Section 10: Ethics, Legislation & the Environment Booklet

WWW/EBI: MRI:

Name:

10.1 Ethical Issueshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJZlnORzWys&list=PLCiOXwirraUAvkTPDWeeSqAKty3LAG37-

&index=34&safe=true

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlvGvZ1ZoNQ&list=PLCiOXwirraUAvkTPDWeeSqAKty3LAG37-&index=32&safe=true

Ethics means right and wrong. There have been many consequences from the rise of computer use and digital technology, bringing many benefits to individuals and society but also some unexpected issues. It is very difficult to argue what is good or bad as there are those who benefit and those who are hindered with each impact. 

Below are a number of ethical issues that have arisen due to recent technological advancements.

Digital Divide

This term relates to the gap between those people who have access to modern digitaltechnology (such as computers and the internet) and those who have limited access.Limited access could mean no home devices or many people sharing one computer orsimply having lower-performance (cheaper) computers and low-speed internet connections.

The digital divide can be seen in different ways, such as:

people in cities vs. people in rural areas younger people vs. elderly people different ethnic groups countries / regions of the world

The reason why the digital divide is an important ethical issue is because digital technologies have boosted growth, improved product delivery, enhanced communication and increased opportunities but this impact is uneven and these positive impacts are mostly occurring in technologically-advanced regions such as North America, Western Europe and Japan. Regions like Africa and Central Asia have limited digital infrastructure and government stability, leading to poor internet speeds, high costs and limited resources.

The United Nations released a report in 2015 that stated:

Internet costs grew by 30% in the least developed countries in 2015. 43% of the world's population used the internet in 2015 but less than a quarter were from the

least developed countries. Women in the least developed countries are 21% less likely to have their own mobile phone. By 2020 the cost of internet access should be no more than 5% of the monthly average

income. 

Discussion Points:

What can be done to bridge the digital divide?

Whose job is it to bridge the gap?

Who will pay for the technology?

How can the United Nations try to achieve their goal (#4 in the bullet points above)?

Drones

A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle that is operated by a person remotely, nearby or even thousands of miles away. Drones have started to creep into everyday life, whether that be relatively cheap 'civilian' drones as Christmas presents, camera-attached drones to film television and movies or delivery drones in development by Amazon.

Drones have many positive benefits such as monitoring pollution levels in the atmosphere and tracking / monitoring wildlife, such as following African rhinos from afar to spot potential illegal poachers. However these small devices are controversial - privacy issues are at the top of the discussion as people can film neighbours and strangers and fly drones into restricted areas.

There have been multiple stories of drones nearly hitting aeroplanes and drones sneaking confiscated items into prisons. Weaponised drones have also been used in warfare, whilst being controlled from a different continent. The use of drones will increase in the future and in many different sectors, especially security, health and environmental science.

Discussion Points:

Should you need a licence to buy and fly a drone?

Should drones be used to monitor the public? Like flying CCTV?

Should drones be used to deliver items? Like Amazon packages?

If a drone hits a plane and it crashes, what should the punishment be?

Self-Driving Cars

A self-driving car navigates along a road without any human interaction - no need for a driver. Fully autonomous cars are still in development but some cars at the moment have features such as self-parking and automatic overtaking. In the future self-driving cars could be programmed to drive to a destination no human driving necessary, just sit back, relax with a movie or get some work done and let the car take you there. Benefits of self-driving cars are that experts claim it will be more fuel-efficient and safer - computer-controlled cars can't get tired and could even drive overnight. But can they ever be completely uncrashable? When a pizza delivers itself, your Amazon package arrives independently and a huge truck of cement steers itself overnight across the country what happens to the people who used to do those jobs? 

Discussion Points:

Would you trust a car to drive itself?

Who is to blame if a self-driving car crashes? The car maker? The people in the car? The software writers?

Read the last sentence above, what is your answer to this question?Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence refers to computers making decisions and performing actions without human interaction. This can range from simple online symptom checkers (e.g. WebMD) that output possible illnesses for the inputted symptoms to smart homes, personal assistants (e.g. Siri and Cortana) and possibly in the future lifelike robots and computer-based assistants. In 2016 Googled created an AI to take on master Go players (Go is a game similar to chess but incredibly complex) and it managed to beat the world champion 5 times out of 5. AI is steadily becoming more intelligent and more frequently used, helping to speed up processes and take over time-consuming or repetitive tasks. There is the worry in the future that AI could harm humans, this has been a popular culture fear for decades and was popularised by the Terminator movies.

