Chapter 2 Social Impacts
Digital footprint
Whenever we surf the Internet using smartphones, tablets, computers, etc., we
leave a trail of data reflecting the activities performed by us online, which is our
digital footprint.
Our digital footprint can be created and used with or without our knowledge. It
includes websites we visit, emails we send, and any information we submit online,
etc., along with the computer’s IP address, location, and other device specific
details. Such data could be used for targeted advertisement or could also be
misused. Thus, it is good to be aware of the data trail we might be leaving behind.
This awareness should make us cautious about what we write, upload or download
or even browse online.
There are two kinds of digital footprints we leave behind-
(a)Active digital footprints which includes data that we intentionally submit
online. This would include emails we write, or responses or posts we make on
different websites or mobile Apps, etc.
(b) Passive digital footprints- The digital data trail we leave online
unintentionally is called passive digital footprints. This includes the data generated
when we visit a website, use a mobile App, browse Internet, etc.,
Everyone who is connected to the Internet may have a digital footprint. With more
usage, the trail grows. On examining the browser settings, we can find out how it
stores our browsing history, cookies, passwords, auto fills, and many other types of
data. Besides browser, most of our digital footprints are stored in servers where the
applications are hosted. We may not have access to remove or erase that data,
neither do we have any control on how that data will be used. Therefore, once a
data trail is generated, even if we later try to erase data about our online activities,
the digital footprints still remain. There is no guarantee that digital footprints will
be fully eliminated from the Internet. Therefore, we need to be more cautious while
being online! All our online activities leave a data trace on the Internet as well as
on the computing device that we use. This can be used to trace the user, his/her
location, device and other usage details.
Net Etiquettes
We follow certain etiquettes during our social interactions. Similarly, we need to
exhibit proper manners and etiquettes while being online .One should be ethical,
respectful and responsible while surfing the Internet.
(A) Be Ethical
• No copyright violation: we should not use copyrighted materials without
the permission of the owner. As an ethical digital citizen, we need to be
careful while streaming audio or video or downloading images and files
from the Internet.
• Share the expertise: it is good to share information and knowledge on
Internet so that others can access it. However, prior to sharing information,
we need to be sure that we have sufficient knowledge on that topic. The
information shared should be true and unambiguous. Also, in order to avoid
Redundant information, we should verify that the information is not
available already on Internet.
(B) Be Respectful
• Respect privacy: as good digital citizens we have the right to privacy and
the freedom of personal expression. At the same time, we have to understand
that other digital citizens also have the same rights and freedoms. Our
personal communication with a digital citizen may include images,
documents, files, etc., that are private to both. We should respect this privacy
and should not share those images, documents, files, etc., with any other
digital citizen without each other’s consent.
• Respect diversity: in a group or public forum, we should respect the
diversity of the people in terms of knowledge, experience, culture and other
aspects.
(C) Be Responsible
• Avoid cyber bullying: any insulting, degrading or intimidating online
behaviour like repeated posting of rumours, giving threats online, posting
the victim’s personal information, sexual harassment or comments aimed to
publicly insult a victim is termed as cyber bullying. It implies repeatedly
targeting someone with intentions to hurt or embarrass. We need to realise
that bullying online can have very serious implications on the other person
and our actions can be traced back using our digital footprints.
• Don’t feed the troll: an Internet troll is a person who deliberately sows
discord on the Internet by starting quarrels or upsetting people, by posting
inflammatory or off topic messages in an online community, just for
amusement. Since trolls thrive on attention, the best way to discourage trolls
is not to pay any attention to their comments.
Communication Etiquettes
Digital communication includes email, texting, instant messaging, talking on the
cell phone, audio or video conferencing, posting on forums, social networking
sites, etc. All these are great ways to connect with people in order to exchange
ideas, share data and knowledge. Good communication over email, chat room and
other such forums require a digital citizen to abide by the communication
.
(A) Be Precise
• Respect time: we should not waste precious time in responding to
unnecessary emails or comments unless they have some relevance for us.
• Respect data limits: For concerns related to data and bandwidth, very
large attachments may be avoided. Rather send compressed files or link of
the files through cloud shared storage like Google Drive, Microsoft
OneDrive, Yahoo Dropbox, etc.
(B) Be Polite
Whether the communication is synchronous (happening in real time like
chat, audio/video calls) or asynchronous (like email, forum post or
comments), we should be polite and non-aggressive in our communication.
We should avoid being abusive even if we don’t agree with others’ point of
view.
