Prevent An AI Disaster Like The One At McDonald’s By Serving Up Ethics; Forbes, July 1, 2024

 Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D., Forbes; Prevent An AI Disaster Like The One At McDonald’s By Serving Up Ethics

"Would you like some bacon with your ice cream? How about an order of 260 Chicken McNuggets? These are but a few of the menu mishaps that occurred after McDonald’s incorporated AI into its drive-through experience.

The comic results of this technological mishap are the stuff of late-night television shows, but the core issues are anything but funny. No company wants its promising initiatives to become fodder for comedians.

The best way for your company to prevent an AI-generated disasters like this one is to embed ethical considerations into every step of the process you use to take an idea to market.

Here are three guidelines for making sure your business doesn’t become a feature on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s “Meanwhile” segment."

Those 10,000 5-star reviews are fake. Now they’ll also be illegal.; The Washington Post, June 30, 2023

Geoffrey A. Fowler, The Washington Post ; Those 10,000 5-star reviews are fake. Now they’ll also be illegal.

"The Federal Trade Commission on Friday proposed new rules to take aim at businesses that buy, sell and manipulate online reviews. If the rules are approved, they’ll carry a big stick: a fine of up to $50,000 for each fake review, for each time a consumer sees it."

COVID-19 and the Ethical Questions It Poses; University of Nevada, Las Vegas, April 22, 2020

University of Nevada, Las Vegas; COVID-19 and the Ethical Questions It Poses

UNLV business ethics expert Wonyong Oh on the coronavirus pandemic and the ethical dilemmas facing health care workers, corporations, and government

"What are some ethical questions that businesses are wrestling with in light of COVID-19?

Let’s think about one controversial example. Real-time personal location information to track and manage the path of infection has been tried all over the world, especially actively in Asian countries like China, Korea, and Hong Kong. IT companies can track location information using smartphones to prevent virus spread. This raises ethical and legal issues surrounding access to personal information.

If you follow utilitarian ethics, tracking this kind of personal information can be allowed with the “maximum benefits for the greatest number” principle. It’s for keeping society safe from infection by sacrificing personal privacy. It seems that, recently, the views on tracking personal information in the U.S. and Europe began to change. In a few European countries, telecommunication companies began to use mobile phone data to fight COVID-19. In the U.S., Apple and Google are working together to track COVID-19 with Bluetooth. IT companies can help governments reduce the spread of the virus with their technologies. At the same time, high-tech companies need to balance that with protecting individual privacy, which is a new challenge.

Everything about the coronavirus pandemic, however, is unprecedented. The reality is that the virus threatens even ordinary freedoms, like the freedom of movement, with stay-at-home orders."

The Ethics of Thru-Hiking During the COVID-19 Pandemic; Outside, March 19, 2020

Grayson Haver Currin, Outside; The Ethics of Thru-Hiking During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Despite the coronavirus, you can legally thru-hike the Appalachian Trail right now. But should you?

"But what none of these organizations can do, of course, is legally or logistically close trails that run the length of the United States. That limitation and its implications have ripped the thru-hiking community into subdivisions, whose differing views are reflected on message boards and along the trails themselves. As sports leagues have canceled entire seasons and restaurants have laid off staff, the urgent question for thru-hiking in 2020 has become an ethical litmus test: Just because you can get on trail, should you? 

“People are going to do it, and that’s their choice,” says Scott Wilkinson, director of communications and marketing at the PCTA. “But hikers must take into consideration that our goal is to limit the spread of COVID-19, and the only certain way to do that is to physically limit the possibilities by social distancing. I can’t imagine a much better vehicle for a virus than a large group of hikers hitching to and out of hotels in small towns.”"

The collapse of the information ecosystem poses profound risks for humanity; The Guardian, November 19, 2019

Lydia Polgreen, The Guardian; The collapse of the information ecosystem poses profound risks for humanity

"When the scientists behind the Doomsday clock published their yearly assessment of how close we are to planetary doom, they added a new dimension to the dual threats of nuclear proliferation and climate change, namely “the intentional corruption of the information ecosystem on which modern civilization depends”.

What we’ve seen in recent years isn’t just the collapse of informational authority. It is the destruction of the pact between the purveyors of quality information and the businesses that wanted to reach the consumers of that information...

