Section 4- Issues

• What issues can using technology cause?

  Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental
• What are ethical issues?

  What is considered right and wrong by society (morals)
• What are legal issues?

  What is right and wrong legally (the law)
• What are cultural issues?

  How groups of people with particular beliefs, practices or languages may be affected
• What are environmental issues?

  How technology impacts the natural world
• Why is it hard to keep information private on the internet-ethical issues?

  -websites require users to provide personal details in order to set up an account (birthdays and addresses)

  -social media encourages you to post personal information (photographs and details of your job)

  -cloud computing websites to upload personal files to their servers

  -companies make your personal information to other websites and the whole internet (can sell personal details)

  -users accept privacy agreements without reading the terms

  -users have to trust companies to keep data secure
• What are some ethical issues?

  Privacy, censorship and surveillance, social well-being, cyberbullying and health problems
• What is internet censorship?

  When someone tries to control what other people can access on the internet- restrict certain information

  China is one of the strictest countries for censorship for restricting websites that are critical of the government
• When is censorship used?

  To restrict inappropriate websites in order to protect children
• What is surveillance?

  When someone monitors what other people are accessing on the internet- monitor internet traffic (government intelligence use this)
• How does technology impact social well-being?

  -Peer pressure- children feel pressure to own the latest device for fear of being bullied and then parents feel pressured into buying them.

  -Employees are expected to have a smartphone so they can be contacted at all times by work (stressful as people feel they can never be away from work)

  -face to face social interaction decreases as you can contact people over the internet
• What is cyber bullying?

  When someone uses social media to deliberately harm someone else- includes intimidation, insulting and humiliation. Can cause serious distress
• What is trolling?

  When somebody tries to cause public arguments with others online deliberately (sometimes for own amusement or attention)
• What are some cultural issues?

  Digital divide, technology changes how we do business
• How has the internet shaped our culture (examples)?

  -taking selfies - become very popular but can be seen that social media is gradually making people attention-seeking or self-obsessed

  -'Viral'- companies, celebrities and politicians all try to use images and videos in promotional campaigns in hope they will go viral

  -social media - allow people to publish writing, art or other media which can give a voice to groups of people who have been ignored by mainstream media
• How is technology changing how we do business?

  -music and television streaming services have allowed customers to listen and watch media for lower prices but through a subscription service (some musicians aren't happy with the amount they are paid)

  -sharing economy is the name given to services that let people make money from things they already own (uber = turn your car into a taxi, Airbnb uses internet to rent out a room in your house)

  These services are cheap but draw people away from from taxi firms and hotel owners and can be more risky for sharers and customers
• What is the digital divide?

  Some people have greater access to technology than others (some people can apply for university over the internet ) so people who don't have access to the internet are at a huge disadvantage
• What are some causes of the digital divide?

  -some people don't have enough money to buy new devices like smartphones and laptops which are expensive

  -urban areas are likely to have greater network coverage than rural areas

  -some people don't know how to use the internet and other new technologies, so they are shut out of the opportunities they offer (problem for older people)
• What is the global divide?

  Level of access to technology is different in different countries. Increased inequality between richer and poorer countries.
• What are some environmental issues?

  Using up natural resources, using energy, throwing away devices (E-waste)
• How does using natural resources for technology affect the environment?

  Electronic devices contain lots of raw material like plastic which come from crude oil, metals (gold, silver, copper) that occur in little quantities. Extracting these materials use lots of energy and creates pollution and depletes scarce natural resources
• How does using energy for technology affect the environment?

  -most electricity is uses non-renewable resources (coal, oil, gas) which cause a lot of pollution when being extracted (greenhouse gas)

  -all computers generate heat and require cooling which uses even more energy and creates more pollution

  -devices waste a lot of energy by using a small proportion of processing power (also when leaving devices idle)
• What are the ways we can reduce the amount of energy wasted by devices?

  -virtual servers are software-based servers rather than real machines which means multiple virtual servers can run on 1 physical server so the physical server runs at full capacity

  -modern devices include sleep and hibernation modes to reduce their power consumption when they are idle

  -don't leave electronic devices on standby
• How does E-waste affect the environment?

  -we create around 20-50 million tonnes of e-waste every year as modern day devices have a short life before they are discarded as they break or are upgraded

  -device manufacturers offer one year warranties and use marketing to upgrade devices and make it cheaper for people to replace than repair

  -to cut costs e-waste is sent to certain African and Asian countries where rules aren't as strict where most of it ends up in landfill and can be a hazard (toxic chemicals can leak into ground water and harm wildlife)
• How do we help the e-waste problem?

  -Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive was created to make rules for disposing e-waste safely and to promote reuse and recycling
• What is the Data Protection Act?

  Legislation that protects user's personal data which was made in 2018
• What 6 principles does the data protection act involve?

  -data should be kept safe and secure

  -data should not be kept longer than necessary

  -data must only be used in a fair, lawful and transparent way

  -data must only be used for the specified purpose

  -data should be adequate, relevant and not excessive for the specified use

  -data must be accurate and kept up to date
• What are some key facts about the data protection act?

  -gives subjects the right to see, amend and delete the personal data an organisation holds about them

  -however organisations don't have to disclose any data that could affect national security or the outcome of a court case

  -it is the responsibility of the organisation to make sure they follow the rules or it could result in a fine
• What does the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act do?

  -protects intellectual property (anything someone has created like a novel or song)

  -covers written or recorded content

  -makes it illegal to share copyrighted files without the copyright holder's permission and use unlicensed software or plagiarise (copy) someone's work
• What do patents cover?

  Inventions- protect ideas and concepts rather than actual content
• What does the computer misuse act do?

  Prevents illegal access to files to stop hacking and cyber crime and 3 other offences:

  • gaining unauthorised access to a private network or device (through hacking)
  • gaining unauthorised access to a network or device in order to commit a crime like stealing or destroying data
  • unauthorised modification of computer material (deleting or changing files)
  • making, supplying or obtaining malware
• What is open source software?

  Software that is freely available and can be modified and distributed by anyone- source code is made available
• What are the advantages of open source software?

  -usually free

  -made to benefit everyone by encouraging collaboration and sharing ideas

  -can be adapted to user's needs

  -wide pool of collaborators can be more creative and innovative than the programmers of one company

  -popular software is very reliable and secure as problems are quickly resolved by community
• What are the disadvantages of open source software?

  -small projects may not have regular updates

  -can have bugs

  -can have unpatched security holes

  -may be limited user documentation

  -no warranties if something goes wrong

  -no customer support

  -companies may not want competitors to see their source code
• What is propriety software?

  Closed source software where only compiled code is released- have to have a licence or permission to view this software
• What are the advantages of propriety software?

  -comes with warranties, documentation and customer support

  -well-tested and reliable

  -fixes and updates will come regularly

  -usually cheaper for companies than developing custom-built software
• What are the disadvantages of proprietary software?

  -expensive

  -software may not fit user's needs

  -companies may not maintain older software after warranties expire as they'll want people to buy their latest product