Website

Online marketing

Table of Contents

Abstract

This paper presents the relationship between ethical concerns of personal information and online marketing. The issue of credibility, confidentiality and privacy will be briefly discussed. Online marketing has been steadily growing in the recent past. The relationship between internet development and online marketing are strongly linear. However, security concerns particularly its impact on online buying and selling are much more complex because of the strongly conditioned cultural and country specific.

Introduction

Online marketing is also referred to as web-marketing, search engine marketing, e marketing and in marketing. Online marketing simply deals with marketing of services and products over the internet. The development of the internet has brought media to a global audience. The nature of internet marketing specializes with interaction which provides instant response and eliciting response as a unique interaction medium.Online marketing is a broad scope because it does not only refer to email, internet and wireless media but it includes management of electronic customer relation and customer date management system.

Online marketing binds together technical and creative aspects of the internet which include designing, advertising, sale as development. Internet marketing deals with placement of media in various stages of customer engagement cycle. Through, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing, email marketing , banner ads on specific websites as Web 2.0 strategies.marketing uses internet communication between individual costumers and recipients rather than being an organization marketing to masses of consumers. Therefore, online marketing has now become efficient to an individual to gain any information and transact online business. This is because the use of the internet allows a social network that is easy and quick to disseminate information. Security of ones personal information becomes a subject of concern to online marketing.

Attitude towards use of personal information online marketing

Personal information can be classified in two abroad scopes. There is the hard information which is linked to identifying an individual and the data given are very sensitive. Hard information is unique to an individual. Soft information on the other hand generally describes an individual . The particulars are less sensitive in soft information. People are aware of the risks involved in regard to personal wellbeing and safety. There is the risk of identity theft , financial loss, and fraud, damage of reputation, exposure to unwanted communication an invasion of privacy. Attitudes toward the use of internet transaction have been influenced by perception of risk such as distinction between interpersonal transactions and online transactions.

There is the belief that privacy breaches are inevitable. There is the risk of unspecified fears, magnitude of the perceived risk relational difference and risk as a trade off for convenience. An analysis done by Louise in 2008 indicated that data has shown that large web companies are learning about people more than ever before. This is through what the people do and search for on the internet. These companies gather clues about the preferences and tastes of a common users each day of the month. The companies utilize their information to foresee the future advertisement and content people are most likely to view (Louise, 2008) . Advertisings executives then presents their data of amount of consumer data to internet companies.

This shows that the issue of privacy in the internet is no longer true which opposes a Famous New York dog cartoon of 1993 which one of the dog says to the other that that on the internet, nobody knows that you are a dog. Privacy advocators have in the past raised awareness of the practices of internet companies . The companies trail people data from the internet and then analyze them to predict people’s next step. Therefore, the internet users who surf for hotels airlines and iron supplement will constantly receive ads on the screen revealing these industries.Consumers are not normally aware of the great extent about data collection online because it is invisible to them. The advertising companies do not flash on screen that they are collecting information entered by the visitors on their sites. The companies are intrinsically connected to consumer data even the sites have policies in place to protect personal information such as consumers information from the advertisers.

The companies connect consumer data codes and at the same time identify their computers more than their names. Web companies which market their products and services in the past could monitor actions of consumers only on their own site. But in the recent past years, internet giants have spend their research by becoming the intermediaries of placing ads on thousands of websites. The giants can now follow people’s activities on far more sites. Large companies like Gmail, Microsoft, and Yahoo have acquired a number of companies that have rich consumer data. Web companies also collect data of these people who spend more time on the internet. America web users were estimated to be 14.6 billion people in the summer of 2006.

This number has risen by this year because of the high development of the internet which is available to all Americans (COM Score, 2010). The web companies also can collect more data with the increased time people spent on the internet. They will therefore, have more information transmitted to them while the occasional users will have less transmitted about them. The customers voluntary offer their details when registering for email or sites service. And in doing so the sites are given permission to enter people network pages. Hence they can establish their interest and know their user names. Some companies have policies that protect computer identification address while some do not. AOL lets people opt out of ads targeting them . Google lets users edit the search histories of its visitors , Yahoo aims at protecting peoples computer identification addresses that connect to search results. Microsoft does not link any of its visitor’s behaviors to their user’s names even if they are registered parties.

