Topic 8 - Ethical, legal and environmental impacts of digital technology on wider society, including issues of privacy

Environmental impacts

Lifecycle of a smartphone

  1. mining for raw materials

  2. manufacture

  3. purchase and use

  4. recycling center

  5. reprocessing plant

Renewable vs Non-renewable

  • Plastic - Non-Renewable

  • Steel - Non-Renewable

  • Gold - Non-Renewable

  • Copper - Non-Renewable

  • Aluminum - Non-Renewable

  • Fiberglass - Non-Renewable

  • Diesel - Non-Renewable

  • Water - Renewable

E-waste

  • every year large quantities produced

  • some of the electronics thrown away still work or just need minor repair

  • each phone contains precious metals such as gold

  • working conditions for people who recycle e-waste is extremely dangerous due to lithium ion batteries being easily flammable - causing fires and a safety hazard

  • 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

  • Ways to reduce the impact:

    • Make devices that can be fixed with modular components

    • Use removable batteries

    • Use modern recycling facilities

Cloud storage

  • Advantages

    • Larger quantity of storage available

    • Data / files can easily be shared with others

    • Reduced need/cost for secondary storage on each device

  • Disadvantages

    • 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 centers

Legislation & Privacy

Data Protection

  • Is about looking after the personal data of people

  • The Data Protection Act

    • GDPR incorporated into this act

      • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Data Collection

  • Organizations that collect personal data have to

    • only collect the data for a specific purpose

    • make sure that the data is accurate

    • data that isn’t necessary for the specific purpose cannot be collected

  • Data can come from user sign-up details

  • 3rd parties - other companies can sell or share the data

  • cookies track users as they browse websites

  • paper registration forms

  • CCTV

  • viewing habits with streaming services

Data Processing

  • Reasons for lawful processing

    • Consent - a person gas agreed to their data being used

    • Legal obligation - Processing the data is needed to meet the law

    • Public task -

    • Contract - processing is needed for a contract e/g a contract for buying a house

    • Vital interests

    • Legitimate interests

Data Storage

  • Data must be stored so that

    • The data is kept accurate

Methods of securing data

  • Personal

Rights

  • The Data Protection Act

    • right to view data stored about you by organizations for free - used to cost £10

    • must consent to having marketing sent to you - must be opt-in

    • right to withdraw consent - mailing lists have an unsubscribe link

    • right to make changes to your data if it is inaccurate

    • the right to be forgotten - allows you to delete your personal data

Penalties

  • Penalties from the Data Protection Act

    • issuing warnings to the organisation

  •     order the organisation to comply

  • for serious breaches

    • 4% of company turnover fines

    • Or fine of £17 million whichever is greater

Privacy

  • every time you log onto a website, data about the visit may be collected and stored

  • every time you use your phone to make a call, data about the number called. time and date called, and the duration of the call is collected and stored

  • online services such as search engines and social media are free

  • these services are paid for by targeted advertising

Cookies

  • are sent to a user’s computer from websites

  • allows websites to

    • store data such as the contents of your shopping basket

    • remember that you are logged into a website

    • remember who you are

    • track you

Computer Misuse Act

  • 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

Unauthorised access

  •   where are person gains access to a computer system without permission

    • could be a hacker who gains permission to a system they shouldn’t be using

    • it may also be an employee who has permission

Unauthorised modification

  • h

Copyright and Patents

  • inventions are covered by patents

    • a patent prevents anyone else using the invention for 20 years

  • copyright protects books, video, music and software

    • typically lasts 70 years after publication or an author’s death

    • lets an author or musician decide how their work should be used

  • copying books, webpages, music, video or software is known as copyright infringement

  • copyright or trademark infringement can result in fines or up to 10 years in prison