with transparency. Consumers need to be able to trust
what businesses present to them.
C. Your decision: What would you do? Why? List the specific
steps needed to implement your defensible ethical decision.
THIS AREA SHOULD BE 2 OR MORE PARAGRAPHS (250-
350 words).
Deontology is a theory of ethics that suggests that actions can
either be bad or good when judged based on a clear set of rules.
So what I would do is set these rules in place.
Businesses/companies should uphold the ethical standard of
respect. People personal data shouldn’t be treated as ends rather
than means. Companies should keep personal data about their
customers/users and should be expected to keep this information

private out of respect for these individual’s privacy.
Another rule, Businesses/companies should uphold complete
transparency. This builds not only trust, but help builds a
relationship with the users/customers. And if they don’t
enclosed information the company’s actions would be
considered unethical and wrong. Another rule is that there
should always be accountability. A business/company should
always be able to admit to making a mistake. This is especially
important to shareholders, and stakeholders. They should be
able to own up to missteps even when this could have serious
consequences. With these rules emplaced it would be more
ethical.
D. What longer-term changes (i.e., political, legal, societal,
organizational) would help prevent your defined dilemma in the
future? THIS AREA SHOULD BE 2 OR MORE PARAGRAPHS
(250-350 words).
My dilemma is the misuse of personal information and data. Not
just in social media but, also companies and business. One of
the obvious ways to stop this dilemma is to make it that
companies aren’t allowed to collect and store our personal data.
User data can legally be sold as long as legal conditions for its
collection and sale have been met and there isn’t any regulation
against it. Our data is being sold for profit. This shouldn’t be
allowed. There should be laws and regulations against that.
They are the only ones benefiting and it goes against our
privacy. Sometimes data is stolen and puts the consumers/users
at risk. If we can’t make laws and regulations against it then.
We should always be informed if a company is storing our data
and always be informed what they plan on doing with it. So us
the people know whether we want to use a website or service.
Clearly explaining to website visitors, app users, customers, and
others what a company is requesting consent for, and how
collected data will be used and secured, shows that the company
is investing resources in these consumers and values their
privacy.Obtaining user consent should be looked at as

relationship building, not strip mining. Companies should view
transparency about consent requests and user choice as a key
part of their marketing and branding, not to mention customer
experience
Procurement Outsourcing (PO) Strategies:
PO strategies at the highest level involve either materials or
traditional business processes such as HR, IT, Finance,
Accounting, Travel/Entertainment services,
Marketing/Print/Advertising, or Customer Relationship
Management (CRM). Your task here is to choose a public
business organization and report on what direct materials are
being outsourced. Direct materials are categorized as strategic
(high-impact), bottleneck items (low-profit impact and high-
supply risk), leverage items (high-profit items and low-supply
risk), or non-critical (low-profit impact and low-supply risk).
Describe the outsource process in detail, who provided the
outsourced services, and what direct materials were involved.
You are to prepare a PowerPoint presentation, with a minimum
of twelve (12) slides, to include inline citations, a cover slide,
and a slide of references. Your citations and references should
be APA-compliant.
STEP III: CASE STUDY AND FINAL PAPER STEPS
This step involves assessing the ethical frameworks studied at
the start of the term in relation to your chosen ethical issue for
the case study and final paper. Be sure to go through each
thoroughly; scroll down to cover each of the following sections:
A. Consequentialism (Utilitarian) Theory
B. Deontology Theory
C. Kant’s Categorical Imperative Principle
D. Social Contract Theory
E. Virtue Ethics Theory
A. UTILITARIAN THEORY --- good for the group or majority,

least harm for the group or majority.
Major ethical dilemma question: Should we be okay with our
personal information be collected and stored?
Interpretation of the above analysis:
1. Which alternative results in the least harm in answering the
dilemma yes or no? Why? (There is no right or wrong choice.
Interpret the outcome of the analysis.) For example: the answer
to the question would result in the least harm would be …
because …. .
The answer to the question would be NO because it produces
harm to consumers/users
2. Which alternative results in the maximum benefit in
answering the dilemma yes or no? (There is no right or wrong
choice. Interpret the outcome of the analysis.) For example:
The answer to the question that would result in the maximum
benefit would be … because ….
The answer to the question that would result in the maximum
benefit would be No, because the majority isn’t benefiting, only
the minority.
Conclusion of analysis: the results from #1 and #2.
3. Therefore, based on the above analysis, the utilitarian’s
position on this dilemma would be ….
The Utilitarian theory on this dilemma would be a no
B. DEONTOLOGY THEORY – Rights Violated/Duties

