Jane Rogers the financial manager at Plants Inc. a landscaping business in Chicago concurs that employers should ethically implement the use of GPS tracking in their companies. Rogers uses GPS to track and monitor outfield workers during working hours and argues that it increases efficiency and promotes confidence in prompt services to clients. Rogers supports the need for restrictive and regulative legislation in GPS tracking to create parameters within which employers can operate and be held accountable. She points out that she passively tracks employees during working hours and only resorts to active monitoring of employees after she has received complaints from clients. Rogers also states that she reminds her employees to turn-off their …show more content…
Eric Bland a journalist for NBC News covered an investigative article on the vulnerabilities of GPS devices that everyday citizens have become accustomed. Bland uncovered that a spoofer can jam GPS signals thereby rendering a device with GPS inactive, more interestingly is that a spoofer can create a false signal that overpowers the actual real signal. The false signal transmits like the original signal but offers incorrect and or fabricated destination to the GPS receiver. In such an instance the spoofer would control the victim’s time and destination. While the thought of driving or arriving into an unknown location is frightening and might threaten safety, it is the number of national infrastructure reliant on GPS and vulnerable to spoofers that raises genuine concern and fright in regards to national security. The country’s electrical power grids, generators, airports and law enforcement are examples of infrastructures and institutions that relay on the GPS for daily functioning. Brent Levina adjunct professor at Virginia Tech decide to build a spoofer to better highlight the weaknesses of the GPS (Bland, …show more content…
The Social Contract Theory would apply in preservation of ethics in the workplace as it considers an action to be good if it is accepted by collective group of rational people and is therefore considered binding (Nielsen, 2013). The Social Contract theory would be used to collectively determine whether GPS tracking of employees is ethical. Employees and employers would be required to collectively agree on the benefits of tracking such as increased productivity, efficiency, cost reduction and better accountability all of which would translate to more profits for the company and bonuses for the employees. The employees would consent to GPS tracking and monitoring during office hours while the employer would be required to forego tracking and monitoring during lunch breaks and outside working hours, otherwise the employer would be in violation of the collective agreement. Employees would also be required to abide by their duties and responsibilities during working hours to avoid violation of the agreement. The Social contract theory would also include consequences in the instance of violation for both the employer and employee
In Fitbit for Bosses written by Lynn Stuart Parramore she talks about how bosses want to start monitoring their employees. Parramore shows her discomfort with this idea. She thinks that “big money seems poised to trump privacy”(Parramore). Which basically just means that for bosses is that money is over everything even privacy. Allowing bosses to monitor their employees is dishonest and manipulating.Some researchers have also found out that increasing surveillance has caused the decrease of productivity. Researchers warned them that the data can have big errors and people that look at the data that the fitbits can cherry-pick the information that supports their beliefs and ditch the rest of the information that leads to racial profiling. “Surveillance makes everyone seem suspicious, creating perceptions and expectations of dishonesty.” Workers will become dehumanized“(Parramore), it prevents them from experimenting and exercising the creativity on the job.” A woman from California filed a suit against her former employer because he forced her to to install a tracking app on her phone. She had to have it on her phone 24/7 or else she would
In 2010, former senior U.S. officials conducted a simulation imagining of a catastrophic cyber attack, the origins of which came by way of a mobile application having malware that was self-replicating that eventually overwhelmed wireless networks and disabled portions of wired network communications and the internet as well as curtailing electrical supply channels and oil and gas pipelines (Corbin, 2010). Rather than consider the likelihood of such a catastrophe, the panel took the position that if such an event were to occur the government would have to take over telecommunications in this country, eight-five percent of which o...
Although this service sounds quite convenient and has its obvious benefits, there are other issues to be considered. For example, many ethical dilemmas that play from privacy issues. In a world when at one time you could take a walk to remove yourself from the eye of another, we not may be under constant supervision of sorts. Tracking devises are easily placed in many things, cell phones, which are used by nearly all people in today's American society, are the recent and most wide spread target for GPS. Is it ethical to track someone through an everyday devices such as a cell phone, is tracking people ethical in itself? These are the questions that must be resolved before we can celebrate the positives of such technological advancements.
over 200,000 telephone calls are made daily through phones that are connected by 100,000 miles of telephone cable. (A Nation Challenged 24). American Airlines Flight 77 was intended to be flown from Washington to Los Angles, California....
Ethics or rather morals entail mechanisms that defend, systematize as well as recommend conceptions of right or wrong. Many organizations develop ethical codes to ensure employees and employers understand the difference in doing good or bad. In that respect, ethics are an essential aspect of successfully running of any organization or government. Ethics ensure employee’s productivity levels are up to the required standards. It also assists them to know their rights and responsibilities. Additionally, employers, as well as any persons in management, are guided by them to ensure they provide transparent leadership. Ethics also defines how customers should be handled. Ethical codes govern the relationship between customers and an
Although they can be easily tracked, people overlook the invasion of privacy possibility because of the convenience they bring to every day life. Systems like OnStar installed in cars have made the tracking of stolen cars practically effortless. Similar tools are being used by law enforcement, Penenberg stated “cell phones have become the digital equivalent of Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs” (472). He then goes on to discuss how in Britain in 1996, authorities installed 300 cameras in East London. Although this didn’t affect the terrorism, it did affect the crime rate which fell 30 percent after the cameras were put into place. Penenberg closes his essay by mentioning that the surveillance is not only used to watch the citizens but also for citizens to keep an eye on the government. Through his organization, relevant information, and professional tone, Penenberg creates an effective
Organizational Ethics Issue Resolution Paper Introduction For this paper, Washington Mutual has been selected to show how the ethical decision making process can be achieved. When it comes to business ethics in the workplace, Washington Mutual has designed what can be considered a well balanced workplace with behaviors that are aligned with their moral values and business ethics. Business ethics are sometimes depicted as resolving conflicts where one option appears to be the correct choice. There are many different ethical dilemmas that are faced by managers and leaders everyday that are highly complex and have no clear choice or guidelines to assist in making the choices for resolution. There are times when an employee has to decide whether or not to cheat, lie, steal, or break their contract.
Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace? . (6/3/2004)
Ultimately, however, surveillance is only a tool that can be used both ethically and unethically. Employee monitoring, consumer data collection, and government surveillance provides great benefits, including improving company efficiency, providing commercial and health values, and protecting the nation from threats. However, when considering the extent to which surveillance can be done, the rights of the people affected must be taken into account. Finding the right balance between these two views is the key to maximizing the benefits of everyone involved.
What is this world coming to? When most of us think of tracking devices they think of primarily negative issues. But that has all changed now. A tracking device the size of a tic tack that can be surgically implanted to provide a tamper proof means of identification, enhanced e-business security, locating lost or missing individuals, monitoring heart rate, vital signs, tracking of the elderly, the location of valuable property, and monitoring the medical conditions of at risk patients, all at the convenience of a button or a phone call (www.allnet). It is called the GPM or as we know it the Global Positioning Microchip. Today I will discuss the ideals of the implanted microchip and some of the technical, social, economic, ethical and practical implications of its technology. Furthermore exploring some of the benefits and dangers of such a device. Invented entirely for animals man has expanded its uses to stolen cars tracking devices, criminal rehabilitations, and experimental animal observations. The chip has come a long way but where will it go from here.
Ethics in business is a highly important concept, as it can affect a company’s profits, salaries paid to employees and CEOs, and public opinion, among many other aspects of a business. Ethics can be enforced by company policies and guidelines, set a precedent when a company is faced with an important decision, and are also evolving thanks to new technology and situations that arise due to technology usage. Businesses have a duty to maintain their ethical responsibilities and also to help their employees enforce these responsibilities in and out of the workplace. However, ethics and the foundation for them are not always black and white. There are many different ethical theories, however Utilitarianism, Kant’s Deontological ethics, and Virtue ethics are three of the most well known theories in existence. Each theory is distinct in that it has a different quality used to determine ethicality and allows for a person to choose which system of ethics works best with both the situation and his or her personal ethical preferences.
Historically, mobile phones were introduced immediately after the World war two. Mobile phones were designed to receive and send signals with cell site stations tailored on microwave antennas. Bartels, Sandborn, & Pecht (2012) assert that Europe stands as the country with the majority of people having mobile phones. In the United States of America, the Federal Aviation administration does not authorize passengers to use mobile phones on planes citing the possibility of interference with planes systems and ground based systems. The faked cell phone theory indicates that several phone calls ascribed to Flight 93, passengers were falsified since they were from mobile phones which were not a possible situation in a highly flying aircraft.( In,2012). It is difficult to understand the theory because it says that all the call recipients who had spoken to their family members were tricked. This scenario is premise...
Over the past few years, technology has grown to be the driving force in human productivity and efficiency. Technology has been incorporated into our everyday lives to help us perform daily activities and bridge long distance communication. Although technology has brought us many advantages, it has also created quite few ethical issues along the way. Some of the biggest ethical issues technology has created revolve around cell phones. These issues include cell phone tracking and using the cell phone to cheat. Cell phone privacy can be compromised in many situations regarding phone call tracking and messaging. Cell phone use is also starting to be abused by students and other test takers to cheat on tests. Even if the person has good moral standards, sometimes the right decision to make is not always clear.
The use of technology makes our daily tasks easier, such as a better sense of direction while driving via a GPS, safety features in our cars such as Auto Drive and Auto Park. These technologies have made driving an easier and enjoyable experience as well as reducing our chances of getting into accidents. The research presented in the following article “Driven to Distraction [in car technology]” provided surprising conclusions. Professor John D Lee from the University of Iowa states the following issue: “Technology is changing very quickly. Many of these things coming into the car were not designed to be used in it.”(Edwards 8). He proves that there are a lot of in car technologies in today’s society that can demand our full attention without us even knowing, and can lead to tremendous consequences that can become dangerous distractions on the road. Satellite navigation (GPS) makes our lives easier because it can give us the correct directions to a desired address. This is unlike the past where the navigationally challenged would consider it a nightmare to drive to a new location.
Transaction Cost or Agency theory is just one of many alternatives organizations have available as a way to control employees. The findings in this comparison of external and internal labor sources suggest that when a company is unsure of what their employee is doing, it is cheaper to use surveillance as a control tactic. If a company has general product that is not complicated, it may be more advantageous to outsource since control would not be as necessary. Many companies may use a combination of both internal and externalized labor, since risks may vary according to what is sold. If given the choice most of us would pick the internal labor side, because it is secure, dependable and predictable. Organizations must way the risks with control to decide the best way a job will get done with the minimal amount of employee control.