The imbalance of economic relations between business actors and consumers has resulted in suboptimal consumer protection, especially in facing the challenges of modern trade such as e-commerce. Although the Consumer Protection Law (UUPK) Number 8 of 1999 in Indonesia has provided a legal basis and regulated the basic rights of consumers, in practice consumer awareness and the application of legal protection are still not optimal. Therefore, consumer protection must be viewed holistically, not only from the aspect of positive law, but also from the perspective of the Qur'an which instills ethics and social responsibility in business. This research uses a qualitative method with an analytical literature study, which examines national legal regulations and Qur'anic verses related to business ethics and consumer protection. The results show that the principles in the UUPK are closely aligned with the teachings of the Qur'an which emphasize fairness, the prohibition of fraud, and the responsibility of businesses, as well as consumers' rights to convenience, security, and correct information. In addition, the research identified several key issues in consumer protection, such as product safety, right to clear information, digital transactions, personal data privacy, after-sales service, price transparency, protection of vulnerable consumers, right to be heard, environmental social responsibility, and accessibility of products and services. This study concludes that the integration between positive law and Islamic values can strengthen an effective and sustainable consumer protection system in Indonesia.
Purposes: This study investigates the relationship between family ownership and tax avoidance, with business ethics commitment as a moderation. If well committed by the company, business ethics will improve the quality of decision-making in the business process and create ethical leadership that will carry an ethical practice.
Methods: The study utilized regression analysis to examine the hypothesis in a sample of 110 companies listed on the IDX from 2016 to 2019.
Findings: The results show that family-owned companies are not involved in tax avoidance and that a company’s commitment to business ethics can help reduce its tax avoidance practices. The interaction of business ethics commitment in family companies has no relationship with tax avoidance. This finding implies the importance of a company’s commitment to business ethics in running its business.
Novelty: To the best of our knowledge, the nature of the relationship between business ethics commitment to tax avoidance and family ownership remains minimal. Thus, this study fills the research gap by further examining corporate tax avoidance practices determined by family ownership factors and testing the role of business ethics commitment with family ownership on tax avoidance.
The protection of minority investors is increasingly recognized as crucial for the growth of start-ups in the clean and digital energy sectors, which are central to advancing global sustainability goals. Start-ups in these sectors face unique challenges, including high capital requirements, evolving regulatory landscapes, and long development timelines, necessitating a supportive investment environment that fosters innovation and accountability. This study investigates the impact of minority investor protections on start-up growth, specifically examining the relationship between investor protection indices – such as the Extent of Shareholder Rights Index, Disclosure Index, and Corporate Transparency Index – and growth metrics, including the number of active start-ups and total funding across stages. With panel data from 19 countries over 7 years, this research applies three econometric models – the pooling model, fixed effects model, and random effects model – to capture the influence of investor protection on start-up growth while accounting for country- and time-specific variations. The models’ results show that stronger investor protections correlate positively with increased start-up activity; individual protection variables’ significance and explanatory power vary. The random effects model suggests that “Ease of Shareholder Suits” and “Extent of Shareholder Rights” exhibit borderline significance, indicating a weak yet potential influence on start-up growth. However, overall R-squared values remain low across all models, highlighting the likely role of other unobserved factors in shaping outcomes in the clean and digital energy sectors. These findings imply that while robust minority investor protections contribute to a favorable environment for start-ups, their direct impact on growth metrics may be limited. The study underscores the need for an integrated approach, where investor protections form part of a broader strategy encompassing regulatory support and economic incentives, to fully support the scalability and sustainability of start-ups committed to clean and digital energy innovation.
There are few studies on black women leaders, in general, and black women servant leaders specifically. Previous research has categorized the ten characteristics of servant leadership developed by Spears as being agentic (masculine) or communal (feminine). The characteristics of persuasion, awareness conceptualization and foresight have been categorized as agentic, whilst the characteristics of listening, empathy, commitment to the growth of people, healing, stewardship and building communities have been categorized as being communal. These communal attributes ascribed to servant leadership have also been ascribed to women. The relationship between black women servant leaders and Spears’ ten characteristics of servant leadership has never been deeply examined. However, some characteristics of black women leaders in the education and private sectors have been. Prevailing research on servant leadership has primarily been done through a Western-centric white male lens. Little is known about black women servant leaders and how intersectionality affects how they lead. Their multiple identities are believed to influence their leadership experiences, but much research has not been done in this area. Even though little research that exists shows that the number of racially and ethnically diverse leaders has increased, they are still significantly underrepresented in senior leadership positions. Men are still being promoted to managerial positions over women, and this negatively affects women of colour more. The negative stereotyping of the “angry black woman” at work has misrepresented them, leading to fewer of them being promoted. Organizations can better utilize the resources that black women servant leaders offer by implementing the Darrell Burrell Supervisory Workplace Psychological Safety Model, which supports people of colour and women. Future research should explore the impact of black women servant leaders in other sectors. Research can also examine the impact that specific servant leadership characteristics may have on black women's leadership styles.
Yulisharsasi Yulisharsasi, Jun Surjanti, Anang Kistyanto
The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of transformational leadership on employee performance through the Islamic work ethic of employees at the Cooperative Unit at Tani Bahagia Village, Gondang District, Mojokerto Regency, East Java, Indonesia. This type of research is quantitative research. The population in this study amounted to 75 employees. The data analysis technique used SEM-PLS with Smart-PLS 3.0 software. The results of the study found that transformational leadership has a positive effect on employee performance. Transformational leadership has a positive effect on Islamic work ethics. Islamic work ethic has a positive effect on employee performance. Islamic work ethic mediates the positive effect of transformational leadership on employee performance. The implication of this research is the importance of implementing a transformational leadership style in order to advance the quality of employee performance in the hope of increasing work activities, increasing and developing capital factors and strong business strategies, but also having to pay attention to human resources with good Islamic work ethics and have the value of good manners.
Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
INTRODUCTION
Huge amounts of public data on the internet and the ease with which we regularly search it have resulted in the phenomenon called Patient-Targeted Googling (PTG). PTG occurs when a clinician conducts an online search for information about a patient through any search engine, internet database, or social media site. The practice has provoked ethical discussion and the creation of practical guidelines to ensure clinicians use PTG ethically. One common theme in PTG literature is privacy and confidentiality. However, given that the relevant information is publicly accessible, privacy and confidentiality may not be applicable or accurate. In health and medicine, correctly applying the concepts of privacy and confidentially is important because these terms have rigid legal definitions that are often confusing and misunderstood. By refraining from legitimizing claims that patients’ publicly accessible data is “private” information, we can avoid the risks of inappropriately applying privacy and confidentiality concepts and further muddying the waters.
l. Privacy and Confidentiality in PTG Literature
The literature on PTC consistently raises patient privacy and confidentiality concerns. For example, the article “Patient-targeted googling: The ethics of searching online for patient information” mentions the concept of privacy over a dozen times in its ethical and practical framework, designed for psychiatrists to use prior to engaging in a patient-targeted search.[1] A later work begins with a statement that “[m]any physicians would agree that seeking information about their patients via Google seems to be an invasion of privacy . . .” [2] Informal guidelines continue to address privacy and confidentiality when analyzing PTG and frame consent as necessary to respect patient privacy.[3]
Research articles reporting investigations of PTG also categorize privacy violations as a risk to privacy and dignity.[4] The AMA does not have a PTG ethics policy, but an article on the AMA website about PTG by a staff writer stated that “physicians have a fundamental ethical responsibility to respect patient privacy.”[5] Ethical and practical discussions of PTG often involve concerns for privacy and confidentiality. However, the information found in PTG searches is not private or confidential.
ll. The Information at Issue is Not Actually Private or Confidential
The information at issue in PTG is not hidden or secured from public view and is available to anyone conducting an internet search. Thus, it cannot be said to be private or confidential. Yet, privacy and confidentiality routinely come up in analyses of PTG. Perhaps this is because the information feels private. The thought of clinicians digging through the internet to find information about the patient feels like an invasion. They are trying to access information that the patient did not share with them in an unexpected way. People commonly associate privacy and confidentiality concepts with personal data access issues, so it is not surprising that privacy and confidentiality find their way into discussions on PTG.
While much of the literature focuses on privacy, some of the literature does acknowledge that this information is not really private or confidential. One article describes the patient experience as possibly a “perceived privacy” that stems from an assumption that clinicians will not conduct online searches for information about them just like they may assume “their psychiatrists would not eavesdrop on their conversations in restaurant.”[6] Another acknowledges that there is a difference between legal definitions of privacy and confidentiality and “the layperson’s notion.”[7] So, though looking up a patient’s Facebook profile does not legally violate the patient’s privacy, the patient may still consider it “private” in a layperson’s sense.
It is important for clinicians to be sensitive to actions that may feel violating to a patient. Clinicians should be aware that patients may consider PTG a breach of privacy. But literature geared towards ethics in clinical practice ought not confuse lay and legal definitions because doing so risks legitimizing an incorrect position. It is also not necessary to use privacy and confidentiality concepts to justify concerns and practice guidelines concerning PTG.
lll. PTG as a Potential Violation of the Clinician-Patient Relationship
A better way to frame PTG is as a potential violation of the trust and respect inherent in the clinician-patient relationship. Patients understand and respect the traditional ways clinicians gather information about them. Clinicians simply ask their patients directly for most types of information, especially personal information. When done with sensitivity and patient understanding that the information is relevant to the interaction, collecting personal information does not feel inappropriately invasive (even if the process may be uncomfortable). This is partially because the questioning occurs within the confines of the clinician-patient relationship.
Some information a clinician may discover in an online search can also be gathered by “legitimate” means (like by asking the patient). Yet, accessing this information via PTG can still violate the clinician-patient relationship. This shows that it is not the nature of the information that makes the clinician’s access feel like an invasion, but the method they use to gather it. If the information clinicians seek is clinically relevant, patients expect that the clinician will ask for it. During that conversation, patients can ask why and how the information is relevant to their health care. It is the act of gathering this information outside the accepted boundary of the clinician-patient relationship that makes PTG potentially violating.
The use of PTG to gather information that is not clinically relevant is also problematic. Without resorting to privacy claims, the ethical analysis should identify the nature of the problem more accurately. Patients accept that clinicians ask them personal questions to serve their best interests. Once clinicians step outside that boundary by asking patients for clinically irrelevant information out of some voyeuristic or inappropriate interest, they break the trust and respect inherent in the relationship. A clinician that purposefully seeks out clinically irrelevant information is doing something problematic because the exercise does not connect to the clinician’s professional duties and patient interests. When clinicians ask for clinically irrelevant information during a patient visit, the patient has the opportunity to evaluate the questioning and respond accordingly (perhaps responding to an inquiry that seems purely conversational or designed to relieve stress or not answering an invasive, irrelevant question). With PTG, patients cannot evaluate and respond to the clinician or the inquiry, as they are unlikely to know it is occurring. Patients are not necessarily concerned that their doctor knows where they went to brunch last Sunday. Patients are concerned that clinicians are purposefully seeking out information neither connected to their health nor covered by the clinician-patient relationship and are likely doing so to satisfy their own interests. If the purpose of PTG does not serve the patient’s interests, clinicians should not conduct the search.[8] Even if it does serve the patient’s interest, PTG may not be ethical.
