F1 - Moral and Ethical issues

Question 1

What are the 12 different moral and ethical factors of the use of IT systems

Answer 1

• environmental
• unequal access
• online behaviour
• globalisation
• freedom of speech
• acceptable use
• health and safety
• copyright’
• computer misuse
• protection of data
• privacy
• accessibility

Question 2

What are the factors in terms of environmental factors?

Answer 2

• old tech end in landfill (Technotrash)
• recycling
• producing tech requires lots of resources (metals, chemicals)
• more power to run tech means that more fossil fuels are used, which leads to global warming

Question 3

What are the factors in terms of unequal access?

Answer 3

• poorer people are disadvantaged (no access to internet so no access to revision sites, VLE

Question 4

What are the factors in terms of online behaviour?

Answer 4

• sending abusive messages - cyberbullying = suicide, lose jobs etc.
  Netiquette - acceptable behaviour online :
• don’t send abuse
• spam messages
• share copyright material
• posts are public and can impact you/fam/friends

Question 5

What are the factors in terms of globalisation?

Answer 5

• individuals, organisations and governments across the world are becoming more interconnected
• more jobs are being outsourced to other countries, taking employment away (IT - more communication)

Question 6

What are the factors in terms of freedom of speech?

Answer 6

• social media - share opinions on any biopic
• can be offensive (most follow website guidelines, racist opinions - blocked from site)
• some content may be deleted and groups/pages with offensive topics removed
• some feel its a violation of their freedom of speech

Question 7

What are the factors in terms of acceptable use?

Answer 7

• employees distracted by computer on social network = less productivity
• businesses have acceptable use policy: activities that cannot perform with the computer and websites they can visit , not sending abusive messages, legal issues (shouting copyright material) = warnings/suspension/termination

Question 8

What are the factors in terms of health and safety?

Answer 8

• organisation has legal and ethical responsibility to ensure its employees are not harmed through the use of IT systems
  RSI - over typing with keyboard - prevention: wrist rests, adjustable chair, regular breaks.
  Eye Strain - staring at the monitor in dim/ very bright light - prevention: regular breaks, good lighting and high quality monitors
  Tripping - loose cabling in room - prevention: the loose cables back, cable through walls

Question 9

What are the factors in terms of copyright?

Answer 9

• illegal downloads (images, videos)
• moral and ethical issue - costing an individual/ business money by using their material for free (can’t afford to run)

Question 10

What are the factors in terms of computer misuse?

Answer 10

• ethically wrong - purposely spread virus onto CP system/ hacking and never use someone’s IT system without clear permission.
• bank details leaked = money lost - business could lose

Question 11

What are the factors in terms of protection of data?

Answer 11

• = bank theft/identity fraud
• ethical responsibility to handle others data ethically - not easily accessible (don’t transfer over unsecured network)
• don’t leave computer unlocked
  don’t share everything online

Question 12

What are the factors in terms of privacy?

Answer 12

• ethical responsibility
• share data online - when we tag people’s location in photos - do they want to be tagged? is it ok to share someone’s number?
• not keeping data safe = cyberbullying, catfishing, identity fraud, bank fraud

Question 13

What are the factors in terms of accessibility?

Answer 13

• IT systems should be accessible to all users
• organisations should ensure employees can perform their job and customers can access service without discrimination
• adaptive hardware , software, website developed to work accessibility tech.
• otherwise = stress and anxiety
• Legal issue - business isn’t doing enough to support employees