(C) Be Credible
We should be cautious while making a comment, replying or writing an
email or forum post as such acts decide our credibility over a period of time
Social Media Etiquettes
Social media are websites or applications that enable their users to participate in
social networking by creating and sharing content with others in the community.
These platforms encourage users to share their thoughts and experiences through
posts or pictures. In this way users can interact with other online users of those
social media apps or channels.
(A) Be Secure
• Choose password wisely: it is vital for social network users. The
minimum one can do is to have strong and frequently changed password.
Never share personal credentials like username and password with others.
• Know who you befriend: social networks usually encourage connecting
with users (making friends), sometime even those whom we don’t know or
have not met. However, we need to be careful while befriending unknown
people as their intentions possibly could be malicious and unsafe.
• Beware of fake information: fake news, messages and posts are common
in social networks. As a user, we should be aware of them.
(B) Be Reliable
• Think before uploading: we can upload almost anything on social
network. However, remember that once uploaded, it is always there in the
remote server even if we delete the files. Hence we need to be cautious while
uploading or sending sensitive or confidential files which have a bearing on
our privacy.
Data Protection
In this digital age, data or information protection is mainly about the privacy
of data stored digitally. Elements of data that can cause substantial harm,
embarrassment, inconvenience and unfairness to an individual, if breached or
compromised, is called sensitive data. Examples of sensitive data include biometric
information, health information, financial information, or other personal
documents, images or audios or videos. Privacy of sensitive data can be
implemented by encryption, authentication, and other secure methods to ensure
that such data is accessible only to the authorised user and is for a legitimate
purpose.
Intellectual Property Right (IPR)
If someone comes out with a new idea, this original idea is that person’s
intellectual property. Intellectual Property refers to the inventions, literary and
artistic expressions, designs and symbols, names and logos. The ownership of such
concepts lies with the creator, or the holder of the intellectual property. This
enables the creator or copyright owner to earn recognition or financial benefit by
using their creation or invention. Intellectual Property is legally protected through
copyrights, patents, trademarks,etc.
(A) Copyright
Copyright grants legal rights to creators for their original works like writing,
photograph, audio recordings, video, sculptures, architectural works, computer
software, and other creative works like literary and artistic work. Copyrights are
automatically granted to creators and authors. Copyright law gives the copyright
holder a set of rights that they alone can avail legally. The rights include right to
copy (reproduce) a work, right to create derivative works based upon it, right to
distribute copies of the work to the public, and right to publicly display or perform
the work. It prevents others from copying, using or selling the work. To use other’s
copyrighted material, one needs to obtain a license from them.
(B) Patent
A patent is usually granted for inventions. Unlike copyright, the inventor needs to
apply (file) for patenting the invention. When a patent is granted, the owner gets an
exclusive right to prevent others from using, selling, or distributing the protected
invention. Patent gives full control to the patentee to decide whether or how the
invention can be used by others. Thus it encourages inventors to share their
scientific or technological findings with others. A patent protects an invention for
20 years, after which it can be freely used
(C) Trademark
Trademark includes any visual symbol, word, name, design, slogan, label, etc., that
distinguishes the brand or commercial enterprise, from other. For example, no
company other than Nike can use the Nike brand to sell shoes or clothes.
Violation of IPR
Violation of intellectual property right may happen in one of the following
ways:
(A) Plagiarism
Presenting someone else’s idea or work as one’s own idea or work is called
plagiarism. If we copy some contents from Internet, but do not mention the source
or the original creator, then it is considered as an act of plagiarism. Further, if
someone derives an idea or a product from an already existing idea or product, but
instead presents it a new idea, then also it is plagiarism. It is a serious ethical
offense and sometimes considered as an act of fraud. Even if we take contents that
are open for public use, we should cite the author or source to avoid plagiarism.
(B) Copyright Infringement
Copyright infringement is when we use other person’s work without obtaining
their permission to use or we have not paid for it, if it is being sold. Suppose we
download an image from the Internet and use it in our project. But if the owner of
the copyright of the image does not permit its free usage, then using such an image
even after giving reference of the image in our project is a violation of copyright.
Just because it is on the Internet, does not mean that it is free for use. Hence, check
the copyright status of writer’s work before using it to avoid plagiarism.
(C) Trademark Infringement
Trademark Infringement means unauthorised use of other’s trademark on products
and services. An owner of a trademark may commence legal proceedings against
someone who infringes its registered trademark.
