Digital Divide

Digital divide can best be described as the fact that the world can be divided into people who do and people who don't have access to ,and the capability to use, modern information technology, such as the telephone, television, or the Internet. The digital divide can exist between those living in rural areas and those living in urban areas, between the educated and uneducated, between economic classes, and on a global scale between more and less industrially developed nations. For example, a 1999 study showed that 86% of Internet delivery was to the 20 largest cities. The digital divide also exists between the educated and the uneducated, between economic classes, and, globally, between the more and less industrially developed nations. According to figures from the International Telecommunications Union, Sweden has a mere 12% of its population offline compared to 56.5% in Greece.

Hungary Case study

Countries such as Hungary are investing heavily in high-speed fibre-optic cables. Hungary has no national e-inclusion policy and there are concerns that the networks will be far more sophisticated than citizens' understanding or use of them. There are some efforts to conquer the problem and a wi-fi village programme is reaching out to those of its population living in rural poverty, 80% of whom are Roma or Gypsies. So far 115 rural villages have been provided with wi-fi, offering internet access to 2,000 families living below the poverty line. The target for this year is to reach 30,000.

Global Divide

As computers become more pervasive in the western world, it can be easy to forget that not every country has equal access to key digital resources and infrastructure. Broadband speed Internet is almost considered a necessity in many developed countries today, and yet many people in parts of the developing world do not have any ability to go online at all. This difference in ability of accessing digital and information technology is commonly referred to as the digital divide as countries that are well connected reap enormous benefits while leaving other parts of the world trailing behind. Developed nations who have the economic ability to invest into digital infrastructures are reaping rewards due to fast communication speeds and complex networking. The countries that can’t afford to invest are not keeping up and are missing out, leaving the developed world to forge ahead. In terms of internet speed Western Europe, North America, Australasia and a few parts of Asia like South Korea and Japan are those on the right side of the tracks, digitally speaking. While much of South America, Africa and South East Asia are the ones currently struggling.

The global divide is a problem and one which will not be sorted out anytime soon. The main reason is down to lack of money and, developing countries require computers and they need ways of linking them together effectively. This is a problem of resources. People also need to be trained in order to access and be able to use digital information and to understand the default language of the Internet, English; this is a problem of education. Furthermore there is also the problem of urban areas having a lot slower internet speed compared to rural areas. From research I have found out that London enjoys faster broadband than anywhere else in Britain with download speeds nearly double that of those in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Local Divide

In addition it is also clear that there is a problem on a local scale, Richer families can enjoy a more faster and advanced connection speed whereas families that cannot afford to opt for the best high quality connection speeds can only enjoy the basic connection speeds which sometimes can result in poor internet connection which can result in struggling to use the internet.  ICT Is now part of everyday life, and children are taught ICT from a young age, primary school is where ICT begins to be introduced therefore the modern generation ICT is becoming a lot easier to use however, for the older generation there can be an age problem, with the older generation struggling to use the computer software this can result in them blocking out ICT and using technology that is now “out of date” which they have used all their life i.e. the typewriter, 55% of people aged 65-74 have access to the internet 45% do not and only 26% of people aged 75+, leaving a massive 74% without the web. In addition there is also a problem with the fairness of the distribution of ICT. In countries like Africa, only the rich parts of the country are being faced with ICT the poorer parts to the countries have no contact with ICT, therefore there is a clear distribution problem that is reflected by money.  In similar situations another huge problem of the local divide is the comparison between rural areas and urban areas, the differences in connection speeds in rural areas compared to urban areas is indescribable.  Furthermore, the difference between technologies, some say now computers are becoming “unfashionable” and being described as old technology, whereas laptop connecting to the internet is a lot easier, and quicker. In England there is also a problem with the spread of the broadband the government’s new £128 million invention to create quicker broadband speeds in rural area like London has impacted heavily on urban areas like Cornwall w here Internet speeds are highly low, therefore this shows that there is a clear affected spread of broadband within England that has impacted on certain urban areas suffering with poor internet connection.

