Entry 4: Privacy and ethical issues unique to e-business

The whole concept of e-business is quite difficult to understand, especially for me. While some may view the e-business environment as effortless, I am not surprised that others do not find it complex and problematic!

In this day and age, business has evolved and adapted itself to the wonders of modern technology as most businesses today is conducted through computers, wires, and the Internet. This has transformed the way we perform purchases and transactions and the new unique issues brought abut by this form of doing business. Ethical and privacy issues in e-business have changed the face of consumerism compared to the traditional storefront business where issues were more straightforward and much simpler!

You see, unique of e-business, the private information of individual consumers and other business are protected and enforced more considerably. Along with this is the cost of actually maintaining this privacy as it cost more to maintain privacy with e-commerce security measures compared to a traditional storefront security. For example if you have a load of private computerised information, wouldn’t it be easier to just store them in a computer with the click of a mouse rather than print out copious amount of paper information (in turn destroying the environment!) and storing them in a physical safe? Personally, I would rather spend more money protecting the privacy of consumer information on computers with electronic security programs!

Ethics covers a whole wide range of topics in e-business. It’s close ties to privacy for the e-business organisations and especially for its consumers. Organisations have made it a point to ensure that their consumer’s information is well protected and in strict confidence. UNIQUE to e-business, consumer information is EXCHANGED AND PROTECTED ELECTRONICALLY in secure websites and databases. In addition, it is our duty to make sure that the information that we provide is truthful.

The list goes on on the dos and don’ts regarding the ethics and privacy issues in e-business. But the core requirement or for lack of a better word, the core focus of these issues is naturally the protection of information of it’s customers, other e-business organisations and the organisation itself. Without this, it can lead to identity theft and whole load of legal issues.