Ethical pluralism, also known as value pluralism or moral pluralism, is the principle whereby two ethical values can be opposing but at the same time equally correct.
For example, in the realm of digital analytics we are required by law to present a consent management platform whereby visitors to a website are asked to give permission for the collection of various types of data as they move about a website. In so doing the owner-organisation of the website must consider (among other things) two elements:
the rights of people visiting the website
the needs of the company with regard to the collection of the data.
The former is a simple concept to grasp and one which, in most cases, probably aligns closely to our own individual ethical principles - in other words the virtue based ethical framework.
Most of us believe we should each have the right to decide what data about us can be collected by organisations as we browse their websites. Ironically our positions as workers in the professional field of digital analytics and marketing makes us more aware than most as to the means that data is collected, both legitimately and illegitimately.
The ability to decline the harvesting of this data seems pretty fundamental but the more people who do opt to decline it, the less data the harvesting organisation has, this in turn could impact its ability to operate competitively in its market.
Some might have little sympathy for a commercial entity that struggles because it doesn’t have enough useful data about its customers, but what if that organisation subsequently has to lay off 20% of its workforce as a resulting decline in its competitive advantage? Employees who rely on the income which they receive from an organisation to pay their mortgages, educate, feed and clothe their children and save for their future become "collateral damage”. Some of those people may not even be aware of how the company is harvesting data or how it treats it, and yet they may lose their livelihoods.
Consider the back office staff at Cambridge Analytica. They may have had nothing to do with the way in which the data from 86 million U.S. citizens was harvested using a profiling app developed by one man, and while I would not suggest that the behaviour of Cambridge Analytica in relation to the facebook data scandal is in any sense excusable I think it is fair to say that some of it employees, who may have been innocent of any unethical behaviour, also had rights which were jeopardised by the practices which its leaders pursued.
All of which is to say, the application of ethics in data is not as clear cut as our own personal values may lead us to think. However, ensuring that your organisation has a clearly set out data ethics policy detailing such aspects as its purpose, scope, principles, legal and regulatory compliance, reporting concerns, enforcement and penalties and so forth, and as long as such documents are clearly accessible to all members of staff and indeed mandatory reading for all relevant members of staff, then this will help set the correct tone for expected behaviour across the organisation.
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