Bridging the divide

There are a wide range of ideas on a global and local scale to prevent a digital divide from becoming out of hand.  The first bridge that can be taken to prevent Digital divide is sending out old computers that are no longer useful to us to less economically developed countries such as Africa, this will enable their ICT infrastructure to be built and will prevent a digital divide. Furthermore, develop more centres like the outreach centre a place for the elderly to go to learn the basic fundamental skills to use a computer, this will help increase the older generation percentage as they will become more familiar with how to use a computer. In addition they could also make the distribution of IT infrastructure fairer and give urban areas better internet connection speed by distributing out the spread of broadband to areas where the connection speeds are poor, this will result in more people being able to use the internet. The government also needs to promote the use of ICT especially to the older generation, by using practical examples such as emails that are easier and free to send instead of using letters.

Civil Rights

In today’s society the advanced technology has come at a cost. The technology that has been developed has resulted in major issues however on the other hand it could be said that with so much technology being created if these problems do occur they can be stopped or prevented. The main problems that arise nowadays is hacking mainly computer hacking. However firewalls and other software has been designed to prevent hackers invading our pc’s.

The computer misuse act was enforced in 1990, the law states that in the UK that makes illegal certain activities, such as hacking into other people’s systems, misusing software, or helping a person to gain access to protected files of someone else's computer.

The Computer Misuse Act is split into three sections and makes the following acts illegal:

Unauthorized Access to Computer Material

Unauthorized Access to Computer systems with intent to commit another offense

Unauthorized Modification of Computer Material

The first section in the Computer Misuse Act forbids a person to use someone else’s identification to access a computer, run a program or obtain any data, even if no personal gain is involved in such access. The second provision in the Computer Misuse Act is gaining access to a computer system in order to commit or facilitate a crime. Whereas the third provision in the Computer Misuse Act states that Unauthorized Modification in the Computer Misuse Act means you can’t delete, change or corrupt data. Therefore, this shows that nowadays the laws have become a lot stricter with hacking becoming more common the cost for being caught breaking these acts can result in up to 30 years in jail or a heavy fine. I believe that with modern technology it could be hard to find these hackers therefore the law enforced are probably broken regularly however the culprits are not caught.  Taking all these factors into account the computer misuse act is vital to prevent instances like hacking being stopped however more needs to be done to catch these hackers. In addition, software needs to be used to prevent computer systems being hacked.

With Advanced IT some factors have had some affects hacking has increased by 12% in the last 2 years this statement may not seem like a lot however the result is phenomenal. The development of technology has resulted in hacking becoming easier to do. Computer hacking always involves some degree of infringement on the privacy of others or damage to computer-based property such as files, web pages or software. The impact of computer hacking varies from simply being simply invasive and annoying to illegal. I believe that hacking is wrong, my perception of going into my friends email address I view that as okay however even that is considered as hacking and can have severe penalties. However, hacking can be prevented using a number of technologies are available to companies to prevent hacking attacks. The most popular tools are Internet firewalls, anti-virus software, intrusion detection systems, and vulnerability assessment tools. Firewalls are used to set up a virtual wall between the Internet and the company's internal network to repel attackers. Anti-virus software detects and removes computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. Intrusion detection systems watch over critical networks and computers looking for suspicious activities, and can alert administrators in the event of an attack. Therefore this shows that with modern technology hacking can be prevented. Although there is no specific software designed to prevent hacking.

Another law that was designed to protect personal data stored on computers or in an organised paper filing system was the data protection act. There has been a Data Protection Act since 1984. It was introduced largely because of concern at the growth of computerised record keeping. The 1998 Act has been extended to cover all types of records which contain information about individuals.This law was forced in early 1999 and covers how information about living identifiable persons is used. It is much broader in scope than the earlier 1984 act, but does contain some provision for a transitional period for compliance with the new requirements. It works it two basic ways:

·         Setting up rules that people have to follow

·         Having an Information Commissioner to enforce the rules

Although, it does not stop companies storing information about people the data is stored in the company’s database however the rules comply with the companies. The Data Protection Act ensures that personal data relating to individuals is only used according to certain guidelines and that individuals have the right to see data that relates to them. Names held in the database are classified as being 'for research, historical or statistical purposes'. Therefore I believe that the data protection act is a act that needed to be enforced because the general public don’t want personal information being traded between different companies however, I can see why the companies what to collect the information as it can be used in ways to improve their sales and identify a target audience from what customers are using the shop.

Crime in the information age

Computer crime is a regular occurrence nowadays; therefore detection is becoming more important. With the development of technology we are finding more words of preventing crime. 

