In this class, I have had the privilege of learning about many different ethical frameworks that have refined my understanding of cybersecurity, corporate responsibility, and whistleblowing. Through case analysis and ethical evaluations, my perspectives have deepened due to me examining the privacy concerns within these topics. Now, my belief that ethical integrity, transparency, and responsibility are strong as I now understand them as serving as guiding principles in shaping a just and better equipped society.
One of the top ethical challenges I learned about was the balance between privacy and information accessibility in cybersecurity. Analyzing Google Street View through Luciano Floridi’s concept of informational friction and James Grimmelmann’s argument for privacy as product safety, shows how the application exposed private information without consent, even though it improved things such as navigation and urban planning. Using the framework of utilitarianism helped me to demonstrate that Google could have taken a different course of action to minimize harm while maintaining its benefits, and acquired skill that I will come back to in a bit. The analysis I did on this case help me to understand that moving forward, I want to be able to recognize that data protection should never be treated as an afterthought, and instead ethical considerations need to be in place when it comes to development in technology to safeguard trust and user autonomy.
Corporate responsibility, specifically with industries that handle sensitive consumer data, was another topic that helped to shape my understanding of business ethics. Using the Equifax data breach as an example for this, I can say that examining this case through Milton Friedman’s profit maximization model and Melvin Ashen’s evolving social contract theory helped give me insight to corporate negligence and accountability. Originally, I thought that all cyber attacks were a result of isolated incidents of oversight, however, looking at this data breach has helped me understand that a deeper problem of prioritizing short term benefits over ethical obligations are at hand. What I want to take away from this is to remind myself that business need to function within the moral boundaries that prioritize the wellbeing of stakeholders profit-driven motives should never outweigh consumer security like it did when Equifax first neglected to invest in better cybersecurity before the breach, and second decided to profit off the breach when they began charging their customers to freeze their assets. Another key lesson I learned from this course is that whistleblowing, when conducted responsibility, serves as a necessary safeguard against institutional corruption and injustice. The case of Chelsea Manning helped me to come to this understanding as it caused me to look at Wim Vandekerckhove’s rational loyalty and Oxley & Wittkower’s care ethics.As my perspectives continue to evolve, they are reinforcing my understanding of the importance of ethical decision making when it comes to shaping systems that prioritize fairness, accountability, and public welfare.
As I continue to navigate through this career path, I plan to keep these principles guiding me to ensure that my actions reflect responsibility leadership.