The ethical significance does not hinge on whether the information is clinically relevant or not. What makes PTG potentially unethical is how it circumvents the methods of information gathering patients accept as appropriate in the clinician-patient relationship. Whether the information is or is not clinically relevant or in the patient’s best interests, the mode of collection is ethically problematic, nor addresses privacy.
lV. Accurately Applying Concepts of Privacy and Confidentiality is Important
Privacy and confidentiality are not accurate concepts to apply to PTG. This point about privacy and confidentiality is worth making, even if it does not change the way PTG should be approached in clinical practice. The concepts and legal definitions of privacy and confidentiality are extremely important in health and medicine. Thus, it is crucial that privacy not be misconstrued to protect publicly available information.
One of the most important (and often misunderstood) examples is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. This Rule protects only certain statutorily defined “individually identifiable health information” and “covered entities.”[9] Violation of the Privacy Rule is grounds for statutory penalties.[10] While there is room to criticize how well the Privacy Rule protects patients today, covered entities must follow it. The Privacy Rule remains an important component in protecting both patients and healthcare entities. Despite this, misunderstandings about HIPAA abound, even among clinicians.[11] It has even been reported that some inaccurately claim that PTG violates HIPAA .[12]
Other statutes also protect health data in a variety of ways. For example, the FTC Act creates an obligation to maintain appropriate security of health data and requires entities to keep promises they make about privacy.[13] The Health Breach Notification Rule contains notice requirements for data breaches involving certain health information.[14]
Additionally, the doctor-patient privilege protects confidential information from disclosure, and the exact confines of the privilege depend on the applicable statutes.[15] As these examples demonstrate, there are many different legal requirements that concern privacy and confidentiality in the health sphere. These varying legal definitions and requirements create grounds for sincere confusion, even without adding non-legal definitions or perceptions into the equation.
Apart from the rigid context of existing statutes and laws, discussions surrounding the ethics of data, privacy, and security are occurring, and privacy laws are undergoing a period of rapid change. While patients and health entities can be reasonably sure what protections apply to medical records created by providers, there is significant uncertainty about the increasing amounts of health-related information generated and shared in our digital world by various entities. While it is clear that information located through a Google search is public, the actual (and ideal) legal and moral status of much of this new information is less certain.
For example, a multitude of health-related apps are available to consumers, many of which collect information that would be a part of a medical record if collected by a clinician. Numerous wearable devices collect data on consumers’ heart rates, exercise patterns and sleep patterns. In-home smart devices can track when users are active and what they are doing in their homes. It is often difficult for consumers to understand whether data collected about them is private and confidential, whether it is shared with or sold to third parties, and whether any legal protections apply. People may waive their right to privacy without fully understanding what companies may do with the data. An important part of our social discourse on health, data security, and privacy involves how we treat or ought to treat that data and what protections we should afford to patients as consumers.
It can be difficult to determine which health data is truly private or confidential. In our collective effort to decide how to categorize and use data, it is important not to muddy the waters unnecessarily by applying concepts of privacy and confidentiality to data that definitely does not meet those criteria and simply is not private. This is especially true in the healthcare context when there is already confusion on what is private and confidential. Getting it wrong can result in legal consequences and significant patient harm.
CONCLUSION
Literature on PTG often references or applies the concepts of privacy and confidentiality. However, the information found through PTG is publicly accessible. While patients may perceive PTG as a breach of privacy, patient perception is not a reason for the literature to claim that publicly accessible information is also private. Instead, PTG is better conceptualized as a potential breach of the trust and respect inherent in the clinician-patient relationship. Privacy and confidentiality are incredibly important in health and medicine and often have strict legal definitions. Data security and privacy issues are becoming increasingly important as we undergo a digital health revolution. We should be careful to avoid confusing these conversations by applying concepts of privacy and confidentiality to public information.
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[1] Clinton, Brian K., et al. “Patient-Targeted Googling: The Ethics of Searching Online for Patient Information.” Harvard Review of Psychiatry, vol. 18, no. 2, 2010, pp. 103–112., https://doi.org/10.3109/10673221003683861.
[2] Baker, Maria J., et al. “Navigating the Google Blind Spot: An Emerging Need for Professional Guidelines to Address Patient-Targeted Googling.” Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 30, no. 1, 17 Sept. 2014, pp. 6–7., https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-014-3030-7.
[3] Geppert, Cynthia. “To Google or Not to Google? Is ‘Patient-Targeted’ Googling Ethical?” Psychiatric Times, vol. 34, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 1–4, https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/google-or-not-google-patient-targeted-googling-ethical.
[4] Chester, Aaron N., et al. “Patient-Targeted Googling and Social Media: A Cross-Sectional Study of Senior Medical Students.” BMC Medical Ethics, vol. 18, no. 1, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0230-9.
[5] “Should Physicians Google Patients?” American Medical Association, 9 Mar. 2015, https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/patient-support-advocacy/should-physicians-google-patients#:~:text=Although%20AMA%20has%20no%20ethics,responsibility%20to%20respect%20patient%20privacy.
[6] Clinton, “Patient-targeted googling: The ethics of searching online for patient information.”
[7] Lehavot, Keren, et al. “Ethical Considerations and Social Media: A Case of Suicidal Postings on Facebook.” Journal of Dual Diagnosis, vol. 8, no. 4, 2012, pp. 341–346., https://doi.org/10.1080/15504263.2012.718928.
[8] Clinton, B.K., “Patient-targeted googling: The ethics of searching online for patient information.” This paper provides an excellent framework for those interested in a deeper analysis of potential uses of PTG.
[9] 45 C.F.R. § 160.103.
[10] “Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.” HHS.gov, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 26 July 2013, https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/index.html#:~:text=The%20Privacy%20Rule%20protects%20all,health%20information%20(PHI).%22.
[11] Lo, Bernard, et al. “HIPAA and Patient Care: the Role for Professional Judgment.” JAMA, vol. 293, no. 14, 13 Apr. 2005, pp. 1766–1771., https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.293.14.1766.
