Unit 9 - Legal, moral, ethical and cultural issues

Question 1

what are the four main acts we need to know

Answer 1

• data protection act 1998
• computer misuse act 1990
• copyright design and patents act 1988
• regulation of investigatory powers act 2000

Question 2

what is the data protection act

Answer 2

anyone who stores personal details must keep them secure. it controls the way data about living people is stored and processed

Question 3

what are the 8 principles under the data protection act

Answer 3

1. be fair and lawful
2. relevant and not excessive
3. accurate and up to date
4. only kept as long as needed
5. only used for the stated purpose
6. be kept securely
7. handled in line with peoples’ rights
8. not to be transferred to countries without protection laws

Question 4

what is the computer misuse act

Answer 4

makes it an offence to access or modify computer material without permission

Question 5

what are the three main principles of the computer misuse act

Answer 5

• unauthorised access to computer material
• unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime
• unauthorised modification of computer material
• making, supplying or obtaining anything which can be used in computer misuse offences

Question 6

what is the copyright designs and patents act

Answer 6

this protects creators of books, music, video and software from having their work illegally copied. It applies to all forms of copying.

Question 7

what are not able for protection under the copyright designs and patents act

Answer 7

algorithms

Question 8

what are some ways of protecting
data from being copied

Answer 8

• the user must enter a unique key before the software is installed
• some software will only run if the CD is present in the drive
• some applications will only run if special piece of hardware called a ‘dongle’ is plugged into a USB port on the computer
• tools used to create software may require fees if the software is then sold

Question 9

what is the regulation of investigatory powers

Answer 9

regulates the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covers the interception of communications

Question 10

what are the principles of the regulation of investigatory powers act

Answer 10

• enables certain public bodies to demand that an ISP provide access to a customers communications in secret
• enables mass surveillance of communications in transit
• enables certain public bodies to demand ISPs fit equipment to facilitate surveillance
• enables certain public bodies to demand that someone hand over keys to protected information
• allows certain public bodies to monitor people’s Internet activities
• prevents the existence of interception warrants and any data collected with them from being revealed in court

Question 11

what are issues with using computers in the workforce

Answer 11

computers can complete a task by making decisions based on conditions set by a human. therefore, the conditions may not represent all possible situations meaning people may be unfairly disadvantaged or advantaged

Question 12

pros and cons of automatic systems

Answer 12

operates without a human providing inputs for each operation
pros: time-saving
cons: ethical issues - price, access to electricity = development inequality

Question 13

examples of autonomous machines

Answer 13

AI and machine learning

Question 14

pros and cons of autonomous machines

Answer 14

pros: self sufficient, require no human intervention, learn and adjust to their changing environment
cons: ethical questions, lack of ownership for responsibility (machine or programmer)

Question 15

what is algorithmic bias

Answer 15

the measure of error that shows how far away the actual output is from the predicted output

Question 16

what is prediction bias

Answer 16

the algorithmic bias is significant when the model has not reflected the real-world relationship between the input data and what the model predicts. therefore it is said to have prediction bias

Question 17

what are environmental effects of technology

Answer 17

mainly disposable technology

Question 18

positive opportunities of devices on the environment

Answer 18

• monitoring vegetation, wildlife and pollution
• energy monitoring
• transport

Question 19

manufacturing devices impact on the environment

Answer 19

• planned obsolescence (devices are made to become unfashionable or unsusuable)
• rare materials
• mining
• energy use
• pollution

Question 20

energy consumption effects on the environment

Answer 20

• data centres
• energy waste

Question 21

disposal of devices effect on the environment

Answer 21

• e-waste
• leaching
• run-off from land fills

Question 22

problems with collecting and analysing data

Answer 22

• companies obtain data from literally anything people do online if cookies are not in place
• however some of this data can help transform society

Question 23

problems with monitoring and surveillance

Answer 23

• ‘nothing to hide’ argument
• scale
• encryption

Question 24

problems with hiding to avoid detection

Answer 24

the decentralised nature of the internet and the use of encryption and VPNs has enabled more people to hide their activity in order to avoid detection:
- bypassing censorship by governments
- piracy = peer to peer networks
- offensive communications

Question 25

what is a digital footprint unhelpful

Answer 25

the way data is represented can reveal more than a person originally intended (metadata)
- exploitations by criminals

Question 26

why is it important for systems to be accessible

Answer 26

• accommodates for all people
  for example: visual impairments, motor difficulties, learning disabilities and deafness

Question 27

why is cultural aspects important in web design

Answer 27

different cultures have different expectations it digital content.
for example:
- read left to right in UK
- implication of colours (red dangerous in some cultures but in others means good luck)

Question 28

why is using colour to signify meaning inadvisable

Answer 28

can cause difficulties to users with colour difficulies

Question 29

why are character sets important in web design

Answer 29

accessibility to all languages so all users can express themselves