Apple Inc. Think different.
Laws Ethical issues Operational issues Written by Zdravko Yanev Business L3 - Maria Glenister
Content 1. Introduction / E-book map 2. Computer Misuse Act 1990 3. Freedom of Information Act 2000 4. Data Protection Act 1998 5. Ethical Issues – part 1 - [Use of Email] [Whistle Blowing] 6. Ethical Issues – part 2 - [Use of the Internet] 7. Apple – the world’s largest tech company as a Fair Trader 8. Apple and Computer Misuse Act 9. How do “Freedom of Information Act” and “Data Protection Act” relate to Apple INC? 10. Whistleblowing and Apple | Use of Email and Apple 11. Privacy & Policy – Apple INC. 12. Back ups & Health and Safety – Apple INC. 13. Future plans 14. Conclusion and credits
Introduction In this assignment I will be discussing the legal and ethical issues in relation to my chosen company which is Apple INC. I will be talking about three different laws and three ethical issues and I will relate them to Apple INC. In addition to this I will then explain why the company sponsors Fair Trade and how the company contributes to the environment.
Freedom of Information Act 2000 Computer Misuse Act
Data Protection Act
1990
1998
Use of email
Use of the internet
Whistle blowing
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Computer Misuse Act 1990 This Act has been officially published in 1990 to the UK Parliament. Computer Misuse Act or CMA is especially designed to fight against computer crime and Internet fraud. This act was especially created to:
“Criminalise unauthorised access to computer systems.” “Deter serious criminals from using a computer in the commission of a criminal offense or seek to hinder or impair access to data stored in a computer” http://searchsecurity.techtarget.co.uk/definition/Computer-Misuse-Act-1990
“An Act to make provision for securing computer material against unauthorised access or modification; and for connected purposes.” [29th June 1990] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/18
Computer Misuse Act as we see above has been created to maximise the security for computer materials. This is to fight against unauthorised access or modification which means that everyone who tries to access someone else’s information or tries to steal/modify it, will be breaking the law which means that the person will then have to be punished. This does not mean that CMA is just against unauthorised access and modification but it is also against actions with connected purposes like those listed above. This could be hacking, stealing information and so on.
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Freedom of Information Act 2000 This Act has been published in 2000. The exact date of the commencement was on 30 November 2000. Freedom of Information Act or FOI has been created to provide public access to information that has been hidden from the general public by other public authorities. FOI is valid for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, excluding Scotland as they have their own Freedom of Information Act that has been published in 2002. In other words, if you go to your bank, and are willing to see the information about your current account on the bank computer system, then you will have to ask politely the staff and there should be no problems in providing you the requested information. Different authorities might want you to pay off a tax as a charge in order to give you the information. By public authorities we mean the government, NHS, schools, police forces. It is important to state that this act does not cover organisations that are in the private sector yet performing public functions. The act covers recorded information which includes:
Emails Photos Sound recordings Video recordings Letters Computer files Printed documents
Freedom of Information Act 2000 has two main purposes:
“Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities” “Members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities” http://www.ico.org.uk/for_organisations/freedom_of_information/guide/act
This act also states that the person who requests a certain type of information does NOT need to give the public authority [where the information is held] reasons for wanting the information.
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Data Protection Act 1998 Data Protection Act or DPA is an act that controls how your personal information is used by public authorities, government, businesses and organisations. DPA is based on a few “data protection principles” which must be strictly followed by those who are responsible for using any kind of personal information. These principles are:
“Information has to be used fairly and lawfully” “Information has to be used for limited, specifically stated purposes” “Information has to be used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive” “Information has to be accurate” “Information has to be kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary” “Information has to be has to be handled according to people’s data protection rights” “Information has to be kept safe and secure” “Information has not to be transferred outside the UK without adequate protection”
The act also has a specific section with stronger legal protection for more sensitive information such as:
“Ethnic background” “Political opinions” “Religious beliefs” “Health” “Sexual health” “Criminal records” https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/print
This act gives people the ability to find out information about themselves that the government and other organisations store about them. As this is an Act of the UK law, the organisations are legally required to provide people with such information. Most authorities will make people pay a tax before giving out information. According to the UK Government’s website, this cost usually does not exceed £10 but it could be more depending on the type of the documents that have been requested.