Ethical concerns

A study conducted in California in 2007 indicated that 85% of adults thought that sites should not be allowed to track their actions around the web so that they can be shown ads (Samuelson Law, 2007). Internet ethics has become a major concern in day to day life. Privacy over the internet has raised ethical issues needed to be dealt with. There is need for implementation of ethics as every internet user’s desires privacy. Privacy is a state by which an individual can work on his/her information without fear of being prayed upon. One can work in seclusion which results in selective revelation of one’s information and details . Privacy also means anonymity. The concept of privacy is related to the aspect of security of information and the individual himself. The invasion of privacy can be prevented through privacy laws. The internet has given rise to the concept of information privacy. The internet host enormous information based on need of security. It is undesirable for one to gain access into unauthorized information. The privacy of data deals with the association between legal rights and technology related to it. Any storage of ones personal data and information call for privacy.

Internet privacy deals with the control that one will have over information about oneself and the information that one wishes to disclose. Internet privacy therefore deals with controlling the access to information over the internet.(Buzzle.com,2010). The use of the internet comprises the use of social networks, browsing various websites and using email facilities. Internet privacy has a role to play especially when the website users give personal details on the internet. In marketing websites, one can shop and this will require users to input their credit card numbers. In other mailings sites there is an option as to whether one can allow third party to read or store emails without any informed consent. This gives rise to privacy concern especially when it comes to third party being allowed to track visitors on a website. Another privacy concern issue is when the site gathers personally identified information from users which are stored or shared. Computer privacy can be considered as a subset of internet privacy. Computer privacy deals with the avoidance of improper disclosure of personally identifiable information stored and collected by websites.

It becomes a real challenge to effectively share data while protecting private information. Controversies have arisen as to whether or not there is the existence of internet privacy. One group advocates for the necessity of internet privacy while another group denies the whole idea of internet privacy. Anonymity over the internet is not the intention of internet privacy but rather it is an aim of achieving controlled disclosure of ones personal information. A user of the internet is connected at all times to the network by which, he /she can be identified by an address. This is because the internet is a network of networks. An identification address is known as an IP address. A website may want to track the IP addresses of its users for security reasons which it can collect information which is non personal. Such information should be the soft information which cannot be used to uniquely identify a person. Disclosure of any such information is ethically acceptable because this is the means by which such a website can tract user’s behavior and internet activities.

Other users of the internet prefer using heightened internet security by using false names to become anonymous in the internet. Though this can be right for such a person, it might endanger other internet users and the use of internet. This is why many internet users have complained of being stalked by anonymous internet users. People are free to publicize undesired or wrong information under false names over the internet . This is because of ones freedom of expression endowed by social networking. The people are free to discuss their opinion and discuss all topics in chat rooms, communities , forums and blogs. In such groups one is not required to disclose their identity. This raises an ethical concern on privacy of informed consent and researched subjects. In the process of providing open forum of discussion, there is a blurred border between private and public spaces.

This means that the internet presents an activity where fake people, can foster fallacies and voice false opinions. Ethical questions such as ,does internet privacy ascertain the privacy of the internet user? And is internet privacy supposed to mean all, information posted on the internet remain confidential and private? People tread using the internet such as visiting shopping websites and online banking because of the doubt they have concerning unauthorized disclosure of their personal information. This has lead to using disguise names when using the internet. Some sites are placed on search results have discussion and opinions of people concerning a topic. We may ask if this is ethically correct.There is need to come up with a demarcating line that clearly shows what is private and what is public. The issue of internet privacy is very important especially where revelation of individually identifiable information is required to be limited in cases where privacy puts the internet ethics on a negative perspective(Oak, 2010).

Regulation of the internet

Regulators and legislators have to step in to regulate the internet. The legislators do not have to succeed to business or mob pressures in restoring the internet to its original purpose. The internet development has completed its transformation in to a lawless and an anarchic ocholocracy also known as the mob rule. This is after the advent of UGC – User Generated Content and web 2.0. Just like media, the internet is a mass medium which has to be regulated. This can be done through laws that apply offline should also apply on line. Legal situation inevitably, varies across continents and countries. The internet has managed to penetrate at different times and at different levels in different places. This therefore, means that recommendations and observations are not universally applicable and accepted.

