When developing and deploying technologies that can predict individual behavior and deliver customized advertising, the lack of transparency does involve important ethical responsibility issues. The following are a few key points to consider from an ethical perspective： --- ### 1. **Respect user autonomy and informed consent** -**Core question **: Do users have the right to know how their data is used? Collecting and analyzing behavior patterns without explicit notification essentially deprives users of their right to Informed Consent, which may violate the principle of autonomous decision-making (such as “People are ends, not means” in Kantian ethics). - **Ethical risk**: Even if the technology is legal (such as compliance with the terms of the privacy policy), concealing critical uses may constitute a “dark pattern” that enables users to be manipulated without their knowledge. --- ### 2. **Reasonable expectation of privacy protection** -**Social consensus**: Most users default to transparency when “behavioral data is used for advertising". Concealment of this purpose may violate reasonable privacy expectations (refer to the “purpose restriction” principle of the EU's GDPR or the California CCPA). -**Long-term impact**: Lack of transparency can erode trust, lead to user resistance to technology, and even lead to regulatory intervention (such as fines or bans). --- ### 3. **The perspective of consequence theory: Potential hazards vs. Business interests** -**Positive consequences**: Customized advertising may improve business efficiency and even provide users with more relevant content. -**Negative consequences**： -**Individual level**: Users may feel exploited due to undisclosed data use, causing psychological discomfort or social discrimination (such as targeted advertising based on sensitive behaviors). -**Social level**: Exacerbate the culture of data abuse and promote the expansion of surveillance capitalism. --- ### 4. **Attribution of responsibility and technical neutrality** -**Developer responsibility**: Technology itself has no good or evil, but designers and operators are responsible for its social impact (such as the ”responsible innovation" framework). Failure to proactively inform the commercial use is equivalent to choosing to avoid responsibility. -**Industry specifications**: Compared with industry benchmarks (such as Apple's privacy label and Google's advertising preferences), concealed uses may be considered non-compliance. --- ### 5. **Solution suggestions** -**Minimum requirements**: Clearly inform the purpose of the data (such as “your behavioral data will be used for personalized advertising”) and provide an opt-out path. -**Best practices**： -Allow users to access, modify, or delete collected behavioral data. -Design the default option of ”Privacy by Default" (Privacy by Default). -Regularly and actively disclose data usage reports (transparent algorithm logic). --- ### Conclusion **Yes, you must bear moral responsibility**. The advanced technology cannot offset the respect for users. Transparency is not only a legal requirement (in most jurisdictions), but also the basis for maintaining the ethics of the digital society. Through proactive disclosure and user empowerment, a balance can be struck between business value and ethics, and long-term reputational or legal risks can be avoided.