technological change. The first asks whether it is ethical for employers to search the internet for information about potential employees. The second asks how streaming technology transformed and disrupted the traditional video-rental industry. Both cases show that information systems create competitive opportunities while also changing expectations, rights, and business models. The original response supports online screening because people reveal behavior through the internet and presents streaming as a straightforward improvement over visiting rental stores. Those conclusions need greater qualification. Publicly visible information is not automatically accurate, relevant, or fair to use in employment, and streaming did not merely make rental easier; it reorganized production, distribution, ownership, pricing, advertising, and consumer data. Ethical analysis requires attention to who controls information, who bears risk, and which safeguards should accompany technological capability.
Case 1: Employee Internet Screening
Employers commonly review résumés, references, education, work history, criminal records where lawful, and professional profiles. Some also search social media, blogs, public comments, photographs, or online news. A search can reveal evidence relevant to a position, such as public threats, misrepresentation of credentials, disclosure of confidential information, or professional work samples. It can also expose religion, race, disability, age, pregnancy, family relationships, political activity, sexual orientation, and other information that should not influence most employment decisions. The ethical question is therefore not simply whether the page is public. It is whether the search is necessary, proportionate, accurate, job-related, consistently applied, and compliant with law.
Public Information and Reasonable Privacy
People often share information with a particular audience and do not expect it to be evaluated years later by an employer. A post visible to friends may become searchable through copying, platform changes, or data aggregation. This phenomenon is sometimes called context collapse: material created for one social setting is interpreted in another. Legal privacy expectations may be limited when information is public, but ethical responsibility can be broader than legal permission. Employers should avoid intrusive attempts to bypass privacy settings, impersonate others, demand passwords, or pressure applicants to provide access to private accounts.
Job Relevance
A screening decision should connect information with legitimate job requirements. A public portfolio, professional publication, or documented disclosure of trade secrets may be relevant. A photograph showing lawful social activity, a political opinion, or participation in a religious event usually does not predict performance. The original essay treats partying or drinking as evidence an employer should know. Lawful off-duty activity should not become a moral character test unless it has a clear connection to safety, reputation duties, conflicts of interest, or the specific position. Even then, state law may protect certain conduct. (Federal Trade Commission & U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2026)
Discrimination Risk
The EEOC and FTC explain that background information must not be obtained or used in a discriminatory manner. An employer cannot search some racial, religious, or age groups more intensely than others or use discovered protected information as a basis for unequal treatment. Bias can be difficult to detect once a hiring manager sees a photograph, disability disclosure, pregnancy announcement, or religious practice. One risk-control strategy is to separate the searcher from the decision-maker. A trained reviewer can report only verified, job-related findings according to predetermined criteria.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
When an employer hires a third-party company to compile social-media or other background information, the Fair Credit Reporting Act may apply. The employer generally must provide a clear written disclosure, obtain permission, and follow pre-adverse-action and adverse-action procedures if the report contributes to rejection. The applicant must receive a copy of the report and information about rights and have an opportunity to dispute inaccuracies. A manager’s own informal internet search may not trigger every FCRA requirement, but antidiscrimination law and state or local restrictions still apply.
Accuracy and Identity Errors
Names are not unique, photographs can be misidentified, posts can be edited, accounts can be impersonated, and satire can be misunderstood. Search engines rank visibility rather than truth. A person may share a name with someone who committed misconduct, or an old accusation may remain online after dismissal or correction. An ethical employer verifies identity and source before acting. Applicants should have an opportunity to explain disputed information. Secret decisions based on an unverified search create avoidable unfairness.
Time and Rehabilitation
Online information can remain visible long after a person changes. A foolish comment from adolescence should not necessarily define an adult applicant. Employers should consider age at the time, seriousness, frequency, evidence of growth, and relevance to current duties. A system that permanently punishes every past mistake discourages rehabilitation and produces unequal consequences because some people’s lives are more searchable than others. Wealthier applicants may also have greater ability to manage online reputation or remove harmful content.
Political and Associational Activity
Private-sector protections for political activity vary by jurisdiction, while public employers face constitutional constraints. Even when political opinion is not a federally protected category by itself, it may reveal religion, national origin, union activity, or other protected association. Employers should not attempt to create ideological uniformity unrelated to the work. Disagreement with a manager is not evidence of unethical behavior. Policies should focus on conduct, threats, harassment, confidentiality, and actual conflicts rather than viewpoint.
Consistency
Informal searches are often inconsistent. One manager may search every applicant, another only those who seem unfamiliar, and another only finalists. This creates unequal exposure to scrutiny. A defensible policy identifies which positions are screened, when the search occurs, which platforms or sources are permitted, who performs it, what criteria apply, how findings are documented, and how applicants can respond. The same standards should be applied to comparable candidates.
