CIS Presents 1: Data, Dollars, and the Unintentional Subversion of Human Rights

The presentation of the unethical consequences of well-intentioned but unimaginative business conduct was an interesting argument made by Thomas White, the guest speaker known for his work in ethics. His arguments ranged from the petroleum industry to the technological realm. All of them, in the end were realizations of the shortsightedness of business in the realm of ethics. Dr. White had two main causes for these unwanted penalties, which were the “poverty of the imagination” and the “faulty perception of business.”

The “poverty of imagination” was dubbed ethical illiteracy by Dr. White because most in the business world fail to grasp the complexity of certain choices and fail to recognize the global implications of many actions. The second downfall, the “faulty perception of business” criticized the ingrained GB101 doctrine that the main objective of business was to “increase shareholder wealth.” Wealth as a part of society, as quoted by Dr. White, was “self-indulgent with narrow financial interest meeting material needs,” and unfortunately this idea of wealth causes businesses to choose the wrong path ethically in many cases.

Later on, he goes on to speak about the matters of information technology and the positives and negatives of having such a global and highly efficient means of business and communication. On one hand, the benefits of having such a convenient, effectual, and vibrant market are almost immeasurable for the businesses of today. However, there is as Dr. White states, “subversion of human rights” by the same technology that helps businesses into the future. Tracking ISP addresses and monitoring what people do on the web is a serious invasion of privacy. But to various companies the knowledge of what countless internet users do and like is almost undeniably tempting. The marketing strategies that could be created around the tracking of people’s online habits could be so very effective. However, again the invasion of privacy is too large to ignore, yet there are scores of programs and spyware designed to do just that.

Even intentionally there is a huge threat to human rights by business and the technological world. In China recently; Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Cisco all made business deals with the country in order to sell their services there, still, there was again compromise in ethical standards. The search engines come up with nothing when you search for “freedom” in China. Why would these large well-known corporations make such an error in ethical conduct? Again, it is the lack of imagination, which fails to grasp the distant and complex consequences of the decisions at hand and the faulty perception that no matter what, wealth must be the forefront of all that is business. These companies wanted more money and the fresh market that is China was an excellent source of capital, and if they had to eliminate some words like “liberty” and “freedom” from their services in order to gain access to that potential wealth, then so be it.

Unfortunately, it is not the companies or the governments that suffer, it is the people. These companies had a hand in taking away fundamental rights that all people should have, and it was for the sake of business. The Chinese now can point to the US in helping their government in suppressing their rights and their freedoms.

Also, there is the threat of radio frequency id chips. Light, tiny, passive, and can monitor what you bought, where you are, and what your past buying history is. They can be placed anywhere, and are already in use. You can see them in credit cards or even in clothes. In an age of endless technological advancements, when does it go too far? If personal information was completely available to everyone by the use of invasive technology, there unquestionably would be abundant criminal activity by a myriad of people who discard all ethical behavior in favor of making money, the supposedly elementary purpose of business. This country and other counties around the globe, will in all probability, take advantage of technological systems that could prevent criminal activity and illegal wrong doings. When such a “surveillance society” is established, the question remains, what is the cost? The cost is human rights.