I believe John should sell the names. It would not only benefit the purchaser but as well as him and his entire company. After reading the AMA Statement of Ethics, I was able to find two sections of it, that deals with John's issue. The first is under the Fairness section which reads " Avoid knowing participation in conflicts of interest.
Seek to protect the private information of customers, employees and partners." John is doing exactly the opposite of that, because now he is giving up that private information that his customers gave him, so that he can make some money to save his company. Also under the Respect category it reads " Treat everyone, including our competitors, as we would wish to be treated." This is in mostly every companies statement of ethics, and John isn't following this rule either. I'm sure he wouldn't want his name released to a car dealership just because he filled out a simple survey. Now these people that thought their information was kept private will start to receive phone calls asking about their interest in a new car. So after reading all this, if I was in John's shoes and had no other real options to save the company then I would be forced to sell the names.
I'm curious as to why you switched your opinion regarding John's decision. You point to all the reasons why he should not sell the names and then you decide he should. On what basis do you make your decision? Rights? Consequentalism? Utility? (The latter are some of the various ethical foundations that are commonly used in making ethical decisions.) krj
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