Background of the case: Incorporated Media is a relatively new company that is capitalizing on the growing success of YouTube celebrities and hit YouTube series. Malik Oden, the founder, has found a successful formula for creating new YouTube channels by selecting several people to work together as a team to a) identify talented comedians and actors on YouTube, b) work together with them to create scripted content, c) work with the company’s videographers, set designers, make-up artists, and professional editors to create and publish the content online, and d) decide how to best market the new shows. This is a very creative and new process, and Malik has some interesting ideas about how to select people for these teams. Given the social-media component of his business, Malik has decided to use Facebook to select and place new employees into teams. When applicants apply, they will be asked to provide personal identifying information (under the guise of conducting reference/background checks). A computer algorithm will then use this information to elicit additional information from this applicant’s Facebook page. Malik has various business connections with Facebook and other social-media sites and is, therefore, able to access private data from individual Facebook accounts through these connections. As a result, he will be able to obtain profile information, including but not limited to Facebook status updates and Facebook posts. The computer program will then generate a predicted personality profile of this applicant, including various individual difference and personality dimensions. Malik will then select applicants whose predicted personalities and traits fit the specific job posting. Prior job postings have elicited several hundred responses per job, and Malik is, therefore, optimistic that this new, automated process will be more accurate and reduce the total time spent on selecting new employees. He is also hopeful that this method will improve the quality of his workforce over time.
Question: 1a. Describe one potential ethical issue (i.e., a violation of a specific ethical principle Ex: Honesty, Fairness, ), associated with selecting new employees through this new Facebook method. 1b. Then explain how you could make the process more ethical. Be sure to justify your answers using information from the textbook, lectures, and case material.