Posts Categorized: Ethical Issues

Social media and censorship in China: how is it different to the West?

Posted by & filed under Censorship, China, Ethical Issues, ethics, IT and Politics.

China has disrupted WhatsApp in a censorship drive ahead of the government’s Communist Party meeting next month.  It has only been accessible through virtual private networks (VPNs) at times – but even some of them are being blocked.  Other social media platforms, which people in the West use every day, are also banned in mainland China.  Instead they’re replaced by… Read more »

Self-Driving Cars Will Kill People. Who Decides Who Dies?

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, Automation, Emerging Technologies, Ethical Issues, IT and the law, self driving cars.

To understand the trolley problem, first consider this scenario: You are standing on a bridge. Underneath you, a railroad track divides into a main route and an alternative. On the main route, 50 people are tied to the rails. A trolley rushes under the bridge on the main route, hurtling towards the captives. Fortunately, there’s… Read more »

How Facebook knows you’re Jewish

Posted by & filed under Ethical Issues, FaceBook, IT and Politics, IT and the law.

Facebook is wishing some of its “Jewish” users a Happy New Year.  Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, began Wednesday evening — and some Facebook users received a celebratory message when they logged in. While the note was well received by some, others questioned how exactly the social network was aware of their religious affiliation. In some… Read more »

Using your face to buy your lunch

Posted by & filed under China, Civil Liberties, Emerging Technologies, Ethical Issues.

Chinese technology giant Alibaba has unveiled the first facial recognition system to pay for shopping – at a fast food restaurant. Amidst concerns about data privacy it insists none of the information it uses is retained. Source: BBC Technology News Date: September 7th, 2017 Link to video (1 minute 38 sec run time after 15 second ad in… Read more »

The surprising new strategy of pro-Russia bots

Posted by & filed under bots, Ethical Issues, Fake News, Twitter.

Co-ordinated groups of Twitter bots pushing pro-Russian propaganda have developed an odd but occasionally effective strategy – retweeting messages that the bot-makers disagree with and flooding their enemies with followers. Source: BBC Technology News Date: September 12th, 2017 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41203789 Discussion 1) Thinking of this from a digital marketing perspective, how could you use this methodology to help… Read more »

Apple reveals ‘leap forward’ iPhone X

Posted by & filed under Apple, Emerging Technologies, Entertainment, Ethical Issues, IT and the law, IT Trends.

Apple has revealed a high-end smartphone with an “edge-to-edge” screen that has no physical home button. The iPhone X – which is referred to as “ten” – uses a facial recognition system to recognise its owner rather than a fingerprint-based one. Source: BBC Technology News Date: September 12th, 2017 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41228126 Discussion 1) Is it really a “leap… Read more »

Using your face to buy your lunch

Posted by & filed under China, Civil Liberties, Emerging Technologies, Ethical Issues.

Chinese technology giant Alibaba has unveiled the first facial recognition system to pay for shopping – at a fast food restaurant. Amidst concerns about data privacy it insists none of the information it uses is retained. Source: BBC Technology News Date: September 7th, 2017 Link to video (1 minute 38 sec run time after 15 second ad in… Read more »

Wake up! Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook are running our lives

Posted by & filed under Amazon, Apple, Civil Liberties, Ethical Issues, FaceBook, Google.

Google Home wakes you up in the morning and later, Google recommends a lunch spot – it even gives you live information on how busy it is. It is partly responsible for your cab home, as Google is an investor in Uber. You checked in with friends on Facebook on that morning commute (you might have also used… Read more »

Jon Snow: Facebook a threat to democracy

Posted by & filed under Ethical Issues, FaceBook, Fake News.

Facebook should do more to tackle the spread of “cancerous” fake news, and help fund original journalism, newsreader Jon Snow has said.  The journalist, who has presented the British Channel 4 News since 1989, gave the MacTaggart Lecture at the annual Edinburgh TV festival.  He said Facebook’s inaction was a “threat to democracy”. Facebook’s founder… Read more »