Ethical Dilemmas in the Big Data Industry and the Limits of Traditional Moral Frameworks: a case study Cover Image

DILEMELE ETICE ALE INDUSTRIEI BIG DATA ŞI LIMITELE TEORIILOR MORALE CONSACRATE: UN STUDIU DE CAZ
Ethical Dilemmas in the Big Data Industry and the Limits of Traditional Moral Frameworks: a case study

Author(s): Mihai-Valentin Cernea
Subject(s): Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
Published by: Editura Academiei Române
Keywords: Big Data; business ethics; Kant; Mill; moral pluralism;

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I explore a few critical ethical issuesin the Big Data industry using the infamous ‘emotional contagion’ experiment (Krameret al., 2014) performed by Facebook in collaboration with researchers from CornellUniversity. I begin by making the case that the experiment is interesting not only forresearch ethics, but also for business ethics. I look at the faulty ethics of the controversialstudy using both a Kantian and a Millian lens, underlining the implications for moralityin the Big Data industry. In the end, I express a worry that traditional moral frameworksmay be lacking in properly dealing with various aspects of the case, given thecomplexity of processes involved in Big Data. I conclude that a pluralistic frameworkmay be an option for applied ethics in this type of business.

  • Issue Year: LXVI/2019
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 37-48
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Romanian, Moldavian