Professional Profiles
LinkedIn and professional websites are designed partly for career visibility. Reviewing claims, publications, skills, and employment history from these sources is generally less intrusive than investigating personal networks. Even professional profiles may contain exaggeration or outdated information and should be verified. Employers should not confuse popularity, follower count, or polished branding with competence. Applicants who lack resources or work in less digitally visible occupations should not be penalized merely for a limited online presence.
Algorithmic Screening
Vendors increasingly use automated tools to analyze posts, language, personality, or risk. Such systems may infer traits inaccurately, reproduce bias, and provide scores that applicants cannot challenge. Natural-language models can misread dialect, humor, quotation, or activism. An employer remains responsible for the decision even when a vendor supplies the tool. Before use, organizations should evaluate validity, bias, data sources, accessibility, privacy, and whether the model measures something genuinely related to the job. High technological sophistication does not create scientific legitimacy.
Ethical Recommendation for Case 1
Employers may conduct limited online screening when it serves a legitimate, documented purpose, but the process should not become unrestricted surveillance. The search should occur late enough to reduce unnecessary collection, be performed by trained personnel, use public and lawful sources, exclude irrelevant protected information, verify identity, and provide an opportunity for explanation. Decisions should be based on job-related conduct and evidence rather than lifestyle preference. Applicants should receive a general notice that online public information may be reviewed. A policy meeting these conditions is more ethical than either a total ban or an assumption that everything online is fair game.
Advice for Applicants
Applicants should review public profiles, correct false information where possible, use privacy settings, and think about the audience for future posts. This advice is practical, but responsibility should not be shifted entirely to individuals. People should not have to present a perfectly sanitized identity to obtain work. Employers have greater decision-making power and must use it fairly. Digital professionalism means understanding context and consequences, not erasing lawful personality or private life.
Case 2: Streaming Video and the Rental Industry
The traditional video-rental model depended on physical stores, local inventories, tapes or discs, membership accounts, due dates, and late fees. Consumers traveled to a store, selected from available titles, returned the item, and sometimes paid penalties. Streaming replaced the physical transfer of a copy with remote access to data from servers through broadband networks. This technological change reduced transaction time and eliminated the need to stock each viewing occasion as a separate physical item. It also changed which companies controlled distribution and how audiences paid.
Digitization and Compression
Film and television could be transmitted efficiently only after digitization and compression reduced the amount of data required. Codecs encode and decode video, balancing quality with file size and device capability. Faster broadband made sustained delivery possible, while adaptive bitrate streaming adjusts quality when network conditions change. Instead of waiting for a complete download, viewers receive segments as they watch. This reduced delay and made legitimate on-demand viewing convenient.
Cloud Infrastructure and Content Delivery Networks
Streaming services store and process large libraries through data centers and cloud systems. Content delivery networks place copies closer to users, reducing congestion and buffering. Analytics monitor device performance, viewing completion, and demand. Traditional rental stores managed shelves and local stock; streaming platforms manage licenses, servers, recommendation systems, and global network capacity. The operational core shifted from physical logistics to software and digital infrastructure.
Connected Devices
Personal computers first supported much online video, but smartphones, tablets, smart televisions, streaming sticks, and game consoles made access ordinary. Applications allow one account to work across devices and locations. This device ecosystem weakened the store’s role because the consumer already owned the delivery terminal. It also expanded viewing beyond the living room. Accessibility depends on broadband, affordability, digital literacy, and compatible devices, meaning the transformation has not benefited every household equally.
Subscription Business Models
Rental stores earned revenue from individual transactions, memberships, concessions, and late fees. Subscription video on demand offers a library for a recurring price. Transactional services rent or sell a digital title individually, and advertising-supported services provide free or lower-cost access in exchange for commercials and data. Platforms now combine subscriptions, advertising, live channels, and premium purchases. Technology enabled these models, but licensing, studio strategy, and consumer willingness determined which succeeded.
Netflix and Blockbuster
Netflix began with mailed DVDs before making streaming central. Mail delivery already weakened the need to visit a store, while streaming removed physical return entirely. Blockbuster experimented with online and mail services but was burdened by store costs, debt, strategic delays, and changing consumer expectations. Its decline was not caused by one invention alone. Technology interacted with management choices, capital structure, licensing, and the speed of organizational adaptation.
Inventory and the Long Tail
A local store could stock only a limited number of titles and copies. Digital catalogs can offer far more, allowing niche programs to reach dispersed audiences. This “long tail” creates value from older and specialized content. Yet streaming catalogs are not permanent public libraries. Licensing agreements expire, services remove titles, and exclusive rights fragment access. Consumers gained convenience but lost some of the ownership and predictability associated with purchased discs.