[12] Geppert, “To Google or Not to Google? Is ‘Patient-Targeted’ Googling Ethical?”
[13] “Health Privacy.” Federal Trade Commission, https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/privacy-security/health-privacy.
[14] “Complying with FTC's Health Breach Notification Rule.” Federal Trade Commission, Jan. 2022, https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/complying-ftcs-health-breach-notification-rule-0.
[15] “Doctor-Patient Privilege.” Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/doctor-patient_privilege.
Although many studies investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and performance, they mainly explore the U.S. and Western developed countries and ignore other emerging economies and transition countries. However, the Contingent Resource-Based View (Contingent RBV) argues that the CSR-performance link varies across different business environments. Due to the absence of relevant research, little is known about the underlying mechanisms associated with the CSR-performance nexus in transition countries. Thus, the aim of this research is to investigate the moderating role of the business environment, namely dynamism, on the CSR-performance relationship in the banking sector of 21 transition countries for the period 2002 to 2014. We specifically chose the period of 2002-2014 as this best captured a mix of turbulent and stable transition countries. This study applied system GMM while exploring an unbalanced panel sample for 319 commercial banks and considering the dynamic nature of bank performance. Moreover, this approach allowed us to control the endogeneity problems successfully. The findings indicated that the direct association between CSR and performance was negative, but the opposite was confirmed when the link was moderated by Dynamism. Specifically, system GMM showed that Total CSR, Community involvement and Environment had a positive association with banks’ competitive advantage in a dynamic context. This study concluded by highlighting the theoretical and managerial implications.
Anthropocentrism has been claimed to be the root of the global environmental crisis. Based on a multidisciplinary (e.g. environmental philosophy, animal ethics, anthropology, law) and multilingual (English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese) literature review, this article proposes a conceptual analysis of ‘anthropocentrism’ and reconstructs the often implicit argument that links anthropocentrism to the environmental crisis. The variety of usages of the concept of ‘anthropocentrism’ described in this article reveals many underlying disagreements under the apparent unanimity of the calls to reject anthropocentrism, both regarding what exactly is the root of the problem, and the nature of the possible solutions. It highlights the limitations of the argument of anthropocentrism as the scapegoat of the environmental crisis and identifies two main challenges faced by attempts to go beyond anthropocentrism: an epistemological challenge regarding knowledge and the place of sciences, and a metaethical challenge related to values and cultural pluralism. Beyond the issue of an anthropocentric point of view, the core of the problem might be an intertwinement of views and assumptions that work together to undermine attempts to protect the environment from the greed of some humans, such as the human-nature dichotomy, capitalism, consumerism, industrialism, etc. Finally, this article suggests that making the nuances and the presuppositions that underlie various versions of the anti-anthropocentric rhetoric explicit is necessary to foster constructive dialogue among different anti-anthropocentrism proponents, as well as with their detractors.
Developments in blockchain technology coupled with rapid developments in network technologies have disrupted traditional business and service models. One such application is in the domain of healthcare. However, the domain's sensitive nature and complexity require blockchain-enabled e-healthcare to ensure utilitarianism while suitably addressing the associated ethical challenges. In this milieu, the paper attempts to identify and evaluate the parameters of ethical challenges associated with blockchain adoption in e-healthcare. This paper contributes to the extant body of knowledge by presenting a critical review of the ethical considerations at the meso level of blockchains in e-healthcare. Based on findings from the literature, the study identified nine parameters of blockchain ethics. Of these, Accuracy and Right to be Forgotten were found to be most critical in terms of ethical dilemmas in healthcare applications. No evidence of ethical dilemma could be found with respect to Accountability and Data Ownership. As these services are deployed over networks, all these challenges are further evaluated in the context of 6G network-based models. This will not only provide the stakeholders with a holistic view of the ethical challenges in various blockchain-enabled healthcare applications but also enable a meticulous transition to the 6G network.
A. Introduction
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the protection of consumer privacy had reached a milestone with the enactment of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).[i] Stores that screen customers for elevated temperatures challenge the basic ethical underpinnings of the new law: that personal private medical data is to be controlled by oneself. The pinnacle of privacy and control over personal data, the CCPA as it applies to data being collected new ways could impede COVID-19 public health goals.[ii] Yet there is precedent to release personal medical information in other public consumer arenas. “Government has a unique role in public health”[iii] which now calls for extraordinary means to control the spread of COVID-19. In the absence of clear governmental guidance, companies must navigate public health and implement fair policies to promote safety, acting in what is traditionally government’s realm. Customers, as opposed to employees, would arguably be subject to data collection but not storage.[iv] Customers will be subject to actions that violate traditional notions of the doctor patient relationship, data privacy, and freedom. The actions can be justified as noncoercive, a public health necessity, and as less restrictive than keeping businesses closed. The justification does not necessarily imply that companies should be managing the public health task themselves. Temperature screening, important now as some stores selling essential goods are implementing it, will become more crucial as more indoor public spaces, malls, retail stores, and service industries reopen.
B. Is temperature screening worth the sacrifice?
“In a liberal, pluralistic democracy, the justification of coercive policies, as well as other policies, must rest on moral reasons that the public in whose name the policies are carried out could reasonably be expected to accept.”[v] Temperature screening is not coercive: staying home is an option for customers (not employees). Another option is to arrive at the store, deny the screening, and be denied entrance to the normally open-to-the-public space, also negating the coercive aspect. The customer, having made the decision, would be free to leave. In certain industries, businesses have rules that more severely restrict people’s freedom and include the collection of personal medical information. In most cases, there is a legal requirement for the action. Airport scans, recently adapted to reveal less and preserve more privacy, are TSA-driven and not imposed on customers by airlines themselves. Airlines do have a lot of power to ensure that flights are safe, on balance, giving them power over personal data. Amusement parks are governed by rules and regulations by state, local, and the federal government that include height and weight requirements; they ensure safety by following laws as well as internal and industry guidelines. Even bungee jumping and zip-lining are regulated to promote safety in ways that may require demonstrating an absence of certain medical conditions. Customers must divulge personal information and medical histories. The permitting process in many industries requires proof of safety measures and agreement to hold inspections. From the customer perspective, the laws and regulations matter less than the action. Customers benefit from safe airlines and amusement parks and willingly give medical information in exchange for participation in air travel or amusement park entertainment. Temperature screening is within accepted standards of requirements to participate, justified by the public health it would promote and its non-coercive nature.