CYBER LAW
The law that governs the cyber space is known as cyber law. It is the law which
deals with various computer-related activities. cyber law is an attempt to apply
laws designed for the physical world to human activity on the internet. In India, the
IT Act, 2000, as amended by the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008, is known as the
cyber law. It has a separate Chapter XI entitled “Offences” in which various cyber
crimes have been declared as penal offences punishable with imprisonment and
fine. A large number of cyber-criminal activities such as hacking passwords or
accessing files by an unauthorized person or getting private information, etc., have
been prevented by implementing cyber laws. As the usage of internet has been
growing at an exponential rate, it has become very important to protect individual
users and organizations from unauthorized intruders into the system.
CYBER CRIMES
When any crime is committed over the internet, it is referred to as cyber crime.
There are many types of cyber crimes:
1. Hacking: Gaining knowledge about someone’s private and sensitive
information by getting access to their computer system illegally is known as
hacking. This is different from ethical hacking, which many organizations use to
check their internet security protection. In hacking, a criminal uses a variety of
software so as to enter a person’s computer and that person may not be aware of
his computer being accessed from a remote location.
2. Theft: Theft occurs when a person downloads music, movies, games and
software by
violating copyright. There are even peer-sharing websites which encourage
software piracy .
3. Cyber Stalking: Is a kind of online harassment where the victim gets unwanted
abusive online messages and emails.
4. Identity Theft: This has become a major problem with people using the
internet for cash transactions and banking services. In this cyber crime, a criminal
accesses data about a person’s bank account, credit card, social security card, debit
card and other sensitive information to gain money or to buy things online in the
victim’s name that can result in major financial loss for the victim and even spoil
the victim’s credit history.
5. Malicious Software: These are internet-based software or programs known as
pirated software that are used to disrupt proper functioning of the network. The
software is used to steal sensitive information or data that can cause damage to
existing software in a computer system.
6. Child Pornography: In this cyber crime, defaulters create, distribute or access
materials that sexually exploit underage children.
7. Electronic Funds Transfer Fraud: A cyber crime occurs when there is a
transfer of
funds which may be intercepted and diverted. Valid credit card numbers can be
hacked
electronically and then misused by a fraudulent person or organization.
8. Defamation: It involves a cyber crime with the intent of lowering the dignity of
someone by hacking into their email account and sending mails using vulgar
language to an unknown person’s account.
9. Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks: A DoS attack is an attack by which legitimate
users of a computer are denied access or use of the resources of that computer.
DoS attacks do not allow the attacker to modify or access information on the
computer. A DoS attack can be of the following types:
• Denial of Access to Information: Refers to an attack in which information
sought by a legitimate user is either destroyed or changed to some unsubtle
form.
• Denial of Access to Applications: Refers to an attack that denies a user
from accessing an application by making it either unusable or unavailable.
This is usually done to prevent the user (or organization) from using
applications to perform any task.
• Denial of Access to Systems: Refers to the unavailability of the system,
including all the applications installed on the system or any data stored on
the system.
• Denial of Access to Communications: Refers to a common type of attack
that can
range from cutting wires and jamming radio communications to flooding
networks with
excessive traffic. An example of this type of attack is flooding a computer
with junk mail.
Open Source Software- OSS
Refers to open source software, which refers to software whose source code is available to
customers and it can be modified and redistributed without any limitation. An OSS may come
free of cost or with a payment of nominal charges that its developers may charge in the name of
development, support of software.
Free software
Free Software means the software is freely accessible and can be freely used, changed,
improved, copied and distributed by all who wish to do so. And no payments are needed to be
made for free software.
FOSS (Free and Open Source Software).
A software which is free as well as open belongs to category FOSS (Free and Open Source
Software).
FLOSS-( Free Libre and Open Source Software)
Refers to Free Libre and Open Source Software or to Free Livre and Open Source Software. The
term FLOSS is used to refer to a software which is both free software as well as open source
software. Here the words libre (a Spanish word) and livre (a Portuguese word) mean freedom.
GNU-
Refers to GNU’s Not Unix. GNU Project emphasizes on freedom. The GNU project was
initiated by Richard M. Stallman with an objective to create an operating system. With time,
GNU project expanded and now it is not limited to only an operating system. Now, it offers a
wide range of software, including applications apart from operating system.
FSF - Free Software Foundation.
FSF is a non-profit organization created for the purpose of supporting free software movement.