Just as companies decarbonize their businesses, they should think carefully about how they contribute to the destruction of our information ecosystem and choose to reach consumers on platforms that slow rather than increase the pace of information ecosystem collapse."

Trump housing plan would make bias by algorithm 'nearly impossible to fight'; The Guardian, October 23, 2019

Kari Paul, The Guardian; Trump housing plan would make bias by algorithm 'nearly impossible to fight'

"Under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) new rules, businesses would be shielded from liability when their algorithms are accused of bias through three different loopholes:

• When the algorithm in question is vetted by a “neutral third party”.
• When the algorithm itself was created by a third party.
• If an algorithm used did not use race or a proxy for it in the computer model.

In the letter, groups in opposition to the change noted many pieces of data can be proxies for race – discriminating by a zip code, for example, can enable a racial bias. The rule would give “unprecedented deference” to mortgage lenders, landlords, banks, insurance companies, and others in the housing industry, the letter said."

Seven Bold Leaders Reveal How Ethical Leadership Is A Boon To Business; Forbes, October 14, 2019

Bruce Weinstein, Forbes; Seven Bold Leaders Reveal How Ethical Leadership Is A Boon To Business

"Ethical leadership in a business benefits the bottom line. It’s also a boon to the people who work for the organization and the people it serves.

The relationship between ethical conduct and benefits is one of the themes of this year’s Global Ethics Day. The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs created this event nine years ago to provide an “opportunity for organizations around the world to hold events on or around this day, exploring the meaning of ethics in international affairs.”

Last year, I observed Global Ethics Day in this column by asking 20 leaders what “ethics” meant to them. Each provided a one-sentence summary. This year we’re stretching out a bit. I asked seven leaders to provide a concrete example or two of how ethical leadership benefits businesses, employees, clients and communities.

Here’s what they said."

‘No Morals’: Advertisers React to Facebook Report; The New York Times, November 15, 2018

Sapna Maheshwari, The New York Times; ‘No Morals’: Advertisers React to Facebook Report

"The revelations may be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief growth officer for the Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s biggest ad companies. “Now we know Facebook will do whatever it takes to make money. They have absolutely no morals.”

Marketers have grumbled about Facebook in the past, concerned that advertisements could appear next to misinformation and hate speech on the platform. They have complained about how the company handles consumer data and how it measures ads and its user base. But those issues were not enough to outweigh the lure of Facebook’s vast audience and the company’s insistence that it was trying to address its flaws.

 

And after this article was published online, Mr. Tobaccowala called The New York Times to add to his comments.

 

“The people there do,” he said, referring to possessing morals, “but as a business, they seem to have lost their compass.”"

Gartner picks digital ethics and privacy as a strategic trend for 2019; TechCrunch, October 16, 2018

Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch; Gartner picks digital ethics and privacy as a strategic trend for 2019

"Analyst Gartner, best known for crunching device marketshare data; charting technology hype cycles; and churning out predictive listicles of emergent capabilities at software’s cutting edge has now put businesses on watch that as well as dabbling in the usual crop of nascent technologies organizations need to be thinking about wider impacts next year — on both individuals and society. 

Call it a sign of the times but digital ethics and privacy has been named as one of Gartner’s top ten strategic technology trends for 2019."

Facebook says it will stop fighting a major California privacy initiative; The Verge, April 12, 2018

Colin Lecher, The Verge; Facebook says it will stop fighting a major California privacy initiative

"Facebook will drop its opposition to a major California privacy initiative, backers of the initiative announced, just after Mark Zuckerberg finished a two-day grilling from congressional lawmakers.

The proposed ballot measure, called the California Consumer Privacy Act, could come to a statewide vote in November. Under the act, businesses would be required to disclose what categories of data they’ve collected on users, if those users request it. Californians would also be able to request that their personal information not be sold."

Privacy By Design Is Important For Every Area Of Your Business; Forbes, April 10, 2018

Heidi Maher, Forbes; Privacy By Design Is Important For Every Area Of Your Business

"The only solution -- the only way to change people’s behavior -- is to embed privacy in the very fabric of the organization. That’s why Privacy by Design, a decades-old application design and development strategy, is now being discussed as a foundational strategy for entire organizations...

