Topic 7 - Ethical, legal and environmental impacts of digital technology on wider society, including issues of privacy

You should be able to:

Explain the current ethical, legal and environmental impacts and risks of digital technology on society. Where data privacy issues arise these should be considered.

REVISE:

To keep up to date with the current ethical, legal and environmental impacts and risks of digital technology it is a good idea to keep an eye on the TED Talk technology strand. Here is a selection that I recommend:

Big data needs big privacy

You don’t have to give up privacy to maximize the value and use of data, says Ted Myerson. Privacy laws greatly restrict the sharing of medical data, which prevents researchers around the world from collaborating to find cures for diseases. However, there is a way to change how the data is shared that maintains privacy, so that researchers can look beyond their own labs and breakthroughs can happen.

Hackers: the Internet's immune systemThe beauty of hackers, says cybersecurity expert Keren Elazari, is that they force us to evolve and improve. Yes, some hackers are bad guys, but many are working to fight government corruption and advocate for our rights. By exposing vulnerabilities, they push the Internet to become stronger and healthier, wielding their power to create a better world.

What would happen if we upload our brains to computers?Meet the "ems" -- machines that emulate human brains and can think, feel and work just like the brains they're copied from. Futurist and social scientist Robin Hanson describes a possible future when ems take over the global economy, running on superfast computers and copying themselves to multitask, leaving humans with only one choice: to retire, forever. Glimpse a strange future as Hanson describes what could happen if robots ruled the earth.

The rise of personal robotsCynthia Breazeal wonders: Why can we use robots on Mars, but not in our living rooms? The key, she says, is in training robots to interact with people. Now she dreams up and builds robots that teach, learn -- and play. Watch for amazing demo footage of a new interactive game for kids.

What moral decisions should driverless cars make?Should your driverless car kill you if it means saving five pedestrians? In this primer on the social dilemmas of driverless cars, Iyad Rahwan explores how the technology will challenge our morality and explains his work collecting data from real people on the ethical trade-offs we're willing (and not willing) to make.

How social media makes us unsocial

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Social Media historian Allison Graham offers a witty and ironic view of a society that feels alone together despite the hundreds of virtual connections we have online. With a global population growing up via Facebook and Twitter and a perceptible shift in human interpersonal connections, the constant need for social self-validation permeates our daily existence. This talk shares the funny and revealing insights of a life lived online and how social media is used to connect and disconnect us.

TEST:

Download and print the test paper here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5fLtQ0Xgr2PUFdTUDU2Q2VhZUE
Try the mock test yourself.
Use the 3.7 Walking Talking Mock below to guide you through answering the questions.

SOURCE RECOGNITION - PLEASE NOTE: The examination examples used in these walking talking mocks are samples from AQA from their non-confidential section of the public site. They also contain questions designed by TeachIT for AQA as part of the publicly available lesson materials.