While many stores have nondiscrimination policies, the potentially contagious customer does not have any fundamental right to access that would override the public health concern. It is reasonable to accept and even embrace temperature screening knowing others inside the space will also have been screened. Temperatures often indicate the most contagious time in a viral stage and even non-COVID-19 temperatures can indicate contagious conditions. Temperature is usually protectable data: it is to be kept private if it is a product of a hospital or doctor’s appointment.
COVID-19 disproportionately affects certain populations including, most notably, the elderly. Reopening stores and businesses is an opportunity for those without special vulnerabilities wanting to go back to public space. Immunocompromised individuals may choose to protect themselves by staying home, wearing additional personal protective gear, or avoiding crowds. My own immunocompromised post-chemotherapy daughter is incredibly cautious, going to great lengths to protect herself regardless of government directives. She benefits from those directives because other members of our household are less likely to bring the virus home if public spaces are closed or engaging in temperature screening and enforcing social distancing and mask recommendations. Stay-at-home orders combined with other nonpharmaceutical interventions like closing schools and wearing masks in crowded spaces should work for flattening the curve.[vi] The strain on the economy and on personal liberty makes them unsustainable in the long term. A solution like temperature screening makes public spaces safer but may work best in conjunction with particularly vulnerable people continuing to avoid crowded public spaces.
There is an urgency to addressing the ethical basis for retail stores performing temperature screening as some stores have already begun. In Connecticut, LaBonne’s grocery stores began checking temperatures without recording data.[vii] Atlanta’s City Farmer’s Market chain is also screening its customers. Walmart has chosen to stay out of what it considers a public policy issue, refraining from testing customers’ temperatures.[viii] Greenburgh, New York, a municipality, is requiring grocery stores and pharmacies to check temperatures.[ix] Temperature screening is a valid and effective way of controlling the spread of COVID-19, and will become especially important when more businesses reopen.[x] It is reasonable to conclude that no one should be permitted entry into enclosed spaces with a fever. The efficacy of temperature checks has been debated with many public health experts in favor.[xi] Other countries that have successfully contained the virus have used temperature checks.[xii] This paper assumes enough efficacy to warrant some temperature screening policy -- some benefit or containment would derive from screening those entering public indoor spaces and barring those with a temperature of 100.4 or higher from entrance.
Temperature screening of customers has two rationales: under OSHA, such precautions protect employees by limiting exposure to customers who may carry the virus; and, the precautions serve the public health goal of transmission prevention. If reporting requirements or tracking ensued, the public health benefits would grow at the expense of control over one’s own data. Websites usually offer data restriction choices by using a pop-up. An in-person temperature screening is a new data point that companies (especially small retail companies) are not prepared to deal with. If any data is collected, customers should be notified about how the temperature would be used, who can access it, and how the customer would remain deidentified. Failing to track the febrile customer who might transmit the virus seems more ethically problematic than the privacy violation. Without government directives, stores would have trouble justifying saving or sharing the data for the sake of public health.
Public health initiatives required by law, permitted by law, and ones not addressed by law have different ethical implications. Efficacy alone would not allow stores to impede freedom and privacy more severely. Stores cannot detain those who display a symptom or refuse to wear a mask. Temperature screening must be within reason to be considered permissible. Stores like Walmart are using the absence of a governmental directive as an excuse to avoid an efficacious and sensible policy. Walmart is permitted to remain open as essential, a huge economic benefit. Customers may see Walmart’s stance as more ethical: valuing customer privacy and freedom. Stores like LaBonne’s are managing risk themselves to protect employees and the public. In Greenburgh, store employees can simply argue they are following a local government directive. Temperature screening should be accepted within a rights-driven, liberty-oriented society because it is a reasonable safety measure that creates the possibility of cautiously reopening many stores and public spaces. Some freedom is gained by a small loss of privacy and a different freedom.
C. Privacy in public temperature screening
Privacy in the doctor patient relationship enhances value by promoting trust. Confidentiality promotes open communication with doctors and healthcare professionals. In COVID-19 customer temperature screening, the person taking the temperature is likely not trained in confidentiality and not HIPAA educated. Customers, traditionally not seen as patients, are operating outside of the traditional scope for the sake of the common good, allowing a non-invasive screening. Stores that screen customers should have a non-invasive thermometer that hovers and does not touch the customer. Evaluated by the principles of efficacy, necessity, and the least restrictive means, temperature screening may allow more freedom to move about and more businesses to open. Strict stay-at-home orders prevent the necessity for widespread screening, yet reopening stores creates a situation ripe for more pervasive temperature screening.
Companies, stores, the local government, or police have little to no experience with personal medical data collection in the sphere of retail goods and services. In some cases, people might ask for a private space for the temperature screening. Stores should provide such a space but realistically they probably will not, making the screening a public event. LaBonne’s is not storing the data but arguably an elevated temperature would be witnessed by others outside the store who may know the identity of the febrile customer as many shop among their friends and neighbors. Yelling the temperature over to a different employee would be a serious breach of privacy; the employee taking customer temperatures should be trained to be discreet.
