Question: 2. There is a high demand for electronic retailers to create a shopping environment that meets the individual needs of each person who visits

2. There is a high demand for electronic retailers to create a   shopping environment that meets the individual needs of each person who visits 

2. There is a high demand for electronic retailers to create a shopping environment that meets the individual needs of each person who visits their website. In this way, a customer is shopping at his/her own personalized location. Although the majority of individuals who use the Internet are concerned about the safety of giving away their personal information, it has been reported that apparently websites have little to no problem obtaining personal information from individuals visiting their website. Among the information collected are personal identifying information (e.g. name, e- mail address, postal address), demographic information (e.g., gender, preferences, Zip code), and both personal identifying and demographic information. Toysmart.com, an online business company, did not stray from the norm in collecting personal information from their customers. Although Toysmart collected extensive personal information from their customers, great efforts were made to ensure customers that their information would remain securely confidential. There was an entire portion of their webpage devoted to showing website visitors the importance Toysmart placed on their customers' privacy. It was on this portion of the website that Toysmart displayed the prestigious TRUSTe stamp of approval it had earned as a result of its efforts to ensure privacy to their customers. Toysmart also pledged that they would "never share (their customers') information with a third party." This was the privacy policy that may have helped solicit customers to shop at the website and join "Mytoysmart" as members. Faced with immense debt as a result of an overestimate of profits to be gained from Christmas sales, Toysmart was faced with an ethically difficult choice. As an online company, Toysmart did not have the same type of material assets that are most commonly associated with bankrupt businesses. There were few tangible assets such as warehouses full of toys to be sold to the highest bidder. Instead, Toysmart has to face the fact that the bulk of their assets lay in the information they obtained from their customers. Toysmart was in a complex situation. They could either choose to abide by their promise to never share their customers' personal information with a third party and maintain their debt, or they could advertise to sell the customer information and have the possibility of lessening their debt. Propose and justify the relevant workable ethical theories that could be used to analyse the ethical issues in the case study. Support your justifications with the appropriate Professional Codes of Ethics from ACM. [40 marks] There is five workable ethical theories: -kantianism -act utilitarianism - rule utilitarianism - social contract theory - virtue ethics Propose and justify the relevant workable ethical theories that could be used to analyse the ethical issues in the case study. Support your justifications with the appropriate Professional Codes of Ethics from ACM.

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