Discussion Points:If a robot harms a human who is to blame? The robot? The programmer? The manufacturer? Us?

Would you trust a walking, talking robot assistant in your home?

Should AI make decisions for us?

Loss of Privacy and Hacking

Privacy is a massive issue at the moment concerning the internet. In 2014 the government changed the Computer issue Act to legally allow organisations like MI6 and GCHQ to hack computers, which they had been supposedly doing secretly for years anyway. This change was done with no public debate. In 2016 the government introduced the 'Snooper's Charter' into law which orders ISPs to store all websites that each person has visited in the last 365 days, this was also passed quietly, quickly and with no public debate. 

There is debate about encrypted messages too, especially with the rise of terrorists using encrypted services to communicate and plot attacks. Apple and the FBI fell out in 2016 after Apple refused to edit their phones' code to allow access so that the FBI could unlock the phone and read encrypted messages. Whatsapp received criticism from MPs in 2017 after a terrorist was found to have planned an attack in London using the service. Whatsapp messages are encrypted so that even Whatsapp themselves cannot read what its users have written to each other.

There have been a number of hacking scandals in the past few years including with Sony, TalkTalk and Yahoo, leaking millions of customer details including addresses and bank details. Is it right for companies to store so much data on their customers and not have sufficient security measures in place? The Yahoo hacking breach was not made public for two years, so millions of customers were unaware that their data had been compromised.

Discussion Points:

Should the UK government be able to see the websites you have visited in the last year?

What should happen if a major company is hacked and bank details stolen? Should they be fined? Pay customers? Prison?

Should Whatsapp allow authorities to access encrypted messages? What if they know a terrorist is using it to communicate?

Should the UK debate privacy laws before they go into place?

Codes of Conduct

One way that organisations try to stick to ethics is to create a code of conduct - a set of rules or requirements that employees must follow. There are three types of codes - formal, informal and personal.

Formal codes of conduct are a set of written rules that clearly state expected behaviour, such as what employees can access online at work - school will have this too and you might have to sign a document at the start of the year before you can use the computers. If formal codes of conduct are broken then an employee might be fired or a student excluded.

Informal codes of conduct are used by small business where there might not be a written set of rules but newer employees follow the habits and expectations of senior members of staff. This is harder to monitor but provides a more relaxed working environment.

A personal code of conduct differs for each individual - it is what you think is acceptable and ethical in your own eyes. For example, some people will use an image from Google Images without checking for copyright whilst those copyright-aware will only use their own work or images labelled for reuse.

Quest ion Corner

Ethical Issues:

1. Answer the discussion points above for each ethical issue. 

2. Explain how codes of conduct can be used as network guidelines (3)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

10.2 Legislationhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1QUHzTs-cs&list=PLCiOXwirraUAvkTPDWeeSqAKty3LAG37-

&index=31&safe=true

There are many types of legislation - laws that have been written into use - that concern digital technology and the internet. The legislation below largely relates to storing data.

Data Protection Act 1998

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) was put in place by the Government in response to growing concerns about the amount of personal data being stored on and processed by computer systems.

Organisations that store and process personal data are required to register with the Information Commissioner, who is the person responsible for the DPA. Organisations must register information on the type of data they wish to store and why it is being collected.

The eight principles of the Data Protection Act state that data must be:

1. Processed fairly and lawfully.2. Used only for the specified purpose.3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive.4. Accurate and kept up to date.5. Deleted when no longer needed.6. Processed within the rights of the subject.7. Processed against loss, theft and corruption.8. Kept within the EU.

There are some exemptions from this act, such as in preventing crime, census statistics and some educational / mental health data.

Computer Misuse Act 1990

When the use of computer systems became widespread, the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA) was put in place to help combat issues arising from their misuse.