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Ethnical Issues! USE OF EMAIL This ethnical issue has been getting more and more popular in the last few years as the number of people and organisations using email has increased. This ethnical issue describes ways of using email for harassing purposes and similar. Some of them might be: Harassing emails – unwanted content including information that the receiver does not want to get Spamming – Emails that are usually sent by companies/organisations for offering services or products. These emails are automatically generated by computers and their frequency exceeds the normal email activity. http://sharetext.org/9Hyf
In large companies where employees are working on computers and especially corresponding via emails, the staff are usually allowed to have a limited use of email for personal uses which means that they are allowed to chat to friends or so for personal reasons. However if the company thinks that people are misusing this and exceeding their permissions, then this allowance might be taken off. Most companies keep their right to monitor the computer and internet activity. When people are at work, they must have an appropriate behaviour and polite formal language while using emails. For example if an employee is about to write to their manager, the email should not contain symbols like kisses, hearts or words that speak for other personal significations. It is against the law if someone commits a crime and tries to perform a certain plan by contacting other people and chatting about the crime. Even if the person, which has been contacted by the criminal, is not involved, this still makes him guilty and the police forces will take him as a member of the committed crime. WHISTLE BLOWING Whistle blowing offers a “protection for employees who report other users’ misuse of the system.” http://sharetext.org/BZcO
Simplified, this means that for example if you are an employee in a company, and you see that someone, or a group, or the whole company are misusing the system, [this could be administration issues and etc] or if the company does not operate in the way it should be and it performs illegal actions, you decide to report it to someone from outside the company. In other words – Something that speaks for any kind of misuse and comes from within a company, is called whistle blowing.
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Ethnical Issues! USE OF THE INTERNET Another ethical issue that comes under the section of Codes of practice is the use of the use of internet. This is when a visitor attends a page, website that contains inappropriate content. This could be looking at pictures or videos with adult content or content that shows things which are not allowed. Most companies pay licences to get software that filters certain websites and bans the access to them. Employees are also not allowed to use computers for their own purposes as they go to work and not to spend their time for such things. Example here is “Barnet and Southgate College”. Before starting their course, the students are supposed to sign a document stating the college policies. Especially for Barnet and Southgate College the students are not allowed to use the computers for their own purposes but only for college work. Otherwise if the college finds someone that is looking for example at pornography, then that person might be kicked out and will not be allowed to attend the college anymore or until they get permission from the principal. Example connected with Apple INC. are their employees. Looking at their website for Jobs we can simply see that they are clearly showing off some of the most important things their workers should do. They are supposed to constantly look after customers and offer help and even though the employee gets some free time, this doesn’t mean “rest”. This means re-checking everything. From products to computer database, store outlook and everything. I have asked a team working in Apple INC branch and according to their information I can say that the company does not always block the access to the internet for personal use or certain web pages. The admin computers are software-equipped and monitor the internet activity. The branch manages is allowed to look at it as well and see if there are people that use the computers for their own personal reasons. If an employee does so, then the company will probably warn then a few times before taking stronger actions. It’s not like this just with Apple, but most of the companies work in this way. Apple stores are usually equipped with many iPads and Computers having free access to the internet. Offering this the company manages to get many customers interested in their products just by having it a try to check their Facebook or so. People who work at Apple are quite experienced and understandable and can evaluate when something is being performed for the good of the customer or for personal reasons of the employee. The company has allowed the employees to show interesting things and challenge the customers in many ways using their products. There was a story a few years ago when a girl, called Ellen, left her Facebook logged in, in one of Apple’s stores and as the people who work there found this out they published quite an interesting picture regarding this and saying something like “Ellen, don’t forget to log off next time”. This of course wouldn’t be considered as a harassment, but also wouldn’t be considered as a good thing too.
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Fair Labour Association™ & Apple INC In 2012, Apple INCORPORATED became the first tech company that joined the Fair Labour Association or FLA. This speaks a lot for the company’s image as they manage to build an outstanding reputation for the business as a whole.
According to ZDNET, the company has over 156 suppliers. Apple’s senior vice president of Operations, Jeff Williams said that they are extremely proud to be the first technology company admitted to the Fair Labour Association. As the company has just joined the association, this will benefit the business as it will continue to show improvements for workers and will let people see the company’s supply chain. This also gives the company a large plus if we talk about competitions. Apple are always at the front. ”Apple can now claim it is the world’s first fair trade electronics maker, which sets a higher bar for competitors.”
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/foremski/think-fair-apple-becomes-the-worlds-first-fair-tradetech-company-whos-next/2073
After Steve Jobs, the company has set a few targets to keep being the first Fair Trade Electronic Company and also to show their customers and the general public that their products are made according to accepted principles of fair use of labour, in conditions of safety and fair salary.
“Think Fair” is a phrase used in many places of Apple’s product’s documentations and advertisements. This is to justify, to give a reason and to show the customers the reasons for their higher prices.
