Ethical and Legal Issues in E-Business

It is difficult in today’s society to be fully protected when doing business on the web. It is often said that ethical standards are very behind the technology. It is difficult to have standards and laws when the technology is new.

One of the main problems faced on the internet today is privacy. It is important if you are in charge of a company and you sell a product online that you have protection for your customers. If you want to keep your customers and keep them coming back to your site, help keep their information private. The workplace has become a place where privacy has become very lacking. Many employers are monitoring emails sent by their workers and they have programs to track what they do on the web. This is a difficult situation because as long as you get your work done, should it matter? There are some things that are inappropriate for work but as long as surfing the web isn’t done in excess it shouldn’t be a problem. Many employees do like the “big brother” mentality that their employers have taken. This will continue to be a huge problem the more tech-savvy our society becomes.

Web tracking is another ethical issue in e-business. This happens when a company uses log files to track a visitor’s activity on the internet and how they use a site. “Cookies” help track the movement and are identifiable if you revisit a site. Many consumers are now installing programs that help block cookies which give the consumer more privacy. There are programs that remove spyware so that you don’t receive pop-ups and advertisements when you visit a site.

Losing workers to machines has become a problem. Is it ethical to just let these workers go or is there an obligation as an employer to help them be retrained. This is going to become an even bigger issue as the world becomes more dependent on technology. Technology has benefits but it is also important to take care of people.

Intermediation and disintermediation are also two issue that e-business has encountered. Intermediation offers two types of services; matching and providing information and value-added services. Both of these types of services can be partially or fully automated which leads to job loss. Disintermediation occurs when companies matched and provided information and since their service is fully automated, the company can be eliminated. Reintermediation occurs when companies that provide information and value-added service are thriving because there is skill and expertise involved in their work. An example of disintermediation is Black & Decker and Wal Mart. Wal Mart informed B&D that if they began to sell their products online, then they would no longer carry the products in the stores.

The internet is a vulnerable place for crime to happen. It has become easy for scams to happen between two parties because you cannot see/touch what you are buying. This makes it easier for fraud to occur and unfortunately, it is becoming more common. There are several things that buyers and sellers can do to protect themselves from scams. Buyers should make sure they are buying from a reliable site, be wary of offers that are too good to be true, examine return policies, and make sure that you know your rights as a buyer. As a seller, it is important to have protection against buyers who won’t pay or that pay with bad checks. Sellers also have trademark protection and need to make sure that their name and slogans are protected. A controversial issue that some sellers have faced is illegal downloading. Many companies have faced this issue with customers illegally taking their merchandise without paying. This has been a very big problem with the music industry and many companies have begun to take legal action.

I found an interesting article about 10 ways to maintain your privacy at work. Many companies are not only monitoring internet usage but they also have security videos and some are tracking outgoing phone numbers. These are very serious issues and it is important to know the policies of a company before you accept a job. Attached below is the link to this article. Feel free to comment on the subject!

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/careerbytes/CBArticle.aspx?articleID=490&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=44cc0d19efa74764a23d39cbd81b97ee-276027016-RP-4&ns_siteid=ns_us_g_privacy%20at%20work