Original Content and Vertical Integration
Streaming services moved from distributing other studios’ content to financing original films and series. Media companies then launched their own platforms to retain direct customer relationships. Production, distribution, marketing, and audience data became increasingly integrated. This transformed competition from a choice among rental stores into rivalry among global ecosystems. It also concentrated power in firms able to spend heavily on content and technology.
Recommendation Systems
Rental-store employees, shelf placement, advertising, and word of mouth helped consumers choose. Streaming platforms use recommendation algorithms based on viewing behavior and similarities among users or titles. Recommendations reduce search effort and can expose audiences to unfamiliar content. They can also narrow attention, favor platform priorities, or collect extensive behavioral data. Convenience is therefore exchanged partly for surveillance and algorithmic influence.
Release Timing
The original essay suggests that every movie becomes available online instantly upon release. Release windows vary. Some films move through theaters, premium digital rental, purchase, subscription streaming, television, and other channels according to contracts and strategy. Unauthorized copies may appear quickly, but piracy should not be confused with lawful streaming. Technology made rapid release possible; rights owners decide when and where legitimate access occurs.
The Decline of Physical Rental
Streaming reduced demand for travel, returns, late fees, and physical inventory. Stores lost the convenience competition and many closed. Some physical media businesses survived by serving collectors, areas with weak broadband, or specialized audiences. Libraries and kiosks also continued limited lending. Disruption rarely eliminates every old format immediately. It changes the dominant value proposition and shrinks the market available to firms that cannot differentiate.
Employment Effects
Store closures eliminated retail jobs and local businesses, while streaming created work in software, data centers, production, customer support, marketing, and content operations. The new jobs differ in location and skill, so displaced workers do not automatically receive them. Technological transformation should be evaluated through transition costs as well as consumer convenience. Training and labor policy influence who benefits.
Consumer Benefits
Streaming offers immediate access, search, personalized lists, multiple devices, subtitles, audio description, and large catalogs. It reduces transportation and the risk of late fees. Digital delivery can help people with mobility limitations and audiences seeking international content. These benefits explain adoption more fully than a claim that visiting stores was merely “annoying.” Consumers selected streaming because it reduced several costs at once.
Consumer Costs and New Frictions
Multiple subscriptions, price increases, advertising tiers, content removal, password restrictions, privacy concerns, and regional licensing create new frustrations. A household may pay for several services to recreate the range once found in a cable or rental ecosystem. Digital access can disappear when a license ends. Technology solved physical inconvenience but did not eliminate scarcity or commercial control; it redesigned them.
Environmental Considerations
Streaming avoids manufacturing and transporting a physical copy for each rental, but data centers, networks, production, and devices consume energy. The environmental comparison depends on viewing volume, resolution, device life, electricity source, and transportation displaced. A digital service is not environmentally weightless. Efficient encoding, renewable electricity, and durable devices can reduce impact.
Ethical and Legal Issues
Streaming raises questions about copyright, creator compensation, data privacy, recommendation bias, accessibility, and market concentration. Legal services obtain licenses and compensate rights holders under contracts. Downloading unauthorized copies is not simply another form of rental. Platforms should explain data use, provide meaningful controls, support accessible design, and avoid deceptive subscription cancellation. Technology’s business value does not excuse unethical implementation.
Relationship Between the Two Cases
Employee screening and streaming appear unrelated, but both involve the conversion of activity into searchable data. Employers can inspect traces of personal life, while platforms record viewing and preference. In both cases, information systems reduce transaction costs and increase organizational knowledge. They also create asymmetry: the organization knows more about the individual than the individual knows about the organization’s analysis. Ethical governance requires transparency, relevance, security, correction rights, and limits on secondary use.
Conclusion
Internet searches can help employers verify public, job-related information, but ethical screening requires consistency, accuracy, proportionality, antidiscrimination safeguards, and compliance with the FCRA when third-party reports are used. Lawful personal activity and protected characteristics should not become hidden hiring criteria. Streaming video transformed rental through digitization, compression, broadband, cloud infrastructure, connected devices, subscriptions, recommendations, and new content ownership. It made viewing more convenient while disrupting stores and creating new concerns about data, fragmentation, labor, and platform power. In both cases, technology expands capability faster than it resolves responsibility. Good management asks not only what an information system can do, but what it should do and under which safeguards.
References
Federal Trade Commission & U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2026). Background checks: What employers need to know.
Pearlson, K. E., Saunders, C. S., & Galletta, D. F. (2016). Managing and using information systems: A strategic approach. Wiley.
Van der Aalst, W. M. P., La Rosa, M., & Santoro, F. M. (2016). Business process management. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 58, 1–6.
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