FACEBOOK

Muhammed Dursun Erdem

21705068
About Facebook

• American corporation
• Online social media and social
networking service
• The Facebook website was launched on
February 4, 2004
• by Mark Zuckerberg
Ethical analysis of Facebook
• They don't sell any hardware or
software
• They just have our information
• Facebook can serve ads
using highly specific details
• Like gender, age range, location
and interest
Ethical analysis of Facebook

• 1.8 billion users are using Facebook free

• They spent $1 for every active user
every month at 2011
• Two options:
• Subscription fee
• Selling user information to other
companies

Ethical Dilemma: Do the right thing, but lose your job or opposite
Ethical analysis of Facebook

• Facebook choose giving their service free

but…
• Facebook goal is to get it users share much
data as possible
• With our shares, Facebook advertisement
targetting is getting more accurate
Ethical analysis of Facebook

• Most privacy settings are default off

• These settings allows to Facebook share
with 3rd party companies
Facebook business model & privacy

• Relation between user’s privacy and Facebook

business model is important

• Entire business model is based on aggregation and

sharing user information

• Advertising is the mainly revenue of Facebook

The weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies,
features and technology factors have contributed to
those weaknesses

 The weakness behind Facebook’s privacy issues was

a lack of communication between Facebook and its
users.

 Facebook incorrectly handling user information when

deleting their accounts also caused a backlash for
Facebook.

 Facebook servers would keep user information

permanently, with the reasoning that it would be easier
for the users to reactivate their accounts if they chose
to.
The weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies,
features and technology factors have contributed to
those weaknesses

 The relevant statements include Privacy Policy,

Payment Terms, Platform Policies, Ads Guidelines,
Promotion Guidelines, Claims of Intellectual Property
Infringement, Claims of Copyright Infringement, etc.
All Facebook parties must comply with this policy.

 The company has encountered more than its fair

share of controversy along its path to success, mostly
concerning its handling and usage of the extensive
information it collects from its users.
The weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies,
features and technology factors have contributed to
those weaknesses

Management:
 Facebook assumed it had the consent of users to
share information about them that it collected through
the Beacon advertising service if they did not use the
opt-out feature.
 The company utterly failed to grasp the extent to
which the service violated its users’ privacy as well as
the uproar such a service was likely to cause.
 The same thing occurred when Facebook introduced
its News Feed feature.
The weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies,
features and technology factors have contributed to
those weaknesses

Organization:
 The personal information collected on the site
represents a mother lode to advertisers, but one that
will remain largely untapped if Facebook users do not
feel comfortable enough or have sufficient incentive
to share it.

 Users that attempted to delete their accounts were

met with resistance and often required outside
assistance from watchdog groups.
The weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies,
features and technology factors have contributed to
those weaknesses

Technology:
 Privacy and user controls over the information
granted to Facebook are the biggest concerns most
users have with the site.

 The company’s servers maintain copies of

information indefinitely in accounts that have been
deactivated.
Facebook business model without invading
privacy?

 By make active changes to improve users’ privacy.

 So If Facebook continues to wish to use the
information that people post on their accounts a clear
distinction must be made to the users about what
they are using the information for and what
information they will be using in order to reduce the
legal risks and solidify the legality of their advertising.
 Once the Facebook management can do this then a
broader, more organized and more successful
advertising campaigns can be launched.
Facebook business model without invading
privacy?

Positive indicators:
• It’s one of the largest social networking sites in the
world and is growing.

• Facebook’s interface is simplistic and clean and

tends to attract those looking for a crisp, more
structured social networking environment.
Facebook business model without invading
privacy?

• It represents a unique opportunity for advertisers to

reach highly targeted audiences based on their
demographic information and narrowly specified
criteria.

• It represents a gold mine of opportunity because of

the information the site has gathered and because of
the richness of the social networking environment.

• Part of its status as a first-mover in the social

networking marketplace helps attract more users
Facebook business model without invading
privacy?

Negative indicators:
• It has created large numbers of hostile users
because of its privacy violations
• Facebook’s own popularity will injure its chances to
attract advertisers to its site, claiming that the
engaging and immersive environment that draws
visitors to the site makes users less likely to click on
ads.
• It remains to be seen whether or not the company
can turn its heavy site traffic and trove of personal
information into new revenue streams.