Legislators and governments in different localities have tackled aspects of cyber space, but in a scanty and rarely fully and satisfactory way. While is some nations the cyberspace is wide open like the Wild West and its ugly moments. Most of the available laws are mainly on the cyber crime which have been enforced to constrain and prevent few illegal acts such as child pornography, spammers, spy ware, purveyors and pernicious and malicious misconduct.initial steps have to be followed to control the utility of the internet. First is to distinguish free speech verse slander, libel and defamation. This will involve UGC websites, the legal status of owners, online news sources, search portals and engine, editors, administrators, bulletin boards, groups, lists, wiki and bloging communities to be equated to journalists and publishers in the electronic and print media.

These groups should be held legally liable to criminal charges and civil damages from actions of defamation posted on their properties hosting services and internet service providers should be obligates to disclose law enforcement plaintiffs and agencies and full personal data of everyone who sends and publishes slanderous, harassing, defamatory or threatening contents through the internet. This will help marketing companies as they contact their transactions from being harassed by competitors or being mislabeled with bad connotations. Privacy is the next step that legislators have to consider. Computer users have a right which is embedded under consumer protection laws. Breaching of ones privacy will also criminal penalties to be imposed on perpetrators for civil damages to victims. Firms such as online marketers and other individuals who accumulate data of customers, employees, suppliers and users with authority to gain access to them are obliged to be protected and suffer disguise.

The marketing firm would be safe on the data it has and would be notified on any incident that concerns an incident of personal data. failure of the online firm to reasonably and diligently prevent identity should become a criminal offence. This will help the consumers whose personal information is at risk. Intellectual property and copy right laws should be considerable fair and relaxed. This will expand to reflect and accommodate the possibilities, consist and nature of renditions of information. Those dealing with the web; the editors, administrators, webmasters, bulletin boars , UGC websites, search engines and so on should be held responsible to criminal charge and civil charges arising from infringement of copyrights and other intellectual rights send via the properties if they do not take a remedy of comprehensively solving the problem. Such a law will save consumers from fraud and theft on fake companies which imitate the original ones.

In the case of anonymity, a law should be passed to check pseudonymous and anonymous publishing of slanderous, harassing, defamatory and threatening competent on the internet through mishaps, emails, wikis or instant messages. These are the aspects that should be made illegal. Internet deals should be held responsible to obtain countries and full names of contributors, registered users and posters. Providing false personal data to blogging communities and other informative sites should be made a criminal offences. This will help an online marketing retails from defamatory statements which will damage the firms demand for good and services. Anti-trust and licensing retirements and regulatory supervision that are present in electronic and print media should also be applied on the websites, lists, UGU and bulletin boards. The internet should be subjected to regulation and supervision by relevant government oversight agency. There should be laws that truth in advertising and its misrepresentation. The online marketing sites should have truthfully describe internet properties and the nature of information items should be reasonable to the user.

Other need include ownerships structure, sources of information, ownership structure, potential and actual conflicts of interest, affiliation, risk associated with use of internet properties, outstanding law suits and other pertinent disclosures. This will mean that the online marketing sites will, be free from misrepresentations which should specifically and explicitly outlaws caring civil liabilities and criminal penalties. This will at the same time control criminal, stalkers, scammers and big business. Personal information of consumers such as credit card numbers, debit account numbers, checking account numbers should be considered as personal information by the marketers. This information should therefore not be providing to an advertising agency , or rented, sold, transferred or exchanged because of the confidential nature of social security numbers, this information should not be publicly displayed on the websites on direct marketing promotions . Social security numbers should only used by the relevant markets as part of a process of extending credit for verification and matching purposes to consumers. (DMA, 2010)

Conclusions

Marketers should be sensitive to the issue of consumer privacy. The marketers are responsible to rent, sale, exchange, combine , and use marketing data which should only be for the purposes of marketing. Selection and data criteria in reasonable standards may be considered sensitive and intimate and should not be displayed , disclosed or provided for sale, rental or exchange especially when is a reasonable expectation by consumer that information is guaranteed to be confidential.

Reference

Buzzle.com, (2010) ethical issue of internet privacy. Retrieved from

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ethical-issues-of-internet-privacy.html