Informatics Practices Class 12 Notes – Societal Impacts and Data Protection
→ Digital Footprints: A digital footprint is the record or trail left by the things one does online. The social media activity, the information on personal website, the browsing activities, online subscriptions, any photo galleries and videos uploaded by a user – essentially, any activity carried out on the internet makes the digital footprint of a user.
→ Digital footprints are the records and traces individuals’ activities as they use the internet. Digital footprints are permanently stored. 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.
→ Types of Digital Footprints: There are two kinds of digital footprints-Active digital footprints and Passive digital footprints.
→ Active Digital Footprints: 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.
→ 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.
→ Digital Society and Netizen: Digital society reflects the growing trend of using digital technologies in all spheres of human activities. Anyone who uses digital technology along with internet is a digital citizen or a netizen. Being a good netizen means practicing safe, ethical and legal use of digital technology. A responsible netizen must abide by net etiquettes, communication etiquettes and social media etiquettes.
→ Net Etiquettes:The word netiquette, derives from the combination of words -‘net’ (internet) and ‘etiquette’. It refers to online manners while using internet or working online. One should be ethical, respectful and responsible while surfing the internet.
→ Be Ethical:
→ No Copyright Violation: We should not use copyrighted materials without the permission of the creator or owner. As an ethical digital citizen, we need to be careful while streaming audio or video or downioadino 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.
→ 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.
→ 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.
→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 ridicule a victim is termed as cyber bullying.
→ 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.
→ 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.
→ 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, etc.
→ Be Polite: Whether the comm unication 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.
→ 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.
→ Be Secure:
- Choose password wisely: It is vital for social network users. News of breaching or leakage of user data from social network often attracts headlines. Never share personal credentials like username and password with others.
- Know who you befriend: We need to be careful white befriending unknown people as their intentions possibly could be malicious and unsafe.
- Beware of fake information: We should apply our knowledge and experience to validate such news, message or post.
→ Be Reliable:
- Think before uploading: 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.
→ Intellectual Property Right (IPR): These are the rights of the owner of information to decide how much information is to be exchanged, shared or distributed. Also, it gives the owner a right to decide the price for doing so. Intellectual Property is legally protected through copyrights, patents, trademarks, etc.
→ 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.
→ 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.
→ Trademark: Trademark includes any visual symbol, word, name, design, slogan, label, etc., that distinguishes the brand or commercial enterprise, from other brands or commercial enterprises.
→ Licensing: Licensing is the legal term used to describe the terms under which people are allowed to use the copyrighted material.
→ Violation of IPR: Violation of intellectual property right may happen in one of the following ways:
→ Plagiarism: It means using other’s work and not giving adequate citation for use.
→ Copyright Infringement: It means using another person’s work, without permission or without paying for it, if it is being sold.
→ Trademark Infringement: It 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.
→ Public Access and Open Source Software: Open source licenses help others to contribute to existing work or project without seeking special individual permission to do so. The GNU General Public License (GPL) and the Creative Commons (CC) are two popular categories of public licenses.
→ GPL: It is the most widely used free software license which grants the recipients, rights to copy, modify and redistribute the software and that the same rights are preserved in all derivative works.
→ CC Licenses: It is a set of copyright licenses that give the recipients, rights to copy, modify and redistribute the creative material, but giving the authors, the liberty to decide the conditions of licensing.
→ Cybercrime: It is defined as a crime in which computer is the medium of crime (hacking, phishing, spamming), or the computer is used as a tool to commit crimes (extortion, data breaches, theft).
→Hacking: It is the act of unauthorised access to a computer, computer network or any digital system. Hackers usually have technical expertise of the hardware and software. They look for bugs to exploit and break into the system.
→ Ethical Hacker: Hacking, when done with a positive intent, is called Ethical Hacking. Such ethical hackers are known as white hat hackers. They are specialists in exploring any vulnerability or loophole by during testing of the software.
→ Non-ethical Hacker: A non-ethical hacker is the one who tries to gain unauthorised access to computers or networks in order to steal sensitive data with the intent to damage or bring down systems. They are called black hat hackers or crackers.
→ Phishing: It is an unlawful activity where fake websites ore mails that look original or authentic are presented to the user to fraudulently collect sensitive and personal details, particularly usernames, passwords, banking and credit card details.
→ Identity Theft: Identity thieves increasingly use personal information stolen from computers or computer networks, to commit fraud by using the data gained unlawfully.
Given below are a few examples:
→ Financial Identity Theft: When the stolen identity is used for financial gain.
→ Criminal Identity Theft: Criminals use a victim’s stolen identity to avoid detection of their true identity.
→ Medical Identity Theft: Criminals can seek medical drugs or treatment using a stolen identity.
→ RansomwareiThis is another kind of cyber-crime where the attacker gains access to the computer and blocks the user from accessing, usually by encrypting the data. The attacker blackmails the victim to pay for getting access to the data, or sometimes threatens to publish personal and sensitive information or photographs unless a ransom is paid.
→ Combatting and Preventing Cybercrime: Following points can be considered as safety measures to reduce the risk of cybercrime:
→ Take regular backup of important data.
→ Use an antivirus software and keep it updated always.
→ Avoid installing pirated software. Always download software from known and secure (HTTPS) sites.
→ Always update the system software which include the internet browser and other application software.
→ Do not visit or download anything from untrusted websites.
→ Digital Signatures: They are the digital equivalent of a paper
certificate. Digital signatures work on a unique digital ID issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) to the user. Signing a document digitally means attaching that user’s identify, which can be used to authenticate. .
→ Indian Information Technology Act (IT Act): The Government of India’s The Information Technology Act, 2000 (also known as IT Act), amended in 2008, and provides guidelines to the user on the processing, storage and transmission of sensitive information.
→ E-waste-Hazards and Management: E-waste or Electronic waste includes electric or electronic gadgets and devices that are no longer in use. Hence, discarded computers, laptops, mobile phones, televisions, tablets, music systems, speakers, printers, scanners, etc. constitute e-waste when they are near or end of their useful life.
→ Leaching: It is the process of removing a substance from another substance by passing water through it.
→ Management of E-waste: E-waste management is the efficient disposal of E-waste. Some of the feasible methods of E-waste management are reduce, reuse and recycle:
→ Reduce: We should try to reduce the generation of e-waste by purchasing the electronic or electrical devices only according to our need.
→ Reuse: It is the process of re-using the electronic or electric waste after slight modification. The process of re-selling old electronic goods at lower prices is called refurbishing.
→ Recycle: Recycling is the process of conversion of electronic devices into something that can be used again and again in some or the other manner.
→ E-waste Management in India: In India, the Environmental Protection Act, 1986, has been enacted to punish people responsible for causing any form of pollution by paying for the damage done to the natural environment.