D. An ethical lapse: the failure to record data that could improve public health and the economy
The results (a high or normal temperature) bring up the ethical conundrum: if the customers are asked to leave, the data and the customer are still in limbo. As COVID-19 testing becomes more readily available, the customers could be referred to a COVID-19 testing site. Failure to track them could allow them to try their luck at another store, spreading the virus if in fact they do have it. For privacy, it would be best not to store any temperature data creating no metadata for the event. For public health, tracking those with an elevated temperature is worthwhile and has been helpful in other countries. The right thing for a business to do probably lies in between: for an elevated temperature, recommend an online doctor’s appointment or send the customer home to consider seeking medical advice. A government directive to report elevated temperatures for legitimate public health purposes like tracking is reasonable and would be an appropriate directive for stores to follow. Absent government use of the data, companies and stores should not be operating vigilante public health schemes that track and ban certain customers for extended periods, behavior that risks producing scarlet-letter-style stigma.
WHO goals to find, isolate, test, and treat every case would be furthered by tracking and testing those with elevated temperatures.[xiii] South Korea has in place a mechanism through apps and electronic bracelets to track those who test positive.[xiv] While their policies conflict with privacy and freedom, more businesses could reopen and more people could go more places while following social distancing and mask-wearing recommendations. The US population might be amenable to a model like South Korea’s when it is key to exercising freedom to move about in public, allowing workers to return to work, and consumers to enjoy stores and businesses. WHO seems not to envision its goals being handled by companies rather than public health authorities. The return to retail businesses and in-person services should be commensurate with a distinct protocol that fairly applies to all customers. The tradeoff for forgoing privacy is allowing stores to open, people to work, and consumers to consume.
D. Ethical baseline: notice and informed consent
Notice of policies affecting customers is an ethical obligation. Companies should make a statement on a website and install signs announcing that temperature screening will begin on a certain date (official notice) and what the screening will entail. Businesses that require temperature taking could provide exceptions based on proof of antibodies or a current negative COVID-19 test, especially if the “immunity cards” considered by Anthony Fauci become widely circulated.[xv] Otherwise, there is no obvious expeditious way to request, accept, or deny an exception if the interaction is taking place outside on the curb instead of online.[xvi]
Kinsa, the thermometer company now well known for gathering temperature data, sells the data to pharmacies who use it for commercial purposes, specifically, to boost sales of products people with an elevated temperature might want.[xvii] Through a built-in feature, Kinsa avoids any type of consent of the unwitting customer. While no personal data accompanies the temperature data, Kinsa is profiting from the data in unexpected ways and stores’ notice to customers should include that type of data collection as well.
E. Conclusion
Government entities should weigh in on stores and businesses imposing temperature screening as a condition of entry. The stores are ensuring employee safety and contributing to public health by conducting temperature screening. Absent government directive, companies should agree not to store or use customer medical information, despite the data’s valuable role in public health. A government order requiring reporting for the sake of tracking and isolating those with COVID-19 would be a proper use of government authority ensuring ethical data protocols. The data is essentially wasted in the absence of any reporting requirements. Hopefully, companies and customers will participate freely in screening to make shopping safer. As stay-at-home orders expire, government should oversee the uniform application of tracking and testing those with elevated temperatures. For now, the government vacuum in retail temperature screening is handing power to retailers and grocers who do not know quite what to do with it.
April 22, 2020
photo credit: Photo by Thomas Le on Unsplash
[i] AB375, Title 1.81.5, The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. California Civil Code, Part 4, Division 3.
[ii] Gavin Newson plans to enforce the CCPA beginning in July. “…in an email to Forbes, an “advisor” to the California Attorney General seemingly made it clear that the office intends to stick with the enforcement deadline of July 1, further issuing a stern warning to California businesses: “We’re all mindful of the new reality created by COVID-19 and the heightened value of protecting consumers’ privacy online that comes with it. We encourage businesses to be particularly mindful of data security in this time of emergency.”” Robert B. Milligan, John Tomaszewski, & Darren Dummit, “The Impact Of COVID-19 On The California Consumer Privacy Act,” Trading Secrets blog, April 6, 2020. https://www.tradesecretslaw.com/2020/04/articles/privacy-2/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-the-california-consumer-privacy-act/
[iii] Childress, James F., Faden, Ruth R., et al., “Public Health Ethics: Mapping the Terrain,” Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, 30 (2002):170-178.
[iv] Employees and customers call for different treatment: employees rightly subject to some tracking and stored data. There is some government input with respect to employee temperature screening. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) governs and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), some states, and the CDC have given broad guidance urging temperature screening in certain cases but not giving procedural advice. Wilmer Hale (law firm website), “COVID-19: Screening Employee Temperatures: What Employers Need to Know,” April 3, 2020. https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20200403-screening-employee-temperatures-what-employers-need-to-know; and see Justine Phillips, Paul Cowie, and Kelly Hensley, “Employee Privacy Forecast: Temperature Checks,” Labor and Employment Law Blog, March 25, 2020. https://www.laboremploymentlawblog.com/2020/03/articles/coronavirus/employee-privacy-forecast-temperature-checks/
[v] Childress, p. 171.
