Chapter 2- Social and Ethical Issues

This is a summary of the key points for the Social and Ethical Issues:
- Information systems and technology have become a vital part of our lives, work and leisure.
- With the development of mobile phones, the Web, email, automatic teller machines, online shopping and electronic entertainment have become a key part of people's social as well as working lives.
- Improvements in safety and reliability due to computer technology have saved lives.
- There are a number of social and ethical issues associated by the use of computer based information systems. The major ones include:
* Privacy and Security: Communication technology allows data to be shared rapidly between a number of other different information systems. Thereby a number of users can access this data. Thereby making it easy for one's private and confidential data to be misused and abused. The importance of "digital data" to not only an individual but businesses and governments is that it has to be protected from accidental as well as deliberate damage.
> Privacy- Keeping personal information confidential.
> Security- Information place on information system is safe.
* Access and Control: If there were no communication systems, like the internet as well as telephones, there would be limited or no information being passed to users. In saying this whoever controls the systems, controls the information, thereby decided who has access to info needed and how much will be payed to view it. In doing this, it can divide a society of those who are info rich and those who are info poor. Likewise for those who have access to a computer and those who don't (digital divide).
> Those in rural areas- are disadvantaged.
> Those who are "technophoebic"
* Employment and the changing nature of work: In the current era, technology is such a large part of our lives including work, that if one lacks information skills they will be "left behind", meaning workers who cannot learn new skills and use the new technology they risk being unemployed. This "trend" will increase as more industries around the world are forced to cut their workforce and "automate" their manufacturing operations in order to compete within the global market. This even goes for those who have "high-tech jobs", they will have to constantly retrain in order to keep not only their skills but most importantly their jobs.
> People feel adequate, threatened when new technology is developed.
Sanea.