Discussion Analysis

The case study ‘Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profits’ analyzes efforts by the multinational corporation (MNC) to become a good corporate citizen and the ethical issues related to privacy that it faces. Although the MNC has faced several challenges related to privacy, it has attempted to balance between the needs of its different stakeholders.

            To begin with, Google took extra care to ensure that its actions were ethical by developing robust privacy policies. The company started with seventy policies before summarizing them into one. In particular, in its policies, the company explained how it intended to use consumer information, thereby assuring Google users that their information was safe. At this point, a serious ethical dilemma emerged. Whereas user information could make the company highly profitable, it presented the threat of privacy violation. This correlates with the sentiments by Ferrell et al. (2015) who recognize the dilemma involving privacy violation as a serious issue. For instance, the US Federal Trade Commission negotiated with Google to work with third-party firms in privacy audits.

            Second, Google has been working hard to maximize profits of its stakeholders by selling data to advertisers. Although this led to several violations and even lawsuits in different countries, for example, in Europe, it presented the company with an opportunity to learn how to balance between profits and privacy. After reading the article by Li and Nill (2020), I believe that Google can avoid the issue by offering to buy information from users. However, I doubt the findings that informed consumers are willing to pay less than their uninformed counterparts. Still, the company should improve its strategy in meeting the needs of consumers. Overall, Google has successfully balanced the needs of its stakeholders with the exception of consumers. In the future, the company should consider buying data from consumers to avoid privacy issues.

References

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases (10th ed.). Nelson Education.

Li, H., & Nill, A. (2020). Online behavioral targeting: Are knowledgeable consumers willing to sell their privacy? Journal of Consumer Policy, 43(4), 723-745. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-020-09469-7