[vi] Markel, Howard, “What history revealed about cities that socially distanced during a pandemic,” PBS NewsHour online, April 20, 2020. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/what-history-can-teach-us-about-flattening-the-curve?fbclid=IwAR1CQzbfhiLm-1hmB586kt6RsCBPcI5Q8KwKaOmln_pyN9KKKpOSAsOJvGs
[vii] “LaBonne’s Markets to Take Customers’ Temperatures,” NBCConnecticut.com , April 8, 2020. https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/coronavirus/labonnes-markets-to-take-customers-temperatures/2251765/
[viii] Nathaniel Meyersohn, “Why stores could start taking customers' temperatures,” CNN Business, April 9, 2020. “Dr. Luciana Borio, former director for medical and biodefense preparedness at the National Security Council under President Donald Trump and former acting chief scientist at the FDA. "Even a modest benefit can be of value when our public health options are so limited in the absence of diagnostic tests, capacity for large scale contact tracing or a vaccine." Matthew Freeman, associate professor of environmental health and epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, said it "makes sense for businesses to take the temperatures of shoppers to protect employees and patrons, but what would be the response if someone did indeed have a fever? A plan of action is critical."” https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/09/business/walmart-amazon-home-depot-whole-foods-temperatures/index.html See also https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2020/04/09/coronavirus-grocery-stores-taking-temperature-reading/
[ix] Propper, David, “Supermarkets and pharmacies in Greenburgh could start taking temperatures of workers, customers,” Rockland/Westchester Journal News, April 9, 2020. https://www.lohud.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/04/09/greenburgh-supervisor-wants-customers-and-workers-get-temperature-taken-before-entering-store/2974662001/ “Next week, when I extend the order I intend (unless otherwise directed by the state) to also require the non invasive taking of temperature of employees and customers. I don’t believe that people with temperature should be allowed into the stores --we all worry about the risk of being infected or infecting others. Many people in Westchester are dying from the COVID-19 -partially because people are careless or inconsiderate of others. Although NYS law authorizes me to issue the order - the Town Board unanimously approved a resolution endorsing the contents.” Greenburgh Supervisor, Paul Feiner. https://greenburghny.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=433
See also Kimmel, Robert, “Strict New Rules for Groceries and Pharmacies in Unincorporated Greenburgh to Combat COVID-19,” The Hudson Independent. https://thehudsonindependent.com/strict-new-rules-for-groceries-and-pharmacies-in-unincorporated-greenburgh-to-combat-covid-19/
[x] Meyersohn.
[xi] Meyersohn.
[xii] “Covid-19: Drones take Italians’ temperature and issue fines,” The Star, April 11, 2020. https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2020/04/11/covid-19-drones-take-italians-temperature-and-issue-fines Italy is using drones to enforce strict policies that ensure those with elevated temperatures are not out in public.
[xiii] Boseley, Sarah, “WHO urges countries to 'track and trace' every Covid-19 case,” The Guardian, March 13, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/who-urges-countries-to-track-and-trace-every-covid-19-case ““You can’t fight a virus if you don’t know where it is,” the WHO’s director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a briefing on Friday. “Find, isolate, test and treat every case to break the chains of Covid transmission. Every case we find and treat limits the expansion of the disease.””
[xiv] Josh Smith, Hyonhee Shin, and Sangmi Cha, “Ahead of the curve: South Korea's evolving strategy to prevent a coronavirus resurgence,” Reuters, April 15, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea-respons/ahead-of-the-curve-south-koreas-evolving-strategy-to-prevent-a-coronavirus-resurgence-idUSKCN21X0MO
[xv] Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, part of the NIH), is considering an antibody test immunity card to be carried as proof one has developed antibodies. Forgey, Quint, “Fauci: Coronavirus immunity cards for Americans are ‘being discussed,’” Politico, April 10, 2020. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/10/fauci-coronavirus-immunity-cards-for-americans-are-being-discussed-178784
[xvi] Milligan.
[xvii] “Taking people’s temperatures can help fight the coronavirus,” The Economist, March 26, 2020. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/03/26/taking-peoples-temperatures-can-help-fight-the-coronavirus Users of Kinsa apps which offer medical advice based on temperature data are likely aware the company stores and sells the data. Thermometer users probably do not realize their temperatures are recorded or that the company can narrow down their location to the zip code.
Los continuos avances científicos, junto con los avances sociales, han provocado la necesidad de una regulación de las técnicas de reproducción asistida. Una de las técnicas en la que más vacíos legales se pueden encontrar en ella, es la fecundación post mortem. En este trabajo, se hará un análisis de los aspectos jurídicos y bioéticos enfocados a los límites. El fin del trabajo es ofrecer una vista general sobre la situación legal y jurídica de la técnica al lector, al mismo tiempo que se mencionarán posibles soluciones a los conflictos en el marco legal y ético.
Medical philosophy. Medical ethics, Business ethics
Sabine Salloch, Birgit Apitzsch, Maximiliane Wilkesmann
et al.
Abstract Background In contrast to other countries, the appearance of locum physicians as independent contractors constitutes a rather new phenomenon in the German health care system and emerged out of a growing economization and shortage of medical staff in the hospital sector. Locums are a special type of self-employed professionals who are only temporally embedded in organisational contexts of hospitals, and this might have consequences for their professional practice. Therefore, questions arise regarding how locums perceive their ethical duties as medical professionals. Methods In this first qualitative study on German locum physicians, the locums’ own perspective is complemented by the viewpoint of permanently employed physician colleagues. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2014 to explore the professional practice of locum physicians from both groups’ perspectives with respect to doctor-patient-relationship, cooperation with colleagues and physicians’ role in society. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis, including a deductive application and an inductive development of codes. The results were related to key tenets of medical professionalism with respect to the question: how far do locums fulfil their ethical duties towards patients, colleagues and the society? Results The study indicates that although ethical requirements are met broadly, difficulties remain with respect to close doctor–patient contact and the sustainability of hiring locums as a remedy in times of staff shortage. Conclusions Further qualitative and quantitative research on locum physicians’ professional practice, including patient perspectives and economic health care system analyses, is needed to better understand the ethical impact of hiring independent contractors in the hospital sector.
