H-P AND PRETEXTING

H-P and Pretexting

H-P and Pretexting

Reference to the scenario Patricia Dunn is not liable for the violation of information leak. She infact hired Private Investigator Ronald DeLia to find out just who it was. The Private Investigators posed as H-P directors, as journalists, and more to root out the information. The scenario depicts a vitious circle for the information leak. Deontological theories focus on the intended action not the consequences of one's actions (Guido, 2006). The theory focuses on the dignity and sense of duty of the individuals and finds the relationship between the person and the action. Deontological theories are divided into two subcategories; act deontology and rule deontology. Kaplan (2006) states that “act deontology is based on the personal moral values of the person making the ethical decision, whereas rule deontology is based on the belief that certain standards for ethical decisions transcend the individual's moral values” (p. 4).

Teleological theories are based on the simple concept, right actions have good consequences and bad actions have bad consequences. This theory suggests the act of right or wrong is directly related to the consequence of the action. Utilitarianism stems off of teleogical theories, explains that consequences count and acts are determined by the consequence. Some utilitarian's believe that the moral rightness of a consequence is determined by the greatest number of good or the least harm and suffering (Kaplan, 2006). Considering the moral rightness is based on greatest number to benefit from the greatest good, actions based on the utilitarianism theory can often be unethical and illegal. Patricia has been caught up in a difficult situation however deontologically she is supported as being innocent. Long with moral character, the ethical perspective virtue is a philosophy that indicates wisdom and well being allow individuals to make ethical decisions. Virtue also stresses behavior in individuals in how actions should be made as opposed to the actions that take place. Wisdom plays an important part in the decision-making process mixing with morals for each individual situation.

Before 2007, this was the only federal law against pretexting. There were no signed laws that barred investigators from using pretexting as a way to obtain private information that was not financial in nature. This meant that there was no signed law that prevented anyone from using pretexing as a way to obtain information otherwise available in the public domain, such as real estate taxed, bankruptcy, police records, or general contact information. There was no also no clear law banning pretexting as a means to obtain information about telecommunication records, such as phone records, email logs, and other types of communication.

In 2006, the Federal Trade Commission moved to expand Section 5 of the FTC Act to specifically include a law banning the use of pretexting to retrieve telephone records. Section 5 of the FTC Act was originally written to bar deceptive business practices in general.

Obligation/ Deontology

The obligation/deontology perspective describes those that are categorized this way that ethical decisions are based on the loyalty and responsibility of ...