The Computer Misuse Act makes it an offence to:

1. Access data without permission (e.g. looking at someone else's files)2. Access computer systems without permission (e.g. hacking)3. Change data without permission (e.g. writing a virus that deliberately deletes data)

Freedom of Information Act 2000

This act allows people to request public authorities to release information, unless there is an appropriate reason for them not to. Examples include local councils, emergency services and universities. There are two methods to have information released:

1. Some public authorities release information about their activities on a regular basis (such as police crime statistics).2. Members of the public can request information from certain public authorities.

A simple freedom of information request might be the response times of the local ambulance service in the past year. Certain requests will not be accepted, such as ongoing investigations or some royal family engagements.

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000)

This act (often shortened to RIPA) was introduced in response to the increase in both criminal and terrorist activities on the internet, it is used to monitor and access online communication of suspected criminals. Some of the major points of the act are, if criminal activity is suspected then:

Internet service providers (ISPs) must provide access to the suspect's online communication ISPs could install surveillance equipment Access must be granted to personal information Allows mass surveillance of communication Prevents the method of surveillance being revealed in court (!)

This act became controversial as its use widened and local councils were using it for minor offences - a Scottish council used the act to monitor dog barking and Allerdale borough council in Cumbria gathered video evidence about who was feeding pigeons. The act has since been changed to only allow surveillance of people suspected of performing a crime.

Copyright, Designs & Patents Act (1988)

This act makes it a criminal offence to copy work that is not your own without the permission of the creator or the copyright holder. This can refer to text, images, music, videos or software. Owning the copyright of an image might not prevent others from copying and using it but this act means that the owner can bring legal proceedings in court to those who have stolen their work. However it is difficult to trace who has stolen work once it has been uploaded to the internet and copies can easily spread, especially television shows and movies.

Quest ion Corner

Legislation: 

A software company has employed several new members of staff. As part of their initial training, the company wants to make sure that they are aware of current legislation relevant to computing.

You have been asked to inform the new employees about their responsibilities under:

The Data Protection Act The Computer Misuse Act The Copyright, Design & Patents Act

Write a clear set of guidelines for the new employees.

Quality of written communication will be assessed in this question [12]

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

10.3 Environmental Issueshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5_urd3UbWA&list=PLCiOXwirraUAvkTPDWeeSqAKty3LAG37-

&index=33&safe=true

In the past 30 years the number of technological devices have increased astronomically. With the rise of personal computers in the 1990's, laptops at the turn of the century, smartphones from the late 00's and tablets since the 10's, there are more and more devices in the world every minute. These devices need to be manufactured using a range of materials, including some rarer elements and need a considerable amount of electrical power to run. Building these technologies and discarding them afterwards affects the environment in the form of pollution - including water and air pollution.

Landfill

Thousands of old computer devices are thrown away each day, many ending up in landfills where hazardous elements leak out and cause harmful pollution. Many parts of a computer are non-biodegradable and can leak into the environment, damaging nearby animals, vegetation and rivers. Some countries have banned computers from ending up at up landfills and have asked for them to be recycled or disposed of at specific electronics centres.

Increased Population

With the global population rising by millions every week there are more and more people in the world. Coinciding with this population rise is the increase of technological advancement. More people using more devices has resulted in environmental pollution and the depletion of rare minerals required for these devices. However technology has allowed scientists to process data more efficiently and in larger quantities, with improved health research comes the fact that people are living longer, this in turn means the population continues to rise and rise.

Positive Environmental Impacts

Communication advancements (such as video messengers) reduces pollution as people do not have to travel to speak to each other. This is especially beneficial in business - workers can talk from the office and do not need to catch a plane to speak.

Smart devices can monitor usage and reduce energy waste - such as smart air conditioners and home security systems.

Collaboration software (such as cloud-based technology and Google Docs) allows experts to work together and share data.

The internet and research databases allows scientists to study the environment more efficiently.

Documents can be viewed on a screen rather than printed out - magazines, comics, books and newspapers are more commonly viewed on a device these days.

New materials and more environmentally-friendly processes have been developed thanks to increased technology and research.

Quest ion Corner

Environment:

1. Explain how the rise of technology is having a negative effect on the environment (4)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Suggest some tips for lowering the impact of technology on the environment (4)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Explain some of the positive consequences of improved technology on the environment (4)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………