An information security manager routinely monitored web surfing among her company’s employees. She discovered that many employees were visiting the “sinful six” websites. (Note: The “sinful six” are websites with material related to pornography, gambling, hate, illegal activities, tastelessness, and violence.) She then prepared a list of the employees and their surfing histories and gave the list to management. Some managers punished their employees. Some employees, in turn, objected to the monitoring, claiming that they should have a right to privacy.
1. Is monitoring of web surfing by managers ethical? (It is legal.) Support your answer.
2. Is employee web surfing on the “sinful six” ethical? Support your answer.
3. Is the security manager’s submission of the list of abusers to management ethical? Why or why not?
4. Is punishing the abusers ethical? Why or why not? If yes, then what types of punishment are acceptable?
5. What should the company do in this situation? (Note: There are a variety of possibilities here.)
1. Discuss the ethicality and legality of Facebook’s experiment with human emotions.
2. Was Facebook’s response to criticism concerning that experiment adequate? Why or why not?
3. Consider the experiments that Facebook conducted in May and June 2015. Is there a difference between these two experiments and Facebook’s experiment with human emotions? Why or why not?
4. Should the law require companies to inform their users every time they conduct experiments? Why or why not