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- Apple and the Computer Misuse Act – Misusing computers and especially hacking is a great example for the CMA. In relation to Apple INC. a year ago there was a group of people which gained popularity recently by performing some illegal activities. The group “Anonymous” and their hackers have hacked Apple’s customers’ usernames and passwords on their Apple ID accounts. After doing so they have taken control of their accounts and accessed private personal information that does not belong to the them. This group of hackers are experienced people and know how to hide and how to be independent. Using the best technologies and their excellent knowledge, they have managed to stay anonymous for a while. Of course Apple could do nothing but to promise their customers to establish a new way of securing their personal details and try to make this unbreakable in any circumstances. After this the company has recently started to ask customers to make up their own security questions and answers along with secret words and changing their password to maximise the security. However, taking people’s personal information and details could be really fatal as this group could take money out of their accounts which will of course result in Apple’s profit and people’s money accounts as well. If the customers do not trust Apple or do not feel secure then the business won’t get as much people as they use to and they will not be able to get enough profit. The company manages to deal with situations like this as they have already established new ways of providing enough security for their customers’ accounts and as they are the leading tech company in the world, they ensure the customers that they will be more than satisfied and they will experience a great time using Apple’s products and services and also experience a great customer service. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/hacking.hitechcrime
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How do Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection Act relate to Apple INC
Freedom of Information Act According to the information provided by EFF ORG, every single application for Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod that has been developed or is being developed, has to be sent to Apple for an approval in order to be available on the iTunes store or the App Store. Due to their policies, everyone was fine with this rule, as it prevents the App market from applications containing content that is not appropriate for the customer or just because the application may not be working properly. However, there was an issue connected with the NASA Application for iPhone. EFF has then requested NASA under the Freedom of Information Act, to provide information explaining what kind of rules take control over the technology they could use with the phones. Then NASA has responded by showing a part of the agreement that has been set by Apple. It states rules and ways in which the applications should be made in order to be friendly for the user and for the mobile device as well in order not to hack, break or disable the operating system software. There was also another issue between Apple and Adobe connected with banning iPhone developers from using authoring tools to make iPhone apps. Adobe then made a complaint by filling out a Freedom of Information Act request in May 2010 but Apple has then rejected it. According to the information that Apple provided, they do not want people to copy their own ideas or to try to embed specific parts of other operational systems into their source coding of Apple Software.
Data Protection Act Since Apple ran their tracking iPhone service, there were many complaints about how Apple tracks their user constantly and where does all the information go to. Those complaints were all made by applying the Data Protection Act and seeking reasons and explanations about this. The company has then responded by saying that all of the information is kept securely using “F-secure� technologies and it is being collected anonymously and sent frequently to the Apple Company. This information of course stays safe as it will be used only for improving their tracking services. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8466357/Apple-under-pressure-overiPhone-location-tracking.html http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-08/04/foia-denial-apple-adobe https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/03/iphone-developer-program-license-agreement-all
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Whistleblowing and Apple In 2011 there was a whistle-blower called Charlie Miller who worked for Apple as a developer. Mr. Miller has revealed this Apple bug and explained that there was a bug in the operating system of the iPhones that allows Trojan Horses to attack the phones and suck photos and private information. After his firing, Mr. Miller says: “I’m mad… I report bugs to them all the time. Being part of the developer program helps me do that. They’re hurting themselves, and making my life harder.” As Apple understands that this is an issue in their operating system and especially the app that Charlie Miller has developed, they have taken the app down from the App store as it uses a flaw in their code signing policies. It has been said that this bug that they’ve found reduces the security of their Ios to that of Android which is by Google. Because of this the company has then decided to take him out of the Ios Developer Program.
Use of Email and Apple As a very big company Apple INC. has to stay in touch with all of its departments, employees and customers. Use of Email is one of the most modern ways to communicate quickly and sufficiently with people. The company is constantly communicating with their people. As it’s one of the most successful businesses on the world, Apple INC has to show their professionalism and experience in everything they do. Emails are one of the ways they do this. Their emails are always entitled with their LOGO, they have all of the information separated on paragraphs and they know when to choose the right layout and design. This is because the emails might be for corresponding between people from within the organisation or maybe to advertise products and services to the general public and their customers.
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Being a leader tech company for year, Apple needs to make sure that they receive the information it requires. The company needs to store their customers’ details in order to stay in touch with them. As every other business, Apple are required to store this information privately and secure and also use it appropriately. Their staff are also permitted to access the information only for certain purposes which could be sending invitations or advertising products. No one from within the company is allowed to take out any kind of personal information as this would be considered as a fraud. There are special people who are allowed to do so and the company is of course required to make sure that these people can be trusted and relied on. To make sure there aren’t any illegal activities that their staff might do, the company uses a number of ways which help monitoring this and keeping an eye on everything that goes on in the company. Down below is a brief description of Apple’s Privacy Policy.
PRIVACY POILCY APPLE INC As a huge company, Apple is required to state their Privacy Policy clearly to their customers. As we can see on their website, there is a special page made exactly about their Privacy Policies. The company is entitled to collect their customer’s details like name, postal address, phone number, email address, contact preferences and credit card information. This is when a customer signs their Apple ID registration or when they buy a new product. When people send other people invitations, gifts and etc. the company also collects their personal details similar to those listed above. Especially in America, Apple is also permitted to ask for your SSN number but only for activating wireless accounts or activating iPhones. The information that has been collected is used mainly for advertisements and keeping the customers up to date with the company’s newest announcements. They use it also for noticing customers about changes for example change in their terms and conditions. It is used for analysis, improvements and other types of promotions.
