opics: Privacy , Online privacy , FTC , Internet Privacy , Privacy concerns , Facebook , big data , Privacy issues

Summary: An effort by the FBI to more aggressively monitor social media for threats to the public sets up a clash with Facebook's privacy policies and possibly its attempts to comply with a record $5B settlement with the U.S. government. The FBI is soliciting proposals from outside vendors for a contract to pull vast quantities of public data from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media to proactively identify and actively monitor threats to the US and its interests. The request was posted last month, weeks before a series of mass murders shook the country and led President Trump to call for social-media platforms to do more to detect potential shooters before they act.

Classroom Application: The ethical use of customer data, as well as a company's duty to protect user data, are now coming into question with the FBI's desire to utilize "big data" to prevent and/or solve crime. This article provides an opportunity for faculty and students to analyze an extremely difficult ethical dilemma in a business context: what is the proper balance between security and privacy?

Questions:

The article mentions that the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies are under increasing pressure to confront the challenges of mass violence and domestic terrorism. Many recent attacks were perpetrated by individuals who discussed their hateful ideologies on message boards and social media, and in some cases displayed warning signs ahead of time. Do you personally support the FBI being given access to user data to minimize these types of attacks? Why or why not? Would your position be different if you were the CEO of a social media company?

A Twitter spokeswoman cited the company's policy prohibiting the use of its data "by any entity for surveillance purposes, or in any other way that would be inconsistent with our users' reasonable expectations of privacy....period." What follow-up question(s) would you ask Twitter to probe their "line in the sand" that might change Twitter's stance?

Facebook routinely cooperates with warrants, subpoenas, and emergency requests from law-enforcement agencies for information about user accounts (e.g., it reports child abuse, suicide attempts, possible major public-safety threats). What are some ethical arguments for and against Facebook's protocol's in these types of situations?