Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
ETHICAL AND
SOCIETAL ISSUES
Privacy
WhitePages.com maintains an MIS fed by a huge database that
provides information on 180 million adults in the United States—
80 percent of the U.S. population. Look up an old friend on
WhitePages.com and you may find his new address, the name of
his wife, his age, e-mail address, phone number, even a map to his
house. Using associated services, you could find police records for
your old friend and find out how much his house is worth. You can
guess the obvious concern that many people have about
WhitePages.com—privacy!
Information systems that post personal information on the
Web without a person's consent run the risk of negative press
and lawsuits. Consider the Beacon program provided by social-
networking giant, Facebook. Beacon was designed to collect
information about a Facebook user's activities on partner Web
sites and use those members to endorse products. For example,
you might see an announcement in your Facebook news feed
informing you that your friend Shannon just rented the movie
“Iron Man” from Blockbuster Online.
When Facebook users learned about how the Beacon system
worked, many were enraged. Facebook quickly responded by
giving users the ability to opt out of the Beacon system. The differ-
ence between Facebook and WhitePages.com is that Facebook is
set up to serve registered users, and they have certain expecta-
tions of the Facebook service. WhitePages.com, however, was not
designed to service members, but rather the entire Internet popu-
lation. WhitePages.com does not obtain information about Internet
users through an online profile that the user submits. It collects
information from freely available public records on the Internet.
This makes WhitePages.com less liable to privacy violations than
Facebook. However, that level of liability might be changing.
WhitePages.com sees many similarities between today's popu-
lar social networks and its own directory service. It also sees the
potential for substantial profits. In moving to a design that reflects
a social network, WhitePages.com now includes a way for those
listed in its directory to correct and add information about them-
selves. It is also setting up a service that allows members to fill out
a profile and find others in the directory with similar interests.
Users can send an anonymous message to others listed in the
directory to find out if they are interested in striking up a friendship
or renewing an old one. Now WhitePages.com finds itself in the
same quandary as the big social networks: what information to
share and what to keep private.
WhitePages.com decided to allow those listed in its directory to
select the information they want to make public—if any. The com-
pany has decided to give its users control over their information. In
doing so, WhitePages hopes to transform its directory service into
an Internet-wide social network. While some users are likely to
omit information that WhitePages previously made available,
others might add to their information. By being conscious of
privacy concerns, WhitePages hopes to improve its reputation and
draw more visitors. The company has also released a software
development platform that will allow developers to publish useful
applications based on the WhitePages directory.
Businesses such as WhitePages.com need to control access
to the private information in their information systems. Whether
it's an information system available only to employees of the
company or one that's accessible on the public Web, the reputation
of a business depends on the trust of its clientele. If customers
don't trust one company due to mismanagement of private
information, they are likely to select a competitor that promises
better security and privacy.
Discussion Questions
1.
Why is WhitePages.com more concerned about customer
privacy today than it has been in the past?
2.
What are the differences between the services offered by
WhitePages.com and Facebook.com?
Critical Thinking Questions
1.
What benefits does WhitePages.com have compared to
Facebook.com in regards to its customer base?
2.
What types of applications might be developed using the
WhitePages.com software development platform?
SOURCES:
Vaughn-Nichols, Steven, “WhitePages.com grapples with privacy in
a Web 2.0 world,” Computerworld, May 16, 2008,
http://computerworld.com/
=security&articleId=9085718&taxonomyId=17&intsrc=kc_feat;
Cheng, Jacqui,
“Facebook reevaluating Beacon after privacy outcry, possible FTC complaint,”
Ars Technica, November 29, 2007,
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/
complaint.html;
WhitePages.com Web site,
www.whitepages.com,
accessed
May 19, 2008.
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