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The company is also permitted to collect your details about postcode, area code, UDI, location, language and similar. They are also entitled to collect customers details connected with iCloud, MobileME services and iTunes store for analysis. Apple also uses Cookies and Other Technologies in their websites and products. This is to track the activity of the user and see how many people are interested in a certain product so that the company will be able to make its statement on it. The company uses variety of ways to protect customers’ details. Using their devices, and accessing Apple’s online services, there is a SSL protection which keeps customers’ details safe. However, some of their products state what kind of information will be used and whether it will be exposed to the public so this is a responsibility of the customer. To help maintain its outstanding reputation and image, the company needs to make sure that everything is in order and their customers feel safe. That’s why they need to follow these rules of keeping personal information private and not exposing it to the public unless to owner of it permits so. Apple is also working toward the laws and legislations and know what is allowed and what is not. They are also trying to keep that sympathy of their customers and satisfy their needs.
Backups are really important thing for a huge company like Apple. To prevent loss of data the company backs up their data regularly. This of course must be done under extremely safe conditions as there mustn’t be any information exposed to the public. Apple’s IT departments are responsible for this as they will need to schedule this to automatically occur on a regular basis. Backing up information is a good thing in case of an emergency or any kind of problems which could cause a loss of physical data. An example for this could be the Apple products such as iPhones. If you are a holder of a one, you might have already seen that when you connect your phone to the computer and especially to the iTunes software, the computer suggests you to back up your phone in case of something that might happen. This could be a software problem or a need of a restore. Apple INC is also committed to protect the environment and health and safety of their employees and customers. Their operational style helps them fulfil this purpose by putting health and safety management practices everywhere amongst the business. They are always trying to improve their systems and the environmental quality of their products, processes and services.
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The company use to monitor their performance which helps them make up their own standards to protect people’s health and contribute to the environment positively. Their stores and buildings are equipped with human friendly furniture and technology to provide a maximum protection. Apple also tries to respect their employees’ opinions and by asking them questions, doing surveys and etc. they manage to see what people’s desires are and according to these the company is then trying to provide an environment that is both safe and enjoyable for everyone. As Apple has recently developed their new phones iPhone 5c and 5s, the company is again trying to expand its bounds in terms of creation. According to some rumours that are going on the internet and the press, the company is going to make another two new phone models which could be probably names iPhone 6 and 6s/c. As the touch screen phones are one of the most used phones these days, the company will be trying to think of a phone with a sensitive display which will be able to show how much pressure the person puts while touching the screen. Also it has been said that their phone screen sizes will be larger than the usual. They will be from 4’ up to 5.5. One of the rumours says that their new phones will be with screens 4.7’ and 5.5 and other says that there will be larger screens but they won’t be larger than 5’. However, this will definitely cost the company a lot as these phones will have to use different types of products which will be of course more expensive. It cannot be said yet how much money it cost Apple to bring iPhone 5C/S to the market but bringing another 2 new phone models will probably be twice more expensive than the old versions as this time they are thinking of creating something which is a way more creative than their other products.
To do so, they will probably need to get more suppliers to get the right tech products for creating the products which means that the company will need more staff. This means that their expenses on developing this will be a lot more. Updating their technologies and creating better computer systems and software, Apple definitely contributes to the environment with their fast quality products. This helps their business as it will easy their work between departments in terms of keeping their records and etc. As we know the company is also a main distributor for computer technologies for many authorities like governments and banks.
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Conclusion As a big worldwide company, Apple INC needs to be aware of all regulations that different governments in different countries say. The company is always working towards the laws. Showing professionalism for years and years, the company is always being the first to be as an example for others as they always fit within any codes of practice, ethical issues and other types of law legislation. This assignment has helped me a lot to extend my knowledge about some of the most important UK Laws and Ethical Issues. I have also understood in what way they relate to my chosen company which is Apple INC. Used Bibliography: http://www.slashgear.com/apple-kicks-ios-security-whistleblower-from-developer-program-08193911/
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/11/10/rumor-apple-exploring-pressure-sensitive-iphones-with-curved-glass-displays-up-to-55 https://www.apple.com/environment/reports/docs/EHS_policy2013.pdf http://www.apple.com/uk/supplierresponsibility/health-and-safety.html http://www.apple.com/uk/privacy/
Written by: Zdravko Stoyanov Yanev Written for: Maria Glenister Unit: [4] Business Communication REF No: [P5 & P6]
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Apple Inc. Think different.
Ethical issues & Laws