Finally, the use of new technologies is evolving so fast it creates significant legal complexity. Who is at fault when an accident involves a self-driving car? Who can access the data collected by a fitness tracker or medical device implant?

While we may not be able to untangle all the legal and regulatory questions yet, we can do a better job of protecting the data. The seven original principles of Privacy by Design -- developed for software engineers by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada, the Dutch Data Protection Authority, and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research – suggest the path forward..."

Illinois Issues: The Battle Over Transparency And Privacy In The Digital Age; NPR Illinois, July 13, 2017

Daisy Contreras, NPR Illiois; Illinois Issues: The Battle Over Transparency And Privacy In The Digital Age

"Privacy experts like John Verdi from the Future of Privacy Forum says that he believes much of the debate between opponents and proponents comes from the nature of the topic, which is in of itself a complicated issue because of the patchwork of legislation across different states.

“It is a vastly complicated space, where you have potential benefits from data to consumers, to businesses, to the economy — to governments. And you also have real concrete privacy and security risks for individuals.”...

For the time being, some consumers and privacy advocates like Carolyn Parrish, just want website owners and app developers to establish consensus about what might be considered too much data sharing and to establish ground rules for transparency with consumers.  “Giving people greater visibility into what’s happening behind the scenes—it’s useful. Knowledge is helpful to people to help them make educated choices.”"

Cisco wants to balance privacy with security; SFGate, June 20, 2017

Marissa Lang, SFGate; Cisco wants to balance privacy with security

"It’s a common trade-off in cybersecurity: Do you want privacy, or do you want protection?

To be more secure, businesses typically have to accept some level of surveillance, inviting third-party companies to track traffic and monitor network data for intruders, threats or malicious software.

Cisco wants to do away with that choice."

Derogatory trademarks aren’t about free speech. They’re about discrimination.; Washington Post, June 21, 2017

Robert S. Chang, Washington Post; Derogatory trademarks aren’t about free speech. They’re about discrimination.

"Unfortunately, Reyna’s hypothetical is an actuality of sorts. In Florida and other states, gun store owners have placed signs on their establishments declaring themselves to be a “Muslim Free Zone.” As the owner of one of the stores, Florida Gun Supply, said: “My goal is to make sure they don’t feel welcome here so I don’t have the need to discriminate in the first place.

Following Matal v. Tam, nothing will prevent the owner from obtaining federal registration of “Muslim Free Zone” as a trademark, accomplishing through speech what he might not be able to do through direct denial of service. For businesses not covered by Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, nothing will prevent the creation and federal registration of trademarks such as “No Gays Allowed” or, for that matter, “Whites Only.”

The federal government, though, should not be required to register these trademarks. The government should not be required to participate in discrimination.

This is where we are following the Supreme Court decision. This is the mischief that will come."

Ethics And Hacking: What You Need To Know; Forbes, March 6, 2017

Forbes Technology Council, Forbes; 

Ethics And Hacking: What You Need To Know

"The term hacking gets bandied about a great deal in both the industry and in the media. Some stories carry the image of bored tweens, building skills while bragging about tearing up someone else’s hard work. Other stories talk more about offshore groups using server farms to mass phish for information.

The kinds of damage that hackers can cause is as varied as functions of a computer or device: Lost finances, trade secrets, and files swapped or erased are only the tip of what could be done to a person or company. Sometimes, just being one of the few people aware that different companies are talking to each other about business can mean opportunities for the unethical.

So the question gets raised: Can the arts of hacking be used to improve lives on a broader scale, or is it a purely destructive activity? Below, Forbes Technology Council members weigh in on ethics and hacking."

Congress seeks to update student data privacy law; FedScoop, 3/22/16

Yizhu Wang, FedScoop; Congress seeks to update student data privacy law:

"Federal lawmakers are intent on updating an education privacy law that hasn't been overhauled in more than 40 years – but they are unsure about how to go about it.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing Tuesday with state technology leaders, education researchers, parent groups and advocates, to gather information about how schools are protecting student data and the vulnerabilities that still exist. Legislators specifically addressed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which was established in 1974 and revised in 2012 to protect kids' emails and other means of online identification."