Free VPN: a blessing or a curse?

Article

Stakeholders:
Opera, Opera employees, the User

Strand 1:

The article discusses how the operating system Opera now allows all its users to have a free VPN which requires no subscription. This has many social and ethical implications. The main one is that, with this pre-installed VPN, users can surf the web anonymously, which is a good measure to fend of hackers, however it may have disadvantages too. The main one is that it may lead to anonymity. Which is the ability for a user to surf the web, do whatever they desire and get away with it. This way, some users may be able to cyber-mob other users, which is highly unethical. In addition to that, anonymity allows them to access illegal websites, which also has negative implications. Furthermore, since Opera is an open source software. As this VPN software releases, users may be able to enhance it further, thus giving it more powerful capabilities, similar to that of TOR Browser, which can lead users into accessing the Dark Web. On the other hand, this software may also have other social and ethical implications, such as: reliability. The reliability of the VPN connection is not guaranteed, which means that some of those 'secure connections' may not be too secure, which can lead to innocents being exposed. 

Strand 2:

This can have many different scenarios. The main one is home and entertainment, whilst work and employment is also viable (if an employee wants to access Facebook during their break at a company that bans it), it is also viable in education. An example is DIS, when students try to access Facebook in break or lunch. The reliability implication is highly important when it comes to a business. Some businesses may use this virtual private Opera network to connect their employee's to their main server (located in another country). If this connection is not reliable, information can be intercepted which may lead to fraud or the loss of important business information. 

Strand 3:

The way a VPN system works is that it creates a private network over a public network (such as the Internet), and thats why its called a 'virtual' private network. Basically when a VPN makes a connection, it uses 'tunnels' which encrypt the user's data. This way it is deemed secure. Usually you need another VPN software to allow this to happen, however Opera is now integrating this software in the browser itself. It can allow users