Currently, the biggest search engine, Google, is facing accusations of illegally wiretapping and gathering Gmail users’ information for use in online advertisement. When this scandal was exposed, many users and non-users started worrying about their privacy.

I personally do not use Gmail, but there are approximately over half a billion Gmail users using this service, whose privacy has been infringed on. In addition, non-users of Gmail who send emails to users will also be wiretapped by the company. This reminds me of the business ethic and SWOT diagram we talked about in the class. Google is a reputable company and has the largest market share in the world. As a result, if the company wiretapped every user, consumers from all over the world would be a victim. As the world’s biggest Web Company, it is Google’s obligation to guarantee the security of consumers’ information by keeping the information private. However, the company became the “criminal” which betrayed the consumers’ trust.

To summarize, the company ought to explain their irresponsible behavior to the public. Although this event will not influence their solid market position, the reputation and the consumers’ trust should always be their priority.

The information is from

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/technology/google-accused-of-wiretapping-in-gmail-scans.html?hpw