Companies

Companies Should not be Allowed to Share Personal Data from Customers

            In the last two decades, digital technology has improved data collection, analysis, and manipulation. Companies collect personal identification information, residential locations, contacts, and other personal information from clients’ logs or website visitors. The data is then used to improve services such as product customization and targeted marketing. Notably, collecting, storing, and using the data raises concerns about whether website users and clients are ever secure or guaranteed privacy. These concerns follow reports that indicate companies can share customer data without their consent or approval (Klosowski par.6). Such a report contradicts the contemporary notion that companies do not disclose their clients’ or website visitors’ data to unauthorized parties. In many countries, the consumer data privacy law requires that companies enter into a contractual agreement with their clients concerning handling their details (Klosowski par.4). While collecting and using a customer’s data is not harmful, companies should not share data with other companies because it is unethical and breaches every human’s privacy rights.

            Collecting and using personal data is not harmful; it is beneficial for the overall customer experience. As mentioned above, companies collect their client’s data to improve product customization and marketing processes. For instance, collecting data on the behavior of a website user enables companies to target customers, reduce marketing costs, and offer relevant suggestions to website visitors depending on their tastes and preferences (Appel et al. 83). This feature is a technological advancement that has added value to the quality of life as far as marketing and consumption of goods and services is concerned. According to Leidner & Olgerta, big data has added to the value of life and the dignity of humanity (345). However, there are some other undesirable operations by companies that collect the data for purposes that can negate the improvement of quality of life and instead become harmful. Such purposes include sharing personal data collected, which is unethical and breaches every human’s privacy rights.

Sharing personal data between two or more companies is a breach of contract and an overreach of human privacy rights. Every company has a privacy policy in which it enters with the client to collect and use their data. The client data must remain classified, and disclosing it is a breach of the agreement against the law (Mitropoulos et al. 481). Also, Mitropoulos et al. report that any company should only use personal data for the intended purposes, the purpose indicated in the policy agreement (482). Therefore, companies are legally bound to use the data as agreed within the contract. The simplest and most common way companies and clients enter into this contract is by accepting cookies on a website. When entering the contract, it is seldom that a company declares that the data will be shared with third parties. However, if a company shares data against the owner’s will or contrary to the policies of the agreement, it breaches human privacy rights. In the US, breaching a contract is illegal, and the victimized party in the breach of contract may sue for the violation. Although there is no single definitive federal law that is against collection, storage, and use of personal data, codes of ethics and a mix of laws and policies such as  HIPAA, FCRA, FERPA, GLBA, ECPA, COPPA, and VPPA can be used to criminalize personal sharing data against its owner’s consent.

            Sharing personal data from clients is unethical since it exposes people to increased danger both online and offline. It negates the fundamental moral principle of nonmaleficence. For instance, the third parties who obtain data can use it for malicious and undesirable practices. Such parties are not bound by the agreement signed between the client and the primary company, and therefore, they are not legally bound to use the data in a particular way, escalating the risk of sharing the data. A good example is China, where an Integrated Joint Operation (IJOP) analyzed people’s behavior from their data, leading to increased profiling and mass incarceration. This platform utilized an Asku list that contained 2000 detainees, whose details were collected from different user platforms such as WeChat (Human Rights Watch par3). In this case, these user platforms allowed access to their user data and its use to track, capture, and oppress some people. That shows how easily sharing client or user data with third parties can leave such data in the hands of malicious players who eventually harm innocent clients or users.

            Sharing the client’s data exposes the company to the wrath of breaching privacy rights and engaging in unethical practice. According to Duan et al., business experts consider customer data a business asset (2). Such data could aggregate customer activity, analyze customers, forecast, and target marketing efforts. As a result, a company is pushed further into the competitive edge. If data from an organization is leaked or shared, the organization will lose its market value due to a negative impact on its brand (Seh et al. 4). Besides, the company may lose a significant amount of money or face closure through litigations involving breach of contract or consumer data privacy law. Such costs can be hefty; for instance, in 2019, the average cost of a data breach was $3.92 million (Seh et al. 4). Hence, organizations should completely ban any form of data sharing to make sure they are safe from unforeseen competition.

            In addition, organizations may fail to realize the return on investment in operations such as data collection, storage, and analysis. In this context, operation cost refers to collecting and managing the data compared to how much the company can earn from utilizing such data. Duan et al. analysis shows that since companies invest many resources in data collection and management, they need to ensure appropriate measures to protect such data because customer concerns about privacy go hand in hand with collection and management costs (4). Customers will be readily willing to share personal information if they are assured that they will not share data with third parties.

            Lastly, companies should use the data within the best business practice rather than exposing customer selling customer data. Best practices are the standard behavior or conduct that the company stakeholders or regulators have approved. According to Dual et al., organizations are allowed (ethically) to use customer data to improve their services of products (6). For instance, they can collect and use the data on marketing platforms that simulate the clients to align their needs and inform marketing decisions. Ideally, it is unethical for companies and platforms to use clients’ data in practices other than those within the boundaries of ethical business conduct. They should not benefit at the expense of exposing personal data. As such, companies should not be allowed to share any data to prevent such kind of unjustified benefits.

            In conclusion, although collecting and using a customer’s data is not harmful, companies should not share data with other companies because it is unethical and breaches every human’s privacy rights. Personal data collected from customers is critical for a company’s brand and profitability. It can be used for client management, target marketing, and improving service and products. However, companies should not share personal data with other organizations for legal, ethical, and moral reasons.

Works Cited

Appel, Gil et al. “The Future Of Social Media In Marketing”. Journal Of The Academy Of Marketing Science, vol 48, no. 1, 2019, pp. 79-95. Springer Science And Business Media LLC, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00695-1. Accessed 20 Nov 2021.

Duan, Yongrui, Yao Ge, and Yixuan Feng. “Pricing and personal data collection strategies of online platforms in the face of privacy concerns.” Electronic Commerce Research (2020): 1-21.

Huhtala, Tero Tapio, Minna Pikkarainen, and Saila Saraniemi. “Exploring Potential Changes in the Business Model: The Impacts of Using Human-Centered Personal Data As A Resource.” Journal of Business Models 7.2 (2019): 53-63.

Human Rights Watch. “China: Big Data Program Targets Xinjiang’S Muslims,” (2020). Retrieved from: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/09/china-big-data-program-targets-xinjiangs-muslims#.

Klosowski, Thorin. “The State Of Consumer Data Privacy Laws In The US (And Why It Matters)”. Wirecutter: Reviews For The Real World, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/state-of-privacy-laws-in-us/.

Leidner, Dorothy E., and Olgerta Tona. “The CARE Theory of Dignity Amid Personal Data Digitalization.” MIS Quarterly 45.1 (2021).

Mitropoulos, Dimitris, et al. “PDGuard: an architecture for the control and secure processing of personal data.” International Journal of Information Security 19.4 (2020): 479-498. Seh, Adil Hussain et al. “Healthcare Data Breaches: Insights And Implications”. Healthcare, vol 8, no. 2, 2020, p. 133. MDPI AG, https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8020133. Accessed 20 Nov 2