Neglected
Major ethical dilemma question : Should we be okay with our
Interpretation of the above analysis:
In deontology analysis, do the following the above chart:
1.
Identify which stakeholders’ rights have been or may be
violated/abridged.
Consumers/Users
2. Identify what duties have been or may be neglected.
Privacy
3. Remember:
When listing a right, show its corresponding duty and
vice versa.
Final outcome of interpretation: How would you interpret the
outcome of the deontologist’s position on your dilemma?
No
C.
KANT’S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE – Respect
and consistency towards all
The principle of consistency: what if everyone acted this way?

Would be chaos
The principle of respect: Are people treated as ends rather than
means?
Yes, viewed as a gold mine
Interpretation of the above outcome:
1. If a stakeholder is being treated differently, they are also
being treated disrespectfully.
2. If identified stakeholder is a criminal or participating in
criminal behavior, they cannot be treated disrespectfully.
Final outcome of above analysis:
Which alternative is preferable? What would be Kant’s position
to your dilemma?
No, no he wouldn’t not everybody is being treated the same
way, so he would be against it.
D. SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY – Negative and Positive
Rights
Interpretation of above analysis:
1.

Does the ethical question results in negative rights
being identified? Yes or Now? How?
No
2.
Does the ethical question results in positive rights being
identified? Yes or Now? How?
No
Final outcome of analysis:
Is the social contract theory applicable to your ethical question?
How? Why?
Yes it is, social contract theory could be a solution to the
problem.
E. VIRTUE ETHICS THEORY – Morality through Character

Interpretation of above analysis:
1. Does answering the ethical question “yes” results in a
virtuous action by a stakeholder? If that is the case, list the
stakeholder and state how their actions are virtuous.
no
2. Does answering the ethical question ‘no” result in a virtuous
action by a stakeholder? If that is the cse, list the stakeholder
and state how their actions are virtuous.
Yes
Final outcome of analysis:
3. Explain the results (yes or no) to the ethical dilemma
question that identifies stakeholders acting virtuous in this
issue/situation.
None would result in a virtuous action by a stakeholder.
STEP I: CASE STUDY AND FINAL PAPER
TITLE OF ARTICLE/ISSUE (list it here – 50-150
words):Misuse of Personal Information and Data
A. LIST THE RELEVANT FACTS. State facts in complete
sentences. List more than five facts (add rows below as
needed). At the end of your list, reference your source(s); you
should have
at least seven, three of which should be scholarly
secondary sources.
1.
One of the primary ethical dilemmas in our technologically
empowered age revolves around how businesses use personal
information
2.
Companies often gather information to hyper-personalize our

online experiences,
3.
As we browse internet sites, make online purchases, enter our
information on websites, engage with different businesses
online and participate in social media, we are constantly
providing personal details.
4.
Data misuse for personal benefit occurs when someone with
access to personal data abuses that power for their own gain.
5.
Ambiguity occurs when organizations fail to explicitly disclose
how user data is collected and what that data will be used for in
a concise and accessible manner
6.
Advances in technology provide a number of useful products
and services that can
either enhance or threaten personal privacy,
7.
Data misuse is the use of information in ways it wasn’t intended
for. User agreements, corporate policies, data privacy laws, and
industry regulations all set conditions for how data can be
collected and used. Data misuse violates these requirements.
8.
81% of Americans think the potential risks of data collection by
companies about them outweigh the benefits
9.
The ‘terms of use’ are often dense and challenging to process.
10.
Misuse of personal data can inflict harm on another person
REFERENCES(S): Abuse and misuse of - alec.org. (n.d.).
Retrieved November 24, 2022, from https://alec.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/11/Abuse-and-Misuse-of-Personal-Info-
Final-03202013.pdf
Atske, S. (2020, August 17). Americans and privacy:
Concerned, confused and feeling lack of control over their

