Priyanka Khatri
This project is about the legal
and ethical issues in Forev-
er21. The laws includes; Com-
puter Misuse Act 1990, Data
Protection Act 1998 and Free-
dom of Information Act 2000.
The ethical issues will be dis-
cussed and this includes; the
use of e-mails, whistle- blowing
and the use of the internet. It is
also about the ways Forever21
obey these laws.
Forever21
Data Protection Act 1998
Freedom of Information Act
2000
Computer Misuse Act 1990
Human Right Act 1998 –
common law duty of confidence
Privacy Act 1974
Priyanka Khatri
Data may only be used for the specific purposes for which it
was collected.
Data must not be disclosed to other parties without the con-
sent of the individual whom it is about, unless there is legisla-
tion or other overriding legitimate reason to share the infor-
mation (for example, the prevention or detection of crime). It is
an offence for Other Parties to obtain this personal data with-
out authorisation.
Individuals have a right of access to the information held about
them, subject to certain exceptions (for example, information
held for the prevention or detection of crime).
Data protection act 1998 simply means that individuals and
Forever21’s data are not to be shared or sold without prompt
permission. Data should be obtained fairly and lawfully. It also
means that the data should only be used for the specific rea-
son if it was given. It aims at protecting personal information,
such as, address, date of birth, e-
mail, telephone number and other
personal details.
Data Protect ion Act 1998
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act
2000 (FOIA) gives a general right
of public access to all types of
'recorded' information held by
public authorities, sets out ex-
emptions from that general right,
and places a number of obliga-
tions on public authorities.
Freedom of information act 2000
is that law makes it legal for indi-
viduals or companies to ask the
government or public authorities
for the release of information.
Forever21 does not have any in-
formation where they have failed
to give out Freedom of Infor-
mation.
Priyanka Khatri
Computer Misuse Act 1990
Unauthorised access to computer material will be punisha-
ble by 6 months' imprisonment or a fine.
Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate com-
mission of further offences will be punishable by 6 months/
maximum fine.
Unauthorised modification of computer material, subject to
the same sentences as section 2.
Computer misuse act 1990 simply means it is illegal and
punishable by law for any individual or company to hack into
any computer system and steal information. It came into ef-
fect in 1990. It also makes it illegal for anyone to help unau-
thorised people with private information. Forever21 prevents
the computer misuse act by creating some laws to guide the
use of their computers and websites by their employees.
They also have their codes and policies that guide the use
of computer by their employees.
With Forever21, there is no infor-
mation on the Computer Misuse
Act. However on the ASOS terms
and conditions there is infor-
mation about their Computer Mis-
use Act.
Human Right Act 1998 – common
law duty of confidence
The Human Rights Act 1998 (also known as the Act or
the HRA) came into force in the United Kingdom in Octo-
ber 2000. It is composed of a series of sections that have
the effect of codifying the protections in the European
Convention on Human Rights into UK law.
Human Rights Act 1998—common law duty of confi-
dence are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to
every person in the world. This act includes data Protec-
tion Act, freedom of Information Act, Computer Misuse
Act, Privacy Act, education, work, freedom of express,
etc.
As Forever21 doesn’t have
their Human Rights Act, I
have taken a screenshot of
ASOS and their Human Rights
Act policy.
Use of E-mail
Use of E-mails mean employees are not allowed to mis-
use their companies e-mails and the companies that have
their e-mails are not supposed to trade it with the permis-
sion of the organisation or without individual’s permission.
It also entails that e-mails are not to be used to swindle an
individual or a company of their money or details.
As Forever21 does not have information on this I have
used Sony as an example
“Sony Corp. (6758) has been rocked in recent weeks by a
pair of high profile system intrusions. One intrusion
caused the outage of the company's Qriocity streaming
media and PlayStation Network (PSN) services, along
with the loss of 77 million customer records. A second
intrusion at Sony Online Entertainment lost 24 million
additional customer records. Together the intrusions
may have lost over 10 million customers credit and debit
cards, though Sony is still being unclear about whether
or not this valuable information was taken.”
http:www.dailytech.comSony+Hit+With+First+Lawsuit+After+Losing+101+Millio
n+Customer+Records/article21540.htm
Priyanka Khatri
Use of Internet
Our employees are supposed to use the internet for the
specific purpose why it was made; thing like researching,
evaluating and general building of one’s knowledge.
Practices such as; stealing copyright, intercepting one’s
private e-mail, deliberate public misinformation, misuse of
research material, unauthorised commercial/personal use
of network, stealing credit information from financial insti-
tutions or people, are considered illegal.
Here is an example of Sony :
“The pair had hacked into Sony’s servers from their home
computers and, according to the Serious Organised Crime
Agency (SOCA), had downloaded over 7,000 files. These
included unreleased songs by the late Michael Jackson
which SOCA alleged were specifically targeted by the
hackers who were aware of the seven-year Sony deal with
his estate to posthumously sell his unreleased material.”
http://blogs.dlapiper.com/mediaandsport/2013/01/17/legal-director/
Whistle– blowing
A whistle blower is a person who tells the general public or
someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal ac-
tivities taking place in a government department, a public
or private organization, or a company. Whistle blowing is
illegal and is punishable by the law.
Here is an example of whistle-blowing with Sony.
“The man who blew the whistle on the controversial Prism
surveillance program has revealed himself as a 29-year-old
former CIA employee, in a fascinating interview with The
Guardian.” Snowden, who is now holed-up in Hong Kong,
says he expects to 'never see home again,' but claimed he
doesn't wish to live in a place where everything the public
says or does is recorded by the government. He said:
"With this capability, the vast majority of human communi-
cations are automatically ingested without targeting. If I
wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all I have
to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords,
phone records, credit cards.”
http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/prism-whistleblower-outs-himself-
claims-nsa-are-ingesting-everything--1157530
Priyanka Khatri
Organisational policies
Organisational polices are the methods of action, which
are taken usually by organisations to guide and determine
present and future decision and also the positions on
public matters. Some organisation policies are
Compensation policies, Employment status policies,
Private policies and the International hiring policies.
As there is no information about this on forever21, I have
used information on Sony.
In May 2013, our company has started to adopt the Sony
Group of Conduct, which is the basic of internal standards
to be observed by all directors, officers and employees of
the Sony Group, in order to highlight and further
strengthen corporate governance, business ethics and
compliance systems throughout the Sony Group.
Furthermore, to legal and compliance standards, the Code
of Conduct sets out the Sony Group's basic policies
concerning ethical business practices and activities on
such topics as respect for human rights, safety of products
and services, environmental conservation and information
disclosure.
Forever21 is committed to ethical business practic-
es and they hold their suppliers to the same high
standards. It is Forever21 Group policy to comply
with all applicable laws and regulations of the
countries and regions in which we operate and to
conduct their business activities in an honest and
ethical manner. The Forever21 Group Code of
Conduct declares that Forever21 Group expects its
suppliers to uphold the policies of Forever21 Group
concerning compliance with all applicable law, re-
spect for human rights, environmental conservation
and the safety of products and services.
The way Forever21 Corporation
deals with ethical issues by means
of policies and code of practice.