Unit 8 Impacts of digital technology Flashcards
Examples of mobile technologies
- Mobile phones
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Laptops
Benefits of mobile technologies
- Mobile phones are very useful in an emergency
- Laptops allow people to work whilst travelling
Dangers of mobile technologies - internet addiction
- Many users of social networks have symptoms similar to an addiction, these are available all the time via mobile devices
- Software is often designed with features that make people want to use it more
Dangers of mobile technologies - social or anti-social
- People will often spend a large amount of time communicating with friends on their phone but not in real person
- This can lead to social difficulties as people have less opportunity to read subtle facial expressions
- Phones may also be used to track people
Advantages of autonomous vehicles
- Reduces costs for commercial vehicles as no need for a driver
- Potentially safer as computers can react faster and learn from previous accidents worldwide
- No need to own a car as cars can move themselves to different people, reduces the total numbers of cars
Disadvantages of autonomous vehicles
- Ethical questions, if an accident occurs whose fault is it, the programmer, the car manufacturer, no one?
- What will the drivers do if they lose their jobs, especially if it was a job they enjoyed?
Examples of wearable technology
- Watches
- Exoskeletons
- Virtual reality headsets
Advantages of wearable technology
- Wearable technology can offer continuous, long-term monitoring
- This can lead to improvements in the way that disease like epilepsy, asthma and diabetes are managed
- Exoskeletons allow people to work more safely or have additional strength
- Electronics can be added to shoes to automatically fasten them
Advantages of computer based implants
Computer based implants are used in health:
- pacemakers control irregular heart rhythms
- cochlear implants restore hearing for deaf people by taking electric signals straight to the hearing nerve
- brain implants are a new development that can be linked to exoskeletons allowing quadriplegics to walk
Advantages of cloud storage
- Larger quantity of storage available
- Data/files can be easily shared with others
- Reduced need/cost for secondary storage on each device
Disadvantages of cloud storage
- Security risks, must be able to trust the cloud provider
- Reliable/fast Internet connection required
- Data privacy issues
- Lots of energy/natural resources required to run data centres
What are impacts of e-waste on the environment?
- Very harmful to humans and the environment if not processed correctly
- Lithium batteries can catch fire and may be hard to recover
- If components cost too much to recover they go to landfill
- Mining materials damages the environment
What are some ways to reduce the impact of e-waste?
- Make devices that can be fixed with modular components
- Use removable batteries
- Use modern recycling facilities
What are the rights given by the Data Protection Act 2018?
- The right to view data stored about you by organisations for free
- You must consent to having marketing sent to you
- The right to withdraw consent, mailing lists have an unsubscribe link
- The right to make changes to your data if it is inaccurate
- The right to be forgotten, allows you to delete your personal data
What are some of the penalties from the Data Protection Act?
- Issuing warnings to the organisation
- Order the organisation to comply
- For serious breaches, fines are up to: 4% of company turnover, £20 million
List some of the ways that companies can collect data
- Paper registration forms
- 3rd parties, other companies can sell our share the data
- Cookies track users as they browse websites
- CCTV
- Viewing habits with streaming services
- User sign-up details
What are the rules for organisations collecting personal data?
- Only collect the data for a specific purpose
- Make sure the data is accurate
- Data that is not necessary for the specific purpose may not be collected
What are the six reasons for lawful processing?
- Consent
- Legal obligation
- Public task
- Contract
- Vital interests
- Legitimate interests
Lawful processing reasons - consent
- A person has agreed to their data being used
- For example, a tick box to consent to receive a newsletter
Lawful processing reasons - contract
- Processing is needed for a contract
- For example, a contract for buying a house
Lawful processing reasons - legal obligation
- Processing the data is needed to meet the law
- For example, keeping tax records
Lawful processing reasons - vital interests
- Processing is needed to protect someone’s life
- For example, a teacher gives a collapsed student’s name to a paramedic
Lawful processing reasons - public task
- For performing an official task
- For example, a criminal court
Lawful processing reasons - legitimate interests
- There is a clear benefit to the user or company
- For example, processing customer data
How can data be protected from unauthorised access?
- Using passwords for any systems with access to the data
- Encrypting the data
- Only allowing access to those users that need it
- CCTV
- Security guards
- Two-factor authentication
What are the offences created by the Computer Misuse Act 1990?
- Unauthorised access to computer material
- Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime
- Unauthorised modification of software or data
- Making, supplying or obtaining anything which can be used in computer misuse offences
What penalty does breaking the Computer Misuse Act carry?
Up to 10 years in prison and a fine
What does unauthorised access mean?
Where a person gains access to a computer system without permission
Examples of unauthorised modification
- Deleting another user’s files
- Changing the content of documents
- Altering the content of web pages
- Rewriting computer programs to remove activation keys
What are the legal impacts of autonomous vehicles?
- Liability, there is a grey area about who is at fault, the manufacturer or the driver, in case of an accident
- Data protection, car manufacturers must keep driving data secure in a accordance with data protection laws
- Security, autonomous vehicles could be vulnerable to being hacked and hijacked for criminal purposes
What are the ethical impacts of autonomous vehicles?
- Job opportunities, fewer roles needed for some professions such as taxi drivers but other opportunities could be created
- Data collection, autonomous vehicles may collect private data about their passengers such as locations visited, passengers may want to keep their journeys private
