Error message

Updates from Organizations - Government agencies - Advertise Various Artists

Monday, April 2, 2018 - 9:30am

3 Ways The Facebook Data Breach Provides Lessons For Other Businesses

The tale of how Facebook exposed the data of 50 million users to a Cambridge Analytica researcher may shine a light on how business ethics and regulatory compliance issues are struggling to keep up with fast-moving technological advances.

It also shows that the more things change the more they stay the same when it comes to organizations that focus on commercial success without equal attention to governance and corporate responsibility, says Beth Haddock (www.bethhaddock.com), author of Triple Bottom-Line Compliance: How to Deliver Protection, Productivity and Impact.

“We often see gaps in business judgment when companies are managing a crisis of trust by its customers and the public at large,” says Haddock, who is also CEO of Warburton Advisers, a consulting firm that advises companies on compliance and ethical issues particularly when there’s a crisis.

The data breach happened a few years ago when 270,000 Facebook users took a personality quiz through an app that, without their knowledge, allowed the quiz maker to take their private information. The app maker was then able to access the data of those people’s Facebook friends, and provided the information to Cambridge Analytica, a data-analysis firm.

Now regulators in both the United Kingdom and the U.S. are asking for information about what Facebook knew and how it reacted after discovering the breach.

The case does indeed raise questions – and lessons for other businesses, Haddock says. Such as:

  • Self-interest over obligation to consumers.  Companies should not ignore their responsibilities to customers, Haddock says, but there’s an indication in this case that greater emphasis was placed on self-interest. For example, Facebook  used a newspaper advertisement to try to mitigate the company’s legal liabilities, but didn’t address corporate responsibility. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg posted a timeline of events, but didn’t mention a 2011 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that involved deceiving users about privacy protections. Finally, Facebook’s Code of Conduct says employees must represent the “best interests of the company,” but makes no mention of corporate responsibility to customers. “That’s an interesting foundation for a culture of 10,000 employees with access to powerful personal information,” Haddock says. “Imagine a Wall Street firm or a doctor whose code of conduct is solely self-interested, and what’s best for the investor or the patient isn’t considered.” Haddock says this arguably is an example of “fudge-factor thinking,” where people find ways to justify in their own minds questionable ethical decisions, and it’s something businesses need to be wary of. 
  • Compliance and governance. Haddock says it will be interesting to watch how Facebook’s compliance and governance program withstands scrutiny, especially against public statements that shareholders relied upon to invest in this public company. “This is a good reminder to other companies,” she says.  “Assess whether your governance is built on a foundation of fudge-factor thinking. If it is, make changes before there is a foreseeable surprise that results from poor business judgment.” 
  • The data breach itself. This may serve as a cautionary tale for other American companies because regulatory agencies both at home and abroad could come down on them hard if they aren’t vigilant about protecting user data. Innovation is prized in the U.S. But when it comes to breaches of trust and information, Haddock says, caveat emptor may be a faulty premise for U.S. technology companies going forward.

 

“It’s important for management to ensure that the ethical values of an organization are not only consistently implemented,” Haddock says, “but are also integrated at every level of the business and reinforced by employee education.”

 

About Beth Haddock

Beth Haddock (www.bethhaddock.com), CEO and founder of Warburton Advisers, is the author of Triple Bottom-Line Compliance: How to Deliver Protection, Productivity and Impact. She has more than 20 years of experience as a compliance and business executive. Her consulting firm provides sustainable governance and compliance solutions to leading international corporations, technology companies, and non-profits.

======================

 BLM SCRAMBLES TO WRITE NEW MANAGEMENT PLAN Fast and Furious planning spells death and destruction for wild horses & burros 

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - In the wake of the passage of the Omnibus spending bill last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is scrambling to release a management plan for our wild horses and burros as requested by Congress, according to an E&E News report. 

For decades, wild horse and burro advocacy groups have been calling for the BLM to implement humane, science-based management strategies. During the passage of the Omnibus bill last week, Congressional committee members stated their frustration at the lack of a workable plan. At the behest of those committee members, BLM is now attempting to create a new management plan in a matter of days that could spell death and destruction for wild horses and burros in holding and on their home ranges. 

To make matters potentially more perilous for our wild horses and burros, the BLM is now under the direction of Brian Steed, former Chief of Staff for pro-horse-slaughter Congressman Chris Stewart of Utah. Congressman Stewart was instrumental in the creation of the “National Wild Horse & Burro Summit” in Salt Lake City last year. The event was populated by anti-wild horse advocates, 99% of whom voted to sell wild horses for dog food, and 96 percent of whom voted to euthanize unadoptable horses. 

“We have no confidence that a government agency led by Mr. Steed will draft a fair, humane, or science-based management plan for wild horses and burros,” said Lisa Friday, Director of Communications for The Cloud Foundation. “His former boss is a proponent of killing wild horses and burros in holding, and we feel that sentiment will likely shine through in whatever management proposals his staff manages to pen.” 

For decades the BLM has failed to implement viable solutions for managing healthy horses on healthy ranges. They have ignored the wishes of 80% of the American public and now, the united voices of wild horse advocates, more than 100 of whom have signed on to a proposal for humane, science-based wild horse and burro management.  

“While millions of head of privately-owned livestock continue to devastate public lands, BLM floats the phony argument that wild horse overpopulation is the cause of the devastation,” states Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation and Humane Advocate on the BLM’s National Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board. “Meanwhile, our management proposals go unheeded, proposals that will save money, protect our public lands, and preserve our wild horses and burros.” 

The BLM cites that wild horses and burros in holding cost $50 million per year, a number that number pales in comparison to the $144 million per year that the BLM spends to manage millions of head of privately-owned livestock grazing on public lands. The grazing program operates at a net loss of at least $123 million per year according to the Government Accountability Office. Economists estimate the actual net losses of that program could well be between $500 million and $1 billion per year. 

### 

The Cloud Foundation (TCF) is a Colorado based 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of wild horses and burros on our western public lands. 

============================

With Tax Day approaching, WalletHub today released its latest analysis of the U.S. tax landscape, an in-depth look at the states with the Best & Worst Taxpayer Return on Investment in 2018. WalletHub used 25 metrics to compare the quality and efficiency of state-government services across five categories — Education, Health, Safety, Economy, and Infrastructure & Pollution — taking into account the drastically different rates at which citizens are taxed in each state.

Taxpayer ROI in Utah (1=Best, 25=Avg.):

  • 9th – Overall ROI
  • 21st – Total Taxes per Capita (Population Aged 18+)
  • 18th – Education
  • 14th – Health
  • 15th – Safety
  • 1st – Economy
  • 31st – Infrastructure & Pollution

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/state-taxpayer-roi-report/3283/