personal information. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science
& Tech. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-
and-privacy-concerned-confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-
over-their-personal-information/
Bermuda, P. C. (2021, December 2). What's the harm if personal
information is misused? PrivComBermuda. Retrieved November
23, 2022, from https://www.privacy.bm/post/what-s-the-harm-
if-personal-information-is-misused
Black Hat Briefings. (2021, July 20). Retrieved November 24,
2022, from https://i.blackhat.com/USA21/Wednesday-
Handouts/us-21-Michaels-Use-And-Abuse-Of-Personal-
Information-wp.pdf
How can personal data be misused? - The World Financial
Review. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2022, from
https://worldfinancialreview.com/how-can-personal-data-be-
misused/
Sham, S. (2022, March 10). What is data misuse? Okta.
Retrieved November 23, 2022, from
https://www.okta.com/blog/2020/06/data-misuse/
Warby, S. M., Strong, C., & Garrick, A. (2016, January).
2115 Misuse of Private Information. Academic.oup.com.
Retrieved November 23, 2022, from
https://academic.oup.com/book/41317/chapter-
abstract/352233478?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Watters, A. (2021, July 1). 5 ethical issues in technology to
watch for in 2021. Default. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from
https://connect.comptia.org/blog/ethical-issues-in-technology
Welcome to Lexisnexis - Choose Your Path. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 23, 2022, from
https://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/lexispsl/ip/document/393989/5D
S5-S4G1-F18C-X077-00000-
00/Privacy+and+misuse+of+private+information%E2%80%94ov
erview
What are the most common breaches of the right to personal
data protection (Personal Data Misuse)? (n.d.). Retrieved

November 23, 2022, from https://gov.hr/en/what-are-the-most-
common-breaches-of-the-right-to-personal-data-protection-
personal-data-misuse/1882
What constitutes misuse of data? Higgs Newton Kenyon
Solicitors. (2022, March 17). Retrieved November 23, 2022,
from https://hnksolicitors.com/news/what-constitutes-misuse-of-
data/
B. What ethics/values are in question from the above facts/ (list
as many as apply, but there should be at least 3).
1.
Privacy
2.
Integrity
3.
accountability
4.
Social contract theory
5.
C. LIST STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED. List the
individuals/groups who are/may be affected by this issue and
how. Be specific.
Who are affected/Who may be affected?
(i.e., users, platforms, government(s), nonprofits, institutions,
others – be specific about roles, situations, titles, when
relevant)
How are they affected by the dilemma/OR could be affected?
Users
Users information are being misused
Companies
Wrong move could result in a data leak and loss in trust with
the company

STEP II: CASE STUDY AND FINAL PAPER
A. Write several statements or questions that are ethical
dilemmas from this situation. Include as many as apply and that
will help you sort out issues to be analyzed and discussed
further.
1.
Misusing personal information for profit
2.
Leaking of personal data
3.
Should companies be allowed to sell personal data to third
parties?
4.
Should our personal information be collected and stored?
5.
6.
7.
8.

B. What is the ethical dilemma to be resolved NOW? State it
using the form: should someone/something do or not do
something? Keep this statement simple but explanatory. For
example: should people buy pirated software?
C. YOUR MAJOR ETHICAL DILEMMA QUESTION IS (this
should be not only the question but an explanation of why it
matters to the topic discussed, should be 100-250 words):
Personal information has become a gold mine. It’s basically a
valuable currency. Data has been commoditized because of the
value it provides to businesses attempting to reach their
consumer base. For businesses, it’s extremely valuable to know
what kind of products are being searched for and what type of
content people are consuming the most. For political figures,
it’s important to know what kind of social or legal issues are
getting the most attention. These valuable data points are often
exploited so that businesses or entities can make money or
advance their goals. Facebook in particular has come under fire
several times over the years for selling personal data it gathers
on its platform. Most people don’t bat a second eye about this
but they don’t realize their rights of privacy is being impeded
on.

