FDS

L
E Data Privacy
C &
T Computer Ethics
U
R
Fundamentals of Digital Skills
E Polytechnic Foundation Program

7
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Learning Objectives
At the end of this lecture, you will be able to:
 Understand what is data privacy and how to improve
the privacy of information.
 Understand what is computer ethics and aware of some
of the common ethical issues.

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Data Privacy

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Privacy Issues

 What is Privacy?
 The state of being free from public attention (e.g. at
home)
 A state in which one is not observed or disturbed by
other people (e.g. in your own room at home)

 Our basic human right to have our privacy,

including information privacy
 But with information technology, the Web and social
media, it becomes difficult to protect our own privacy

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Privacy Issues - Workplace

 Employers search social networking sites for background
information on job applicants
 Case: Stacy Snyder (see attached notes in slide)

 Employers may use software tools to check on employee

performance
 Is this a privacy invasion or productivity improvement?

 Workplace Email
 Is so widely used, sometimes for personal purpose
 Employers may check email contents - presents privacy issues
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Privacy Issues - Data Collection

 Many companies collect our personal data
 E.g. Healthcare organizations and online-ordering firms gather
personal data and place in their databases

 Personal information is stored on various databases

 Many of the practices of government agencies, credit agencies,
and marketing companies use data collected and this could
represent an invasion of privacy
 Some even sell collected customer’s details to marketing
agencies for revenue

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Privacy Issues - Data Collection on Web

 Number of people shopping online is increasing rapidly
because of convenience, the array of choices, and lower
prices
 But there are still people who are reluctant to make online purchases
because of concerns about hackers

 Information provided on Web can be combined with other

information and technologies to produce new information

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Privacy Issues - Data Collection on Web

 Cookies: small text files with unique ID tags embedded in a Web

browser
 Saved on user’s hard drive to help Web sites customize pages for
users
 Considered an invasion of privacy when users’ information is
used without prior consent

 Log files record a user’s actions on a Web site

 Generated by Web server software
 Help in identifying cases of identity misrepresentation on Web
sites

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Data Protection
 Developed to control how personal or customer information
is used by organisations or government bodies.

 Protects people and lays down rules about how data about
people can be used.

 Must ensure the information is:

 Used fairly, lawfully and transparently
 Used for specified, explicit purposes

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Data Protection in Singapore

 Personal Data
 Refers to data about an individual who can be identified from that
data

 Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 

 Provides a baseline standard of protection 
or personal data in Singapore
 Comprises various requirements governing the collection, use,
disclosure and care of personal data in Singapore. 
 PDPA generally applies to all private organisations in respect of the
personal data of individuals that they collect, use, and/or disclose.

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Major Data Breaches (Singapore)

 SingHealth – medical records of patients
 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singhealth-health-system-hit-serious-cyberattack-pm-lee-target-10
548318

 Data breaches in large corporations.

 Data of 580,000 SIA customers leaked in security breach
 https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/data-of-580000-sia-customers-leaked-in-security-breach

 Marriott International (hotel) lost 500 million user records due to

hacking
 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/11/30/marriott-discloses-massive-data-breach-impacting-millio
n-guests/

 Personal details of OG department store customers leaked in data

breach
 https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/consumer/personal-data-of-og-department-store-customers-leaked

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What can be done to improve privacy protection?

 Guidelines to minimize the invasion of privacy

• Conduct business only with Web sites that have privacy policies
• Limit access to personal to those with authorization information
• Ensure data’s reliability and take precautions to prevent misuse of the
data
• Make sure data collection has a stated purpose
• Identify ways to prevent personal information gathered from being
disclosed without consent
• Take all necessary measures to prevent unauthorized access to data
and misuse of data

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Computer
Ethics

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What is Computer Ethics?

 Computer ethics is set of moral principles that

regulate the use of computers
 Some common issues of computer ethics include intellectual
property rights (such as copyrighted electronic content), privacy
concerns, and how computers affect society.

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Technology
 What is legal and what is illegal is clear cut
 Know your laws!
 What is ethical and what is unethical is not so clear cut
 Ask your conscience?
 Information technology offers opportunities for
unethical behavior because of the ease of collecting
and disseminating information
 Increase in cybercrime, cyberfraud, identity theft, and
intellectual property theft

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Ethical versus Legal - Discussion

LEGAL ILLEGAL

ETHICAL I II

UNETHICAL III IV

In which quadrant does each of the following scenario fall?

1. You make 2 copies of a software package you just bought and sold to a
friend.
2. You make 2 copies of a software package you just bought for personal use,
the copy is for backup.
3. A banker uses the information a client enters in a loan application to sell other
financial products to this client.
4. A credit card company sells its customers’ mailing addresses to its
competitors.
5. A supervisor fires a programmer who has intentionally spread viruses to the
organization’s network.
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Ethical Issues in Information Technology

 Some of the major ethical issues faced in
Information Technology (IT):
 Personal / Data Privacy
 Access Right
 Computer Crimes
 Copyright Infringement
 Intellectual Property Infringement

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Ethical Issues - Personal / Data Privacy

 Due to the distribution of the network on a large scale, large
amount of data or information transfer takes place
 Leads to the hidden chances of disclosing information and violating
the privacy of any individuals or a group. 
 
 Major challenge for IT society and organizations
 Maintain the privacy and integrity of data
 Accidental disclosure to inappropriate individuals and provisions to
protect the accuracy of data

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Ethical Issues - Access Right

 IT security personnel often have access to confidential data
about individuals' and companies' networks and systems
o this can be abused, either deliberately or inadvertently 
Should you read the private e-mail of your network users just
because you can?
Is it OK to read employees' e-mail as a security measure to ensure
that sensitive company information isn't being disclosed?
Is it OK to read the documents and look at the graphics files that
are stored on users' computers or in their directories on the file
server?

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Ethical Issues - Computer Crimes

 Refers to intentional damage or negative consequences to the
IT such as loss of important information, loss of property, loss
of ownership, destruction of property and undesirable
substantial impacts.
 Phishing - The solicitation of information via email or the culling of
individuals to fake web sites
 Spamming - Abuse of electronic messaging systems to randomly
or indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages, spread viruses
or malware

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Ethical Issues - Copyright Infringement

 Unauthorized or prohibited use of works covered by
copyright law, in a way that violates one of the copyright
owner's exclusive rights
 Such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work.
 Copyright law works as a very powerful legal tool in protecting
computer software - mishandling and misuse of data, computer
programs, documentation and similar material.

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NP – Plagiarism & Copyright Awareness

 https://rise.articulate.com/share/G4lKZh3DvY_AeiQKYNmsNJbDyt_VasGI#/

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Ethical Issues - Intellectual Property

 Refers to creations of the mind – everything from works of art to
inventions, computer programs to trademarks and other
commercial signs
 Trademark: protection to product names and identifying marks
 Patent: protection to new processes/ invention

 Intellectual property (IP) infringement 
 refers to any violation or breach of protected intellectual
property rights.

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Computer Ethics – 10 Commandments

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Summary

 Data Privacy is important to users both at the workplace

and in the public
 There are privacy laws to safeguard one’s privacy
 One needs to be aware of what is deemed ethical versus
legal
 Computer Ethics

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