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NSWInformation Processes and TechnologyQuick questions
Core: Communication Systems
Quick questions on Social and ethical issues in communication systems for HSC Information Processes and Technology
2short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are privacy of communications?Show answer
Communication systems create rich records: the content of messages, and metadata such as who contacted whom, when, from where and how often. Both can be monitored, logged and analysed by service providers, employers or attackers. Privacy issues include surveillance of employees' communications, retention of message and location histories, and the use of communication data to profile people. The ethical questions are who may read or retain communications, with what consent, and for what purpose.
What is the digital divide?Show answer
The digital divide is the gap between those with reliable, affordable access to communication systems and the skills to use them, and those without. As services such as banking, government, education and health move online, people on the wrong side of the divide, often rural, elderly, low-income or in developing regions, are excluded from services that increasingly assume everyone is connected. This makes equitable access an ethical issue for system designers and policymakers, not just a matter of personal choice.
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