First thought to accepting the partnership is the money that will be accumulated. Yes, it is a lot of money, but how much of that money is going to be used to pay settlements later. While reading the article by Woods you can see how just a small leak of information can be detrimental. What will it do to the lives of the clients? One must think on how hard it is on them and the information being leaked, is it going to embarrass the client or cause more harm than good. Therefore, there was the creation of the HIPAA law. (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act). This stands for all private information. I see this everyday in the organization that I am in. Though this is not about health it is about privacy. It is about what we do with that information that is being given and how we are going to protect it. As an organization that is merging with another company it is our responsibility to make sure that information given is not put into the wrong hands. Woods explains it well when he states, “nonprofits engender high levels of trust from the public; they are insulated from many short-term pressures; and they have generally avoided scandals of data abuse. Civil society may also have a special ethical duty regarding the data it collects — a duty that presumably warrants distinct ethical guidelines from the ones that are being developed for the other sectors.” (2016) We have to be very careful of what information gets out and how we share this information.
When developing a statement rules should be implemented. Remember we have the right and the responsibility to keep information private. We do not have the right to sell someone else’s information or share it with anyone without the consent of the person of interest. Bernholtz,, states it quite clearly the rules of ethics used in business and organizations that have control of personal information. “RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: The rights of individuals and communities whose data are being collected by civil society are unclear. Conversely, the responsibilities of groups collecting individual and community data are defined as well.”
The value is the integrity of those involved. The value is understated and can cause harm to those it involves. When one works with others information it is very important it stays private to the terms of the person whom it belongs to. If the client gives permission it should have a signed release of information. This is basic ethics that everyone should be aware of. The value of the information is too high for the organization to just sign those rights away.
100% DISCLOSURE to clients- they should know every aspect of this situation before making a final decision. If there is not full disclosure or pure transparency, there should be no deal. That would most defiantly be a deal breaker in the organization that I run. As a leader you are building trust with those who work for you and those who work under you. Under no circumstances should this trust be broken over money. No money is worth the value you instill in your people, clients and yourself. It is more than just ethics. It is worth and value of morals and competency. Unless my clients are in full understanding, which I would ask for the time to inform my clients, and again if not granted this I would not comply, no money is worth the value of a client’s information. And if they could not understand that then that would not be the company for this organization.
References
Woods, A. (2016) Do Civil Society Practices Call for New ethical Guidelilnes retrieved from: https://medium.com/the-digital-civil-society-lab/do-civil-societys-data-practices-call-for-new-ethical-guidelines-2a135cde239a.
Bernholtz, L. (2018). The Ethics of Data in Civil Society. retrieved from: https://www.scribd.com/document/237526683/EthicsofData-FRAMINGDOCUMENT
Ethics, Big Data, and analytics: A model for Application retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2013/5/ethics-big-data-and-analytics-a-model-for-application
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