W6 Discussion: Case Study on Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit

Chapter 10: Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit: 10-6 Government Response to Privacy Issues Book Title: Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases Printed By: Kennisha Holloman ([email protected]) © 2019 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

10-6 Government Response to Privacy Issues

Consumer concerns over privacy issues prompted Congress to consider new legislation

regulating what information Internet companies such as Google can collect and how they

can use it. Internet companies, in turn, are attempting to make such legislation unnecessary

by developing their own industry standards, such as the “Do Not Track” feature now found

on all major web browsers. Such self-regulation is an attempt to ward off federal legislation

that could seriously limit the tracking activities of companies like Google.

Some of the ideas that federal regulators have been discussing include a User’s Bill of

Rights and a mandatory Do Not Track mechanism. The Bill of Rights would, among other

things, require companies to adhere to certain privacy practices. Its intent in this area would

be to make Internet privacy policies easier for users to understand. A mandatory Do Not

Track mechanism would be comparable to Do Not Call legislation, which makes it illegal for

companies to sell to consumers over the telephone if those consumers are on the national

Do Not Call registry. A similar law regulating Internet tracking could seriously impact how

Internet companies collect information.

Many states are dissatisfied with the lack of federal action on this topic and have passed

their own Internet privacy laws. California law, for example, provides special privacy

protection to minors online and requires websites to disclose whether they are respecting

the “Do Not Track” requests they receive from user browsers. However, more recent

government decisions have overturned privacy regulations that would have required Internet

providers to get users’ permission before being able to sell their data. Critics claim that the

government is failing to address the privacy gap, giving online companies like Google free

rein in collecting, storing, and using user information.

Because legislation could be a serious threat to Google, the company spends millions on

lobbying and employs lobbyists on its staff. Google hopes to stave off regulation it feels

restricts its ability to coordinate targeted advertising or offer customized services to users.

However, with privacy issues and Internet breaches becoming a growing concern, the

chance of increased regulation in the future is high. Although Google might not be able to

prevent legislation restricting some of the activities of Internet firms, it can work with

regulators to push for legislation with less of a negative effect on its operations. Google’s

lobbyists are having a profound impact on laws safeguarding Internet security.

Chapter 10: Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit: 10-6 Government Response to Privacy Issues Book Title: Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases Printed By: Kennisha Holloman ([email protected]) © 2019 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

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