Abstract Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an evolving concept that reflects various views and approaches regarding corporate relationships with broader society. This study examines the meanings and values attached to CSR within the Australian resource sector where various interests shape the implementation of CSR programs. The study was based on in-depth interviews with industry practitioners, business leaders, environmental and social specialists, government representatives and community leaders, including representatives from Indigenous groups. CSR was found to be a complex, multi-dimensional concept that was highly individualised with a variety of aspects highlighted during interviews. To make sense of this complexity, meanings of CSR were mapped according to Carroll’s four dimensions, namely Corporate, Legal, Ethical, and Philanthropic. However, a further CSR dimension was also required to capture the full spectrum of meanings. Referred to as ‘CSR interaction’, this dimension focuses on CSR meanings that align with the concept of CSR creating social change and improving the dynamics between companies and local communities and stakeholders. This study also identified some key social processes or drivers which helped explain how and why CSR meanings and approaches are adopted and delivered. These drivers also increased understanding of the wide diversity of CSR meanings and their distribution across the different stakeholder groups. Drivers included not only individual-level influences such as background, life experience, cultural and ethical values, but also broader influences such as organisational and institutional context. The implications of this for CSR practice were explored. The study sought to provide guidance for developing a working definition of CSR within the given context, through identifying the key integral requirements for CSR incorporating different perspectives and interests. The intent is that this can help support evaluation of the future success of CSR programs within the Australian resource sector.
Social responsibility of business, Business ethics
Globalization of capital markets and the transition to market relations have made the development of the systems of (financial) accounting and audit activity urgent in Russia. Moreover, these systems should correspond to international standards. The use of International Standards on Auditing is regulated at the legislative level. The strategy of gradual convergence of the federal (national) accounting standards with the requirements of international standards is also entrenched. Thus, we may conclude that the application of international standards on accounting and auditing in Russia is rather an existing objective reality than a question of future concern. However, the development of audit in Russia for the recent twenty years has had its own peculiarities caused by significant public intervention, increasing concentration at the market of audit services due to the quantitative reduction of entities providing audit services, strengthening of price competition due to the development of the procurement system, the development of related and other services, the low demand for initiative audit. Correspondingly, the purpose of the research is to determine the trajectory of audit activity improvement on the basis of formation retrospective analysis and also on the basis of audit market development in Russia and abroad in terms of Russian economy digitalization including the transformation of the legislative regulation system and auditing practice. The statements and conclusion made in the article are based on the result analysis of the first large-scale questionnaire of audit service market. The survey was a part of the research "Analysis of business activity in the market of audit services in 2015–2016" conducted by the Financial Research Institute of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. The study is also based on a critical comprehension of the current legislative and other official documents regulating audit activities in the Russian Federation. The novelty of the research is to provide an original interpretation of the key trends of audit market development, of the changes in the field of auditing technologies and to justify the modification of requirements to auditors taking into account the contemporary practice of corporate management. The following negative trends that require the development and implementation of additional adaptation mechanisms of audit market development in Russia have been distinguished: 1) low demand for initiative audit due to unwillingness of customers to perceive the importance and value of auditing and auditors; 2) insufficient demand for services related to confirmation of reliability of accounting (financial) statements; 3) lack of ethics of civilized competition at the market of audit services. Further studies will be devoted to the elaboration of practical guidance on audit service market development in Russia. The guidance will be based on international practice and International Standards on Auditing.
The article investigates the relationship between commitment to business ethics and nonfinancial business performance. Data of commitment to business ethics and nonfinancial business performance were collected from 100 participants through a questionnaire survey. The survey was conducted in 2015 in Croatian large and medium sized companies. The questionnaire for assessing commitment to business ethics contained nine different dimensions while the nonfinancial business performance contained three dimensions: client satisfaction, human resource management plus innovativeness and efficiency of business processes. Multiple regression methods were applied in the analysis. The empirical results of three multiple linear regression models show that certain dimension of commitment to business ethics had a positive influence on the nonfinancial performance of the companies. Motivation and rewarding policy for ethical behavior and responding to unethical behavior, as a dimension of commitment to business ethics, has distinctive effects on all three nonfinancial performance dimensions. It was also found that selecting suppliers based on the standards of ethics and compliance has a positive and strong influence on client satisfaction while using ethical criteria in the performance and efficiency evaluation of employees has a positive and significant influence on innovativeness and efficiency of business processes. This research leads to the conclusion that some dimensions of commitment to business ethics can be important predictors of nonfinancial business performance. Therefore, results of the research could be considered as valid motivation for further improvement of commitment to ethics in the business environment.
The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance and role of ethics as an important segment of corporate culture and ethical principles, which, in global economy, must be increasingly incorporated in control systems of all businesses subjects, regardless of their activity, size, style of leadership and number of employees, as an important tool for achieving strategic business goals. Given the size, importance and role of these determinants, in this work the method of deduction is used where it comes from general attitude on the importance of business ethics in the world of work and economic activity to individual attitude on business ethics at the level of the business system as a social subject and the holder creativity and profitability. In the forefront is the role and importance of human resources and their behavior, which is dependent on many factors, as the holders of the overall efficiency and effectiveness in business, regardless of their specific location in the organizational structure.
The paper refers to a distinction between limitative and generative ethics. The main idea is that, if ethics is to be of any help for managers, it has to provide applicable principles that can morally orient managerial decisions, and avoid abstract principles that are usually used not to help managers, but to sanction their decisions.
El objetivo del presente trabajo fue describir el gradode Responsabilidad Social Empresarial (RSE) de las empresasde servicios afiliadas a la Confederación Patronal de laRepública Mexicana (COPARMEX) de Mérida, Yucatán,mediante el análisis de cuatro dimensiones: ética empresarial,preservación del medio ambiente, calidad de vida enel trabajo y vinculación empresa-sociedad. Se puede afirmarque, aunque la ética empresarial es la dimensión con mayordesarrollo, la RSE no es una práctica cotidiana.
ABSTRACT
This work aims to describe the entrepreneurial socialresponsibility reach (RSE) of service companies affiliated tothe Mexican Management Confederation (COPARMEX) inMerida, Mexico, by considering four aspects: entrepreneurialethics, environmental preservation, work quality of lifeand company-society interaction. Although entrepreneurialethic is the most developed of the above four, RSE is not awidespread practice.