ICT Notes

• Data Protection Act


  Ensures organisations must: have an individual's consent to collect, use or disclose personal data; inform the individual of their purpose
• Requirements for data handling under the Data Protection Act

  • Used fairly and lawfully
  • Used for limited, specifically stated purposes
  • Accurate
  • Kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary
  • Handled according to people's data protection rights
  • Kept safe and secure
• Individual rights under the Data Protection Act


  • Access a copy of the information comprised of their personal data
  • Object to data processing that is likely to cause or is causing damage or distress to the individual
  • Prevent processing for direct marketing, such as being sent newsletters or emails
  • Object to decisions that are taken by automated means
  • Claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the act
• Copyright


  A law or set of laws that provides the creator of an original work with the sole authority to use and distribute it
• Using someone else's work without permission could result in the user facing legal action from the work's copyright owner
• Options for copyright owners to distribute their works

  • Distribute under licences that users pay for
  • Distribute under free licences such as open source or creative commons licences
• Examples of fair use of copyrighted material

  • Copies made by libraries, educational establishments, museums or archives
  • Recordings of broadcasts for archive purposes
  • Uses for the benefit of people with a disability
  • For non-commercial research or private study
  • When used in a parody
• Digital rights management


  Systems designed to check that the device on which the work is opened is allowed to open it
• Geoblocking


  Limiting access to internet content based on the user's geographical location
• Geoblocking prevents users in countries with different legal frameworks from accessing copyrighted work
• Methods for monitoring individuals' movements


  • Closed circuit television (CCTV), sometimes using facial recognition software
  • Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras
  • Monitoring the use of identification cards, travel cards, passports at borders and bank card transactions
  • Identifying devices on networks by their IP or MAC address
  • Using GPS data shared by apps such as friend finder apps
  • GPS trackers attached to items of clothing
• Benefits of monitoring individuals


  • Find people who are lost, especially young children
  • Locate nearby friends in order to arrange to meet socially
  • Identify people on networks
  • Identify and locate potential criminals at events
  • Keep travellers safe, such as by checking for potential criminals at airports
  • Verify individuals for financial transactions in order to reduce financial crime
• Drawbacks of monitoring individuals


  • Compromising people's privacy
  • The expense of setting up, monitoring and maintaining systems
  • The energy consumption of the systems and the effect on the environment
  • Making people feel as though they are not trusted
• Examples of communications that can be monitored


  • Text messages
  • Emails
  • Posts on social media networking sites
  • Comments on blogs
  • Web histories
• Risks from using digital devices

  • Eye dryness and fatigue
  • Repetitive strain injury
  • Back and neck ache
  • Trip hazards
  • Electric shock
  • Fire
• Causes of risks from using digital devices


  • Looking at a screen for long periods of time
  • Using devices incorrectly
  • Poor posture
  • Trailing wires
  • Damaged cables
  • Liquid on devices
  • Overheating
  • Overloaded plug sockets
• How to minimize risks from using digital devices

  • Take breaks
  • Make sure the screen is not too close
  • Use a large enough screen
  • Use blue light filters
  • Use suitable lighting and reduce glare of sunlight through windows
  • Use ergonomic devices
  • Use ergonomic support such as wrist pads
  • Maintain correct posture
  • Use good cable management
  • Tidy and secure cables in trunking
  • Regular cable inspections
  • Repair or replace damaged cables
  • No liquids near devices
  • Use cooling devices
  • Regular maintenance
  • Install fire extinguishers
  • Ensure that sockets are switched off when not in use
• Maintaining a good posture


  • Keep a distance from the monitor
  • Monitor should be kept at an angle 10°-20°
  • Keyboard must be at elbow height
  • Keep feet flat on the floor
  • Adjust the seat height
  • Chair must include adjustable arm rests
  • Chair must include adjustable backrest
  • Avoid tight elbow angle
  • Avoid wrist bent upwards
  • Avoid pressure on elbow or wrist
  • Use of wrist pads can help maintain good posture and reduce the risk to health
• Social Networking


  Allow members to connect through shared interests or relationships
• Online Gaming


  Allow members of the community to play multiplayer games
• Online Work Spaces


  Allow members of the community to collaborate together for the purpose of work
• Virtual Learning Environments


  Allow students and teachers to use learning and assessment materials
• Wikis


  Allow members in a community to collaborate and edit web pages to build communities
• Forums


  Provide members of the community with online space for structured discussions
• Video and Photo Sharing Sites


  Allow people to access and share content created and uploaded by members of the community
• Blogs


  Allow creating online diaries of events or articles
• Social Bookmarking


  Allow people to share web documents and URLs with each other
• Members can choose to stay anonymous online, which can protect users but also means some users can misrepresent themselves
• Disclosing too much personal information online can be dangerous, as it can be used for grooming or to locate the person or their friends and families
• Location data can be given away either on purpose or by mistake, such as by uploading geo-tagged photographs to photo-sharing sites
• Primary Sources


  Information that you have created yourself
• Secondary Sources


  Information created by someone else
• Examples of primary sources


  • Photographs you have taken yourself
  • Interviews or questionnaires conducted by you
  • Your own blogs, social media posts or emails
  • Your own sound recordings
• Examples of secondary sources

  • Newspapers, books and maps
  • Television or radio broadcasts
  • Websites created by other people
• Search Engines


  Compare the words entered by a user with words in a database of web pages and show the user the results that are the closest match to their original keywords
• Search engines are used by personal assistants such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, which allow you to speak your search terms aloud and have results through a speaker
• Examples of search engines

  • Bing
  • Creative Commons
  • DuckDuckGo
  • Google
  • Yahoo
• Keywords


  Words or search terms that a user types into a search engine in order to look for matching information
• When entering keywords into a search engine, only enter the important words that you think websites will contain, and keep it simple without adding too many keywords
• Search Syntax


  • (+) Adding + between words will return only results that match both words
  • (-) Adding - before a word will return only results that do not include that word
  • ("") Placing "" around a group of words will return only results that include the whole phrase with the words in that specific order