Unit 1: Page 37: Moral And Ethical Issues 2

Question 1

Health and Safety

Answer 1

Health and safety issues associated with IT systems include the risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI), eye and back problems.
Employers have a moral responsibility to carry out risk assessments and provide suitable equipment and working conditions for employees.

Question 2

Copyright

Answer 2

Illegally downloading movies, TV shows, music and software has become more prevalent with the growth of IT systems and services such as bit torrents and online streaming. Likewise the availability of images on the internet increases the risk of people infringing copyright in their work.
These practices threaten the livelihood of the people who produce these works, and those who sell and distribute them.

Question 3

Computer misuse

Answer 3

Attacks on computer systems, such as viruses, hacking and denial of service (DoS) attacks cause harm to individuals and businesses.
The effects can include loss of income for businesses, loss of jobs, theft of personal wealth, and the upset resulting from the inability to use our IT systems.

Question 4

Protection of data

Answer 4

Organisations and individuals have an ethical responsibility to protect the data of other people that they are using, storing and transmitting.

Question 5

Privacy

Answer 5

Privacy can be compromised by IT systems. Many of us use social networking sites, blogs, online messaging, email and a wide variety of other services to share large parts of our lives online. The growth of services, such as location aware targeted advertising and software, blurs the lines between our online and offline worlds.
The misuse of this information can have severe negative impacts. Cyberbullying, identity theft and bank theft are examples.

Question 6

Accessibility

Answer 6

New IT systems should be accessible to people regardless of disability.
Inaccessible systems cause upset and stress, and can deny access for people with disabilities to work, services and leisure facilities.