COSC 418: FINAL PAPER
THE ASSIGNMENT
Write a 7-10 pp. paper (or 1750 to 2500 words, not counting
works cited) that takes a position informed
by research on the ethical dilemma(s) associated with the case
study you explored in steps 1-4.
Include a Works Cited page (done in MLA format) with at least
ten sources consulted to learn more
about not only the case but any associated issues; at least five
of your sources should be secondary
critical resources in a peer-reviewed journal or scholarly study
of some kind (many academic
publishers have removed their paywalls in light of COVID-19
circumstances, so it might oddly enough be
easier to download relevant research articles and that alone
would be an interesting topic of its own).
When directly quoting or summarizing a source, you can then
use in-text citations, given the
bibliographic information will be in the concluding works cited
page.
MLA STYLE (in a nutshell) + OTHER SOURCING TIPS
Go to a wonderfully clear website sponsored by the online
writing and learning (OWL) center at Purdue

University: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01 .
This link will take you directly to the MLA Handbook. In the
menu on the left side, click first on "MLA
Formatting Quotations," and look at how quotations should be
integrated into your prose (these rules
apply for any essay you will write). Next, click on "MLA In-
Text citations: The Basics," and review it
carefully, taking special note of where the punctuation goes
when you are dealing with parenthetical
notes. And finally, click on the types of citation you need to
format for your Works Cited.
Do also note that any MS Word processing program has a
“REFERENCES” tab in the menu ribbon at top
of page that can also guide you through the logistics of citing
sources (no matter the format or style
guide). The TU Cook library can also help you access resources,
as they do have subscriptions to
databases and services, which means your netlogin ID will
enable you to download and see items that
might not otherwise be possible to access:
https://libraries.towson.edu/ . Additionally, I on occasion
discover students are not aware of the google scholar search
engine, which is a good shorthand way to
find peer-reviewed articles (the regular google search engine

has no consistent way to prioritize quality
scholarly sources in their search ranking results pages):
https://scholar.google.com/ .
If you now in retrospect understand the case takes up topics
relevant to specific textbook chapters, you
have key terms and existing debates and perspectives to factor
in how you go about explaining your
position and researching the case further, too.
HOW CASE STUDY STEPS 1-4 ENABLES A WORKING
DRAFT TO TAKE SHAPE
Case study steps 1-4 enabled us to lay the groundwork for
researching a topic in greater depth after
focusing on a particular case and the various associated issues it
raises; we also considered how the
philosophical frameworks covered at start of term bear ongoing
relevance to how one would analyze
and reason through broader consequences and impacts.
For the final paper, you will now be attempting to formulate an
argumentative thesis statement that
serves as a kind of answer to the ethical dilemma question you
posed in the second step of the case
study process and that you further refined into conclusions
drawn in step four. If you have rethought

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01
https://libraries.towson.edu/
https://scholar.google.com/
the question or shifted focus after additional research and
reflection as the semester proceeded, that’s
fine and should be expected to be an integral part of any process
of critical inquiry and learning. Step
three prompted us to sort out how the ethical dilemma question
shifted in emphasis, depending on the
philosophical framework at stake, and it could be that further
research and ongoing things learned in
the class or through the scholarship of others prompted you to
reconsider your thinking. A virtue of an
education is that you can and may adapt and reconsider your
thinking when discovering additional
evidence that enables a deeper understanding of a topic. What
matters most for writing an effective
paper would be that you are able to explain your reasoning with
sufficient evidence and examples that
demonstrate the points made. However, it’s also important to
be open-minded about how a “fact” can
be framed or reframed to misdirect attention or to focus on
something that does not capture in fuller
complexity how or why a situation has resulted in other ethical

considerations. As the tech sector too
frequently takes the position of “move fast and break things!”
this kind of deeper, holistic thinking will
be a skill highly valued moving forward in your career and life,
no matter what new-fangled technology
comes onto the scene and no matter whatever short-sighted
justifications might be used to limit
opportunities to rethink the issues and situations at stake.
CONSIDER THE SOURCE
You listen to a heated discussion on the issues. You hear
politicians, celebrities, and pundits bandying
opinions in the media. You explore the tech reviews or opinion
pages in a magazine. You browse a blog.
In all of these experiences, you probably do not accept
opinions, or even what’s presented as fact,
without some discrimination, some sense of considering the
source.
By the same token, when asked to collect research for a paper,
you can’t enter the library or use a
search engine with the idea that every source is equally
respectable and authoritative. Even assuming
that you’ve narrowed down your topic and are exploring articles
that seem relevant, which ones make

the best sources? With so much information available, how do
you judge?
STARTING POINTS FOR EVALUATION
Timeliness: Use the most recent statistics you can find. If your
source isn’t recent, then consider
whether the ideas/opinions/facts need to be understood
differently based on the time that’s passed.
Author: What’s the educational and work experience of the
author that lends authority to the
argument? What else has this person published, and was it well
reviewed? Is there any personal
experience that affects this person’s point of view, making them
a more immediate and useful source or
which contributes to potential partiality in views?
Institutional endorsement, publication, so forth: What
connection does the
author/publication/webpage have to universities, hospitals,
businesses (including tech companies),
government agencies, museums, or other well-recognized
institutions that carry weight or which might
affect the point of view expressed?
THE WILD WEST OF WEB RESOURCES
The Modern Language Association’s (MLA) eighth edition

