IT Companies and information about their customers (Essay Sample)

Should computer internet firms secretly collect information about their customers?
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Use of personal information gathered by internet companies about their customers can be problematic because of ethical issues behind it. The regulations and laws concerning the use of personal data cannot be found clearly in an interpretative regulation or legislation. What is nowadays termed as “information law” is an integration of contract law, non-statutory tort as well as regulatory and legislative law like Fair Credit Reporting Act. Such combination has made the use of personal information more complex and faced with much ethical dilemma. Internet companies use personal of their customers to make profits, but such practices sometimes infringe the rights of the customers. In certain ways, the use of such information can be legal. But is some cases; these companies utilize such data in illegal and morally inappropriate ways.
Computer companies secretly collect information about their customers for various reasons. One way they use the collected information for selling such data, which is so lucrative. There is a lot that can be tapped into the internet, and internet companies are making profits from the information they already have their own intentions and purposes. However, when these companies use their trade secret to infringe contractual obligations they made with their customers, they are committing criminal actions, and therefore, are accountable for civil damages. Companies should comply with the law when using personal information. Improper use of such data would be considered as a breach of contract, fraudulent act, unauthorized interception, and theft of information. Consequently, identified companies would be responsible and charged for damages and their business licenses be revoked.
Internet companies hold personal information such as phone numbers, billing address, medical and health data, proprietary information, bank accounts, age information, and names of their customers. Such information can be freely sold if the internet companies become too careless about their responsibilities. These companies know social security details and the entire profiles for their customers. These companies normally use spyware to gather information their customers and the usage of their programs. Sometimes, they gather such information by hiding spyware in adware, which is a program which displays online advertisements in pop-up windows or banners on e-mail messages, web pages or other various internet services. These companies can secretly install spyware to monitor and gather statistical information and habits of their clients. They normally put such spyware software as part of their promotions and in most cases they do this without knowledge of their customers. Sometimes, customers are asked to complete registrations, and such information is used to conduct market research of these companies. Spyware cookies assist these firms to reach their markets and also help them to refine their messages.
Using spyware cookies to carry out the intended functions for internet companies is faced with ethical challenges because some of these practices are against privacy rights of the customers. Some protection measures ...