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12.5 Ethical Challenges and Guidelines 395

The traditional EC assumption is that every computer user Example: Who Owns User-Generated Content?
has the ability to own a computer and afford Internet connec- In August 2009, five Facebook users filed a class action lawsuit
tion, as is the case in developed economies. In developing against Facebook, claiming that Facebook violated privacy laws
economies, this assumption will have to be revised to include by gathering online users’ activity and providing their personal
the existence infrastructure, poverty levels, and technology information to third parties without the users’ permission. They
availability and affordability. A major booster for EC in devel- also alleged that Facebook engages in data mining, without
oping countries is the increasing use of low-cost laptop com- informing the users.
puters and tablets in a wireless environment. With simple The objective of the data collection was to enable Facebook
computers costing less than $100 (and declining), and the to sell their users’ data to advertisers because Facebook needed
widespread use of cell phones with Internet access and free more revenue sources. The Electronic Privacy Information
access in public places, it is likely that EC use will increase Center filed a complaint with the FCC, alleging that Facebook’s
significantly in developing countries. For comprehensive cov- changes in privacy settings made users’ information publicly
erage of e-commerce in developing countries, see wto.org/ available without giving the users the option to opt out. Facebook
english/res_e/booksp_e/ecom_brochure_e.pdf. was found to be liable for violating the privacy of their users and
As discussed in Chapter 6, the mobile revolution enables amended their rules. Facebook has continuously been modify-
developing countries to leap frog EC deployment, especially in ing and changing its privacy settings, letting its users decide
the areas of mobile banking (finance) and mobile marketing. how much they want to share with the public.

SECTION 12.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS Business Ethics

1. Describe product characteristics in EC. Business ethics (also known as corporate or enterprise ethics)
2. What are industry characteristics in EC? is a code of values, behaviors, and rules, written or unwritten,
3. What are seller characteristics in EC? for how people should behave in the business world. These
4. What are consumer characteristics in EC? ethics dictate the operations of organizations. For implementa-
5. List three reasons why EC failure should not come as a tion considerations, see Business for Social Responsibility
surprise. (bsr.org).
6. What are some reasons for EC success?
7. Relate EC to cultural differences. The Issues of Internet Abuse in the Workplace
8. Discuss some factors of implementation in developing
countries. The actual time wasted and productivity losses due to employ-
ees spending time on the Web during working hours is very
high. In general, employees spent more than 1 h per week on
12.5 ETHICAL CHALLENGES social media alone, followed by online games and e-mails.
AND GUIDELINES Many companies have banned access to social networks such
as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. In 2013, SFGate (per
Ethics is a set of moral principles or rules of how people are Gouveia 2013) conducted a survey in which they found that
expected to conduct themselves. It specifies what is consid- 69% of the employees were wasting time for 30 min to sev-
ered by society to be right or wrong. eral hours per day. The top four employee “time wasters”
Issues of privacy, ownership, control, and security must were: checking news (37%), social networking (14%); online
be confronted in implementing and understanding the ethical shopping (12%), and online entertainment (11%). For an arti-
challenges of EC. cle, see salary.com/2014-wasting-time-at-work.
Managing Internet Abuse
Ethical Principles and Guidelines Instead of banning the use of social networks in the workplace,
some employers are following less draconian measures by set-
Public law embodies ethical principles, but the two are not ting the following policies in place: employees are encouraged
the same. Acts that generally are considered unethical may to check their social networks only once or twice a day, consoli-
not be illegal. Lying to someone may be unethical, but it is date their social networking streams, develop a clear social net-
not illegal. Conversely, the law is not a collection of ethical working policy, and utilize technology made for consolidation.
norms, and not all ethical codes are incorporated into public A social networking policy should communicate clear guidelines
law. Online File W12.3 shows a framework for ethical issues. from employers to employees. For example, employees should
One example of an ethical issue is the Facebook class not spend more than 20 minutes per day of company time
action lawsuit of 2009, described next. browsing social networks.