The Ethics Of Surveillance Of Consumers

In several ways it reminds me of the Telescreens used by the totalitarian government in the book 1984, where it was used to survey the citizens every second and check whether they were obeying the laws. While the monitoring used to track customers is not quite as revealing, one could view it as a kind of spying. After all, whatever you do is being observed and recorded down by a third person party somewhere behind the scenes. No matter what kind of benefits can be extracted by these companies, it just does not seem morally right to do it by tracking and

and what they are equipped to do. Some of these devices are able to scan and analyze , what they

With the seemingly exponential propagation of inexpensive digital communications technologies over recent years, the general public is becoming more aware of the issues surrounding information privacy and government surveillance in the digital age. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a smart-phone has to be wary of how they use their private information for fear of that information being collected and used in a way contrary to their wishes. "Leaky" smartphone apps that transmit private information across the internet can be unethically used by government agencies. The issue of privacy is a balancing act; the public usually wants increased privacy and the government usually wants increased access.

Thesis: Although some claim that retail anthropologists’ placement of surveillance cameras for consumers while shopping is manipulative, it is not in fact unethical because their actions are meant for the benefit of the consumers, the benefit of the producers, and most importantly, shoppers are aware of the surveillance cameras.

The topic of this paper is privacy. It will talk about the ethical and legal reasons for maintain privacy. The audience for this paper is high school level teachers in a school with one-to-one devices for every student.

We live in a society where we are watched constantly by social media, twitter, employers and even shopping surveillance cameras. Although each outlet has its different uses for watching, there are pros and cons. Social media may share life styles or events with users with just a touch of a button or click of a mouse. Twitter updates the user with instant news about certain individuals or celebrities and what is trending. An employer keeps a watchful eye on a new employee to make sure they are the right fit for the company or can also watch to make sure their assets are secure. Surveillance is mostly thought of as monitoring assets, but what about the true assets it monitors, the consumer at a store. Consumers are the bread and butter of the store, without the consumer there are no sales, and if no sales then there would be no store. I refute the claim that the retail anthropologists’ surveillance of consumers is manipulative or unethical. In fact, I think the surveillance of consumers can help both the retailer and the consumer. Surveillance can provide an overall good shopping experience for both consumer and retailer. The surveillance videos can show which products the consumer wants and buys, it can help the retailer place good products in good organizational areas, and provide not only the consumer, but the retailer with a good overall shopping experience.

Thesis statement: Government surveillance should be stopped because it is an invasion of privacy and gives the government control that is not enumerated in the constitution.

Recently police have been searching many people’s private information, which is an invasion of privacy. Will this cause an even bigger riot between the people and police? Some believe these actions are appropriate, and necessary to help maintain safe communities. Officials should not be allowed to use information obtained from private devices or social networking sites.

“The consciousness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival” (Orwell). The world today is full of many dangers domestic and abroad. It has become a routine in the news to report on the daily mass shooting or update with the war on terror. We live in a world where being worried is justified; however, we should not give up our constitutional rights in the face of fear. The NSA’s dragnet surveillance programs, such as PRISM, are both ineffective and are surpassed by less questionable national security programs. The FISA court's’ approval of NSA actions are not only illegal, but exist as an embarrassing formality. Surveillance is a necessary

Hi Riza! It seems that we are getting on the same page because I also refute the claim that retail anthropologist surveillance of consumers is unethical and manipulative. In my opinion, by applying the results from retail anthropologist, a retail store has facilitated their customers while they are shopping. For example, retail storeowners can reorganize their store in order to create more shopping space for their customers or diversify their products so that customers will save their shopping time. Moreover, retail stores can improve customer satisfaction as well as customer experience when they use information collected from surveillance of consumers. For instance, by looking at surveillance cameras, store manager will recognize the crowded

Hi Tuyen, like you, I chose to support the contention that the surveillance of consumers by retail anthropologists is manipulative and unethical. I know that businessmen want to observe and analyze buying behaviors because they want to improve business performance and customer experience. Obviously, after using the surveillance service of company like Envirosell founded by Paco Underhill, retailers improve their sales. Customers may earn something too. That is acceptable because we all understand the nature of business. However, that will become unacceptable and unethical when that may harm customer privacy. I like your three reasons because they all support your thesis. Regarding your thesis statement, I personally think that “I” should not

Lots of what happens in a store or retailer can be better analyzed when there is a tape recording as opposed to observing in person. But observing in person allows the tracker to make minute observations and small nuances like the direction the eyes are looking and the item they are checking out that can’t be recorded by cameras. There’s also something else that is hugely important, but mostly overlooked, which is what customers fail to notice. It could be because a certain product outshines another product and outperforms the other product in sales. Before I start observing people in Barnes & Noble, I will have to take many factors into consideration.

In today’s online world, it is almost impossible to remain anonymous. With every website and service requiring a log in which stores personal information, and surveillance users are unaware is even there. Although this sounds like an invasion of personal privacy and loss of personal liberty, it has turned into the “norm” and most of the time goes on without even being questioned. In some cases, consensual surveillance has been turned into forms of entertainment. The average person online is very aware of the surveillance taking place, but it is likely they are unaware of the severity of the surveillance and the justification behind it. It is known that the main use of surveillance is to keep citizens safe and free from terrorist attacks

First of all, it is important to know the definition of privacy, it is the right to control who knows what about you, and under what conditions. The right to share different things with the people that you want and the right to know that your personal email, medical records and bank details are safe and secure. Privacy is essential to human dignity and autonomy in all societies. If someone has committed a physical intrusion, or, in discussing the principal question, has published embarrassing or inaccurate personal material or photographs of the individual taken without consent, he is invading their right of privacy, which is in the article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Shopping is one of the most common social activities in our life. Lingering in one store and another, the customers are looking for the products that meet their requirements and making decisions to purchase while enjoying the leisure time with their families or friends. At the same time, to achieve a better business performance, the retailers try to attract the customers to pay more attention to the products and stay longer in their stores by using various kinds of technologies to surveil the shoppers, such as using cameras to monitor their shopping behavior, tracking their purchased items, and even analyzing these consumers’ background. However, the surveillance of consumers by retail anthropologists is manipulative and unethical