Richard Stallman founded FSF in 1985 to support GNU project and GNU licences. Now a days,
it also works on legal and structural issues for the free software community
OSI - Open Source Initiative.
It is an organization dedicated to cause of promoting open source software. OSI specifies the
criteria for open source software and defines the terms and specifications of open source
software.
Open source doesn’t just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open source
software must comply with the Open Source Definition by OSI.
Freeware
used for software, which is available free of cost and which allows copying and further
distribution, but not modification and whose source code is not available. Freeware should not be
mistaken for open software or for free software. Freeware is distributed in binary form (ready to
run) without any licensing fee. Internet Explorer, which is made available as freeware.
W3C- World Wide Web Consortium.
W3C is responsible for producing the software standards for world wide web. The W3C was
created in October 1994, to lead the world wide web to its full potential by developing
common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.
Proprietary software-
is the software that is neither open nor freely available. Its use is regulated and further
distribution and modification is either forbidden or requires special permission by the supplier
or vendor. Source code of proprietary software is normally not available.
Shareware –
is software, which is made available with the right to redistribute copies, but it is stipulated that
if one intends to use the software, often after a certain period of time, then a license fee should be
paid.
Shareware is not the same thing as free and open source software (FOSS) for two main reasons :
(i) the source code is not available and, (ii) modifications to the software are not allowed.
The objective of shareware is to make the software available to try for as many users as possible.
This is done in order to increase prospective users’ will to pay for the software. The software is
distributed in binary form and often includes a built-in timed mechanism, which usually limits
functionality after a trial period of usually one to three months.
E-Waste Management
Electronic waste, e-Waste, e-Scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(WEEE) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. “Electronic waste” may also be
defined as discarded computers, office electronic equipment, entertainment device electronics,
mobile phones, television sets and refrigerators. This includes used electronics which are
destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal
Electronic waste has the characteristics of :
(a) the fastest growing segment of waste
(b) most valuable due to its basic composition
(c) very hazardous if not handled carefully
E-Waste Disposal Process
E-Waste is categorized by the government of India under the broad class of hazardous waste. It
contains metallic and non metallic elements, alloys and compounds such as Copper, Aluminum,
Gold, Silver, Palladium, Platinum, Nickel, Tin, Lead, Iron, Sulphur, Phosphorous, Arsenic etc.
The E-waste management involves proper recycling and recovery of the disposed material. The
recycle and recovery includes the following unit operations.
[Link].-
Removal of parts containing dangerous substances (CFCs, Hg switches, PCB); removal
of easily accessible parts containing valuable substances (cable containing copper, steel,
iron, precious, metal containing parts).
2. Segregation of ferrous metal, non-ferrous metal and plastic-
This separation is normally done in a shredder process.
3. Refurbishment and reuse.-
Refurbishment and reuse of e-waste has potential for those used electrical and electronic
equipments which can be easily refurbished to put to its original use.
4. Recycling/recovery of valuable materials--
Ferrous metals in electrical are furnaces, non-ferrous metals in smelting plants, precious
metals in separating works.
5. Treatment/disposal of dangerous materials and waste-
Shredder light fraction is disposed off in landfill sites or sometimes incinerated
(expensive), chlorofluoro-carbons (CFCs) are treated thermally, Printed Circuit
Board(PCB) is incinerated or disposed off in underground storages, Mercury(Hg) is often
recycled or disposed off in underground landfill sites.
Benefits of e-Waste Recycling-
The e-Waste disposal and proper recycling is very much necessary and important for the benefit
of people , environment and the nation. The key benefits are
1. Allows for recovery of valuable precious metals-
Most consumer electronics contain valuable materials like copper, gold and zinc that can
and should be recycled
2. Protects public health and water quality.
E-waste contains a variety of toxic substances, which may include lead, mercury and
cadmium. When e-waste is disposed into landfills, these toxins can be released into the
atmosphere or leak in through the land and have negative health and environmental
effects.
3. Creates Jobs.
Recycling e-waste domestically creates jobs for professional recyclers and refurbishers
and creates new markets for the valuable components that are dismantled.
4. Toxic Waste.
Mining produces toxic waste, which are linked with crop devastation and human health
crisis due to water contamination.
5. Saves landfill space.
E-waste is a growing waste stream. Recycling these items will help conserve landfill
space.
Health concerns with technology usage
1. Impact on hearing
2. Impact on bones and joins
3. Eye problems
4. Sleep issues
5. Mental health issue
*****
