Evaluating an ethical trade-off

A technically possible data use may go beyond what people agreed to or reasonably expect. Compare the new purpose, recipients and information involved with the actual consent/context. An agreed password-reset email use does not automatically justify unrelated marketing or sharing addresses with another company.

Ethical evaluation considers effects on affected people, not only whether a system can perform the action or whether data is profitable. Describe a concrete benefit, harm and alternative, and minimise unnecessary collection or disclosure. Legal permission and ethical judgement are related but are not identical questions in every situation.

An app collected email addresses only for password resets and proposes giving them to a tutoring company for offers.

1. The proposed recipient and purpose differ from password recovery.
2. Unwanted contact and third-party exposure are potential harms even if addresses were collected legitimately.
3. A redesign could avoid sharing, or seek appropriate explicit permission for a clearly described optional purpose rather than assuming the original agreement covers it.

Claim: Consent for one purpose automatically permits every later use.

Purpose, recipient and conditions matter; a new use needs appropriate justification and authorisation.

Name the change that makes the proposed use different from the original agreement.

Work with a partner. Make a prediction, compare your reasoning, then identify the rule that supports your answer.

Propose a less intrusive way to provide useful study information.

Why is “we can access the database” not a sufficient ethical argument?

Write your reasoning before comparing with a classmate. If your teacher assigned this task, submit it through My classes to save your work and receive feedback.