(2016) recommends that modern-day citation
practices follow a few principles rather than inventing new rules
for each web portal or other emergent
technologies.
MLA recommends that you cite basic traits shared by most
works; the following template identifies the
core elements generally included -- though all may not always
apply, it depends on other source context
factors:
Author
Title of Source
Title of Container
Other Contributors
Version
Number
Publisher
Publication date
Location

ASSESSING SOURCES ON WEBSITES
A starting point for evaluating websites can be understanding
how general top-level domain names (or
gTLDs) work. Here’s a shortlist, by no means comprehensive:
you need to assess whether it’s
a random student’s website, something backed by the university
or a scholar’s own academic
page).
reliable for data and information
about an issue. Some, however, of course support the agency
that supports them or might have
tacit political assumptions that determine what is or isn’t
publicly shared. The county
commission’s website won’t criticize the county government,
for example.
-profit status, which may make it an
advocacy group of some kind.
Information is intended to support a point of view, so just make
sure that you’re aware of what
that is and the reputation of the group. Their arguments may or
may not be non-partisan and

useful, but check their data sources no matter what!
resses are usually selling something. They might
still have useful information, but be
wary and understand these are not scholarly sources.
If you wish to learn more about how that internet naming
system continues to evolve in purpose and
use, you may take with a grain of salt another source, the
Wikipedia entry for gTLDs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_top-level_domain
BOTTOM LINE: be careful, precise and thoughtful whenever
and wherever you engage sources.
DOCUMENTATION & LINKS
• Does the source cite its own sources or are these varied and
evenly engaged? Do you detect any
lack of credibility or bias?
• Are there critical reviews or links that lend credibility?
LOOKING MORE CLOSELY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_top-level_domain
Purpose: What’s the agenda? Look at the title, headlines, table
of contents and preface. Find a thesis

statement, skim the text, and read the conclusion. Is it
informative, persuasive, propaganda? Is there an
inherent bias that makes the source unreasonable or that must be
considered when you present this
source?
Audience: You might reject a source because it’s too simple or
too complex in its language or meaning,
which might mean that you and your audience don’t match its
intended audience. Also, understanding
the intended audience can often help you understand the
purpose of the piece.
Basic Quality: Does the writing itself seem intelligent? Is this a
well-balanced, well-researched source
which, whether it remains objective or not, seems willing to
discuss all sides of the issue? Is it clear
enough that you feel confident you fully understand it and
won’t misunderstand it or take something
out of context?
Any Deceptive Practices?: A source might appear factual while
actually camouflaging the truth. Read
carefully for logical fallacies, and for outright deception. For
example, you see a graph that at a glance
seems to show no disparity, but when you look more closely,
the unit of measurement is unreasonably

large. Likewise, a graph might seem to show a marked upward
trend, but actually, the Y axis measures
only between 30% and 40%, so that vertical only shows a 7%
increase! Or, you check an endnote to
learn that the vague accusation you nearly believed has no valid
evidence, or that the test group had a
minute sampling. So many ways to manipulate evidence!
THE POINT IS: you’re not only looking for what will carry
authority, you’re also making sure that you are
aware of any bias or perspective that might be relevant to the
argument. Ideally, your statistical sources
will be based in data or measured facts of some kind, but these
and other sources can be used for some
agenda. So, before you utilize a source, you have to understand
it. For example, your argument
promoting holistic medicine might rely heavily upon interviews
with practitioners and patients who have
experience. However, you don’t want your source to be the flyer
promoting a new “remedy”. Choose, if
possible, someone whose lengthy experience is touted, whose
practices and writings have some support
from a well-recognized medical facility. Recognize also that
statistics published by a major mainstream

drug company might serve that company’s purposes.
Write Well! When in doubt, feel free to ask questions!

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