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Chapter 5: Invasion of Privacy

From an ethical perspective, privacy is not merely an individual right but is a human condition and is fundamentally moral. Journalists who recognize this deeper and bigger perspective need ethical guidelines for implementing it. With internet and information technologies creating the greatest challenges, this chapter focuses on privacy in the digital age. The first case situates the privacy question in everyday internet usage. When people are connected to one another outside of business and government, the news media need to stimulate public understanding of privacy invasion. The second case introduces the challenges from the big data companies to our traditional understanding of privacy, using Facebook as an example of commercial intrusion. In the third case, the post-September 11 USA Patriot Act illustrates the dangers to privacy in the name of security that are true of democratic societies around the world. The last case discusses the emerging ethical concerns in the development and use of biometric technologies. Using police surveillance of protesters after the death of George Floyd as an example, the case discusses privacy issues in the age of biometric data collection.

Chapter 5 – Video Introduction


Case 20

Discussion Questions

  • How can the spread of information be used to promote privacy? 
  • What can news organizations do to keep governments and other organizations in check regarding individual privacy?

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Case 21

Discussion Questions

  • Social media applications like Facebook are often important resources for reporters and journalists. How should journalists be careful with data and privacy on these apps? 
  • As X (the company formerly known as Twitter) has undergone management shifts, many journalists and reporters who had frequented the app have now left or become inactive. What happens to an internet platform when it becomes hostile to journalists?

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Case 22

Discussion Questions

  • How might new technological advancements be evaluated in terms of potential harm?
  • When does a violation of privacy meet the definition of “harm”?

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Case 23

Discussion Questions

  • What schools of ethics might approve of the use of biometric data collection on George Floyd protesters, and which may disapprove of that use?
  • At what point in time did these protesters consent to having their likeness used or collected by police agencies? Does that matter?

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