In today’s market, the telecommunications industry revolves around the storage of personal information. From using PayPal to buy a book on Amazon.com, to sharing information between an iPhone, MacBook, and iPad via MobileMe, to Google compiling a database of all Wi-Fi networks for use on Google Earth, to Bing tapping into people’s preferences on Facebook to personalize search results, it seems that there is no end to the amount of information that users are willing to give companies in the telecommunications industry. Because of this, most ethical issues arising in the telecommunications industry revolve around the security of this personal information. Many have started to question how much information is too much, how these companies will protect consumer’s private, secure information, and why these companies would be interested in protecting this information.
Generally, companies care because that is how they will maintain a positive CSR. As mentioned earlier, Google, Inc. is a giant in the telecommunications industry. Recently, Engineer David Barksdale was fired for breaking Google’s strict internal privacy policies. Mr. Barksdale was an engineer in Google’s Seattle office who allegedly accessed information of several users who were minors. This breach occurred while Google was already responding to probes in the U.S. and overseas for privacy matters, including inadvertently collecting personal data on unsecured WiFi Internet networks as well as a privacy flap in February over the release of a social networking site called Buzz (Efrati, 2010). Google’s reaction proves to their consumer base, and to potential consumers, that they take the security of this private information extremely seriously. Although there have been concerns raised recently about whether Google’s amassing of personal data is ethical or not, the quick dismissal of this employee will undoubtedly help Google’s reputation regarding ethics and privacy considerations. However, Google is planning on launching a new social networking site, GoogleMe, and this venture will certainly test their ethics regarding security and privacy as they attempt to connect GoogleMe to Gmail, YouTube, and other information-sharing sites (Efrati, 2010).
Another telecommunications giant previously mentioned is Apple Inc. Apple has maintained a loyal customer base while sustaining continual growth, largely because of their exceptional CSR. Apple is focused on being seen as a “green” company, and this goal is discussed on their website so consumers can understand their efforts: “That’s why we design them to use less material, ship with smaller packaging, be free of many toxic substances, and be as energy efficient and recyclable as possible. With every new product, we continue our progress toward minimizing our environmental impact.” (“Apple and the environment,” 2010). On the same page, Apple offers links to read “Environmental FAQs” or to learn more about the “Apple Recycling Company” as well as to “Supplier Responsibility,” which discusses another pillar of CSR, ensuring that “our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes.” (“Supplier responsibility,” 2010).
Aside from being environmentally concerned and socially responsible, both especially important aspects of CSR for telecommunication companies, Apple’s CSR also concentrates on the main ethical issue facing the telecommunications industry: security. Found in Apple’s Ethics Policy: “The company’s continued success and growth depends on our ability to preserve the confidentiality of our confidential, proprietary and trade secret information, as well as that of others in our possession.” (Apple, Inc., 2010).
Sources:
Apple and the environment. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/environment/
Apple, Inc., (2010). Ethics: the way we do business worldwide California, USA: Retrieved from http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol//10/107357/corpGov/AppleEthicsPolicy.pdf
Efrati, A. (2010). Google fired worker after customer breach. Wall Street Journal, Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704285104575492440245394392.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_technology
Supplier responsibility. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/
van Dijk, Michiel, & Schipper, Irene. Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Ondernemingen (SOMO) Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations , (2007). Apple csr company profile Amsterdam: Retrieved from somo.nl/publications-nl/Publication_1963-nl/at_download/fullfile
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