New Media Developments Venture into Uncharted Ethical Territory

Jun 8th, 2009 • Posted in: News

Online data collection, Twitter impersonation, and rape simulating video games pose moral dilemmas

VARIOUS DATELINES

Last week saw a raft of stories dealing with evolving technology and ethics. Among the coverage:

• Sears agreed to settle allegations that it improperly collected personal data from online customers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Sears paid customers $10 for the privilege of monitoring their online browsing, but did not adequately inform them that the company would be gathering data from non-Sears sites, such as online bank statements, emails, and drug prescription information, reports Reuters. The FTC’s complaint charges that while Sears did disclose the full scope of its monitoring, the details were buried in fine print. Sears agreed to destroy all personal data, but said it never compromised customers’ security.
• An online privacy group last week launched a new website that keeps track of the policy changes at popular websites, technology network CNET reports. The Electronic Frontier Foundation says the site will protect against erosions of privacy and other consumer rights by “terms of service” agreements, which the foundation says are often complex, constantly being rewritten, and sometimes contain language that seriously can affect customer privacy.
• Web surfers are tracked more than they realize, according to a study from the University of California at Berkeley. The San Jose Mercury-News quotes Ashkan Soltani, one of three Berkeley gradueate students who compiled the data as part of a master’s project, as warning that third parties frequently track detailed information on user actions, meaning that “some third party will know that a computer from your location visited a Web page, and they’ll know the content of the page you viewed.” Google was found to be one of the most energetic and invasive trackers, according to the report.
• Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team is doing legal battle with micro-blogging site Twitter for allegedly allowing a counterfeit page to be set up under his name, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. La Russa sued Twitter in May after an imposter made distasteful references to two Cardinal pitchers who died recently. Twitter has a policy against impersonators, but allows parodies, creating a difficult gray zone. While the Post-Dispatch says the lawsuit has been settled, Twitter’s own blog denies any resolution to the case, calling La Russa’s charges nearly frivolous and saying they will be dismissed in court. Over the weekend, Twitter announced a new upcoming service that will verify the identity and posts of some celebrity Twitterers.
• A Japanese software industry regulator has decided to ban games that depict sexual violence, the Agence France-Presse reports. The action comes in response to protests of a game called “RapeLay,” which sets up simulations of stalking and raping young girls. The industry group, called the Ethics Organization of Computer Software, said it now will ban all “sexual torture software,” according to the AFP report.

Sources: Telegraph, June 8 — St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 5 — Reuters, June 4 — CNET, June 4 — San Jose Mercury-News, June 3 — St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 3 — AFP, June 3.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, May 25 — Related Newsline story, May 18 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 27 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 20 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 13 — Twitter blog entry, June 6.

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4 Responses »

1. Ethics Newsline® » News » Media Ethics Issues Fuel Debate, Controversies on June 15th, 2009 at 10:57 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 8 – Related Newsline story, May 25 – Related Newsline story, May 18 – [...]

2. Ethics Newsline® » News » Privacy and Morality Addressed in Technology News on June 22nd, 2009 at 4:24 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 8 — Related Newsline story, May 25 — Related Newsline story, May 18 — [...]

3. Ethics Newsline® » News » Coverage of Michael Jackson’s Death Leads to Ethics Musings by Media on June 29th, 2009 at 6:51 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 8 — Related Newsline story, July 7, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 3, [...]

4. Ethics Newsline® » News » Investigators Serve Second Round of Search Warrants Regarding Jackson’s Physician on August 3rd, 2009 at 6:46 pm:

   [...] more information, see:  Related Newsline story, June 8 — Related Newsline story, July 7, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 3, [...]

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