Impacts of digital technology on wider society including: Ethical issues; Legal issues; Cultural issues; Environmental issues; Privacy issues

Digital technology has wide-ranging impacts on society, raising ethical, legal, cultural, environmental, and privacy concerns. You need to understand these issues and be able to discuss them in context, considering different perspectives.

Key points

• Definition:Ethical Issues: questions about what is morally right or wrong in the use of technology. These are subjective — there is not necessarily a single correct answer.
• Definition:Legal Issues: technology must comply with UK laws (Data Protection Act, Computer Misuse Act, Copyright Act). Computer scientists must ensure their products follow the law.
• Definition:Cultural Issues: differences in values, traditions, and beliefs affect how technology is received. E.g. attitudes to photography, privacy, or language vary by culture.
• Definition:Environmental Issues: the impact of technology on the natural world — energy use by devices and data centres, limited natural resources used in manufacturing, electronic waste (e-waste).
• Definition:Data Privacy: the right of individuals to control how their personal information is collected, stored and shared, and the protection of that data from unauthorised access.
• Technology can HELP the environment — e.g. reducing paper through email, enabling remote work to cut travel.
• Technology can HARM the environment — e.g. energy-hungry data centres, mining rare materials for electronics, disposal of e-waste containing harmful substances, toxic waste in landfill.
• Exam Tip:Extended-response questions on this topic require you to DISCUSS both sides — impacts can be positive AND negative. Use specific examples to support your points.
• Common Mistake:Only discussing one side. Always consider BOTH the benefits and drawbacks of technology in your answer.
• Examples to know: mobile technology (location tracking, screen time), cloud storage (data ownership, security), wearable technology (health data misuse), autonomous vehicles (liability, moral decisions), AI (job displacement, bias).
• Exam Tip:When discussing cultural issues, mention that different cultures have different attitudes to things like colours (red = danger in one culture, luck in another), reading direction (left-to-right vs right-to-left), and privacy expectations.
• Exam Example:Facial recognition in a shopping centre — Positive: helps identify criminals, evidence for prosecution. Negative: invasion of privacy, users may not know they are being tracked, data storage concerns (DPA).
• Exam Example:AI monitoring social media posts — Positive: detects inappropriate/illegal content faster. Negative: may incorrectly block users, privacy concerns about monitoring, records may be stored and misused.
• Exam Tip:For 8-mark questions, structure your answer around each bullet point in the question (ethical, legal, privacy etc.). Use headers or clear paragraphs. Cover BOTH positive and negative for each.
• Exam Example:Smartphone upgrades impact — Environmental: e-waste in landfill, toxic materials, precious metals wasted. Ethical: digital divide, social pressure to upgrade, bullying of those who can't afford latest tech. Cultural: desire to fit in with peers.
• Exam Tip:For privacy questions, consider: users may not know a system exists, users have not given permission to be tracked, data may be stored/used inappropriately, users may feel like they are being watched.
• Exam Tip:For digital technology in medicine — Diagnosis: AI can search records faster, identify patterns. Treatment: remote surgery, access to specialists. Storage: centralised records accessible by all care providers, BUT security/privacy concerns.