Fingerprint recognition refers to the method of verifying a match between two human fingerprints. Fingerprints are one of many forms of biometrics used to identify individuals and verify their identity. Finger printing takes an image of a person's fingertips and records its characteristics in addition it has also been used by a small number of banks that have began to use fingerprint readers for authorization at ATMs. Grocery stores are experimenting with a fingerprint scan checkout that automatically recognizes and bills a registered user's credit card or debit account. More recent applications of finger recognition include use of fingerprints for voter registration.  Fingerprint recognition systems are highly accurate, they are also the most economical biometric PC user authentication technique furthermore, and they are also easy to use. Although, for some people it is very intrusive, because it is still related to criminal identification and the system can also make mistakes with the dryness or dirtiness of the finger's skin, as well as with the age. Overall this shows that the positives outweigh the negatives therefore this system is very effective.

Face recognition software is a computer application for automatically identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame from a video source. One of the ways to do this is by comparing selected facial features from the image and a facial database.  It is mainly used for security purposes and can identify individuals based on their unique facial characteristics. Unlike many other identification methods they do not need to make direct contact with an individual in order to verify their identity. This can be advantageous in clean environments, for surveillance or tracking, and in automation systems.
Because the system keeps a reference model of the individual, and captures their image for identification, there may be concerns about how the system is perceived by its users. They may also be more error-prone when identifying individuals, due to the fairly recent development of the technology. In addition, if used for security purposes, it is considerably more expensive and complex than other methods, such as mechanical locks, passwords, or identification cards.

This is a Close-up of the infrared illuminator. The light is invisible to the human eye, but creates a day-like environment for the surveillance cameras.

This is a Swiss European surveillance system that uses facial recognition and vehicle make, model, color and license plate reader.

A huge element of preventing crime is down to Close Circuit Television more commonly known as CCTV, this system has relied heavily on ICT, on average the CCTV cameras are all over the place these days – in shops, on street corners as well as many other places. These cameras help to detect crime, prevent crime and can be used as evidence if needed. They constantly film different places and can be placed in crime hotspots. CCTV is commonly implemented to deter crime. Especially used in the United Kingdom, CCTV cameras can be seen on nearly every corner of London and other major cities. Many cameras are needed for monitoring cities, and the number of cameras used has grown tremendously over the years. The majority of CCTV cameras are used for basic security surveillance, normally to prevent theft. CCTV is useful for the police as it is hard for the police to be everywhere at once. Therefore CCTV is useful as it runs for 24 hours a day. In the UK there are around 2.5 million cameras in London the average citizen is caught on CCTV cameras at a rate of almost 300 times per day.  However although there are a high amount of positives to using these cameras some people believe that there are to many cameras and its becoming uncomfortable although on the other hand It could also be said that the cameras are there and protecting people and making them for more comfortable walking the streets at night.  Therefore this has mixed opinions although the positives outweigh the negatives.

Criminal records are also another huge aspect of crime protection. The impact of IT has impacted society massively; the development of IT has allowed for us to do new things with computers and in terms of crime protection criminal records stored on computer databases is crucial. The PNC database contains around 6.1 million people. The database is split up into 4 categories:

1. Persons convicted of serious offences
2. Persons wanted or sought by the police for various reasons
3. Persons missing (or found)
4. Disqualified drivers

The PNC system holds information and allows it to be shared throughout the country, this means the police can piece together evidence in an efficient way, it is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week so it is impossible for an officer to not be able to find the information they need. The system takes seconds for the information to be transferred. The PNC deals with about 65 million transactions a year, which shows how crucial this piece of IT is and how much it can help. Whereas if we refer to the Criminal records bureau database. This database holds all the information relating to past criminal offenders. This database makes it possible for police or even businesses to check records on any to find any previous convictions. People who work with young children especially teachers have to be checked against this database before they are allowed to complete the job. Therefore, without this database people with past convictions even dangerous people would be able to work with young children this conveys how important IT is in today’s society.

With  the development of IT there has been some problems, cyber bullying has becoming a adverse effect with the development of IT this can be anything from using social networking sites to sending a text message on a phone.  With the majority of today’s society having mobile phones cyber bullying can occur easily. The main factor to why this cyber bullying happens is down to the screen in between the person getting bullied and the bully, the bully doesn’t realise the effect he is having, this bullying can go on for months even years with the victim becoming more tormenting cyber is hard to stop often purely down to the adults e.g. teachers or parents not knowing the bullying is happening.  Cyber bullying can lead terrible consequences even a young person taking their own life therefore this portrays that the development of IT has not had all positive effects on society.