Let’s Keep Them Accountable

We all want a sense of security in our lives. We know that technology companies are collecting information about us, and it would be comforting to know what exactly they’re doing with it.

 

The buzzword behind all this confusion is transparency. As Matteo Turilli and Luciano Floridi point out in their paper “The ethics of information transparency,” there is a problem concerning what kind of information should be released and what could be kept from the public. This doesn’t seem like a difficult problem, though. There can and should still be privacy in situations such as between a doctor and patient, but for the most part we deserve to know what is going on behind the scenes.

When talking about transparency, it is important to define the term. Releasing everything about what a company will do with their information is considered transparency. But releasing all information in an attempt to be considered transparent doesn’t mean anything unless that information is in terms that the average person can understand. If it takes a PhD to decipher the information provided, then even though everyone has access to the information, it should not be considered transparency.

Companies should provide transparency by that definition and be held ethically accountable. Turilli and Floridi state that “When information users perceive ethical standards to be low, the information provider’s image and business may be damaged.” However, the damage caused to these businesses seems justified.

People desire trust, so if you run a business that cannot be trusted, then you deserve to lose customers. This kind of transparency would harm the companies who are on the edge of the ethical boundary and greatly benefit the companies who are nowhere near it because consumers would shift toward trust. Those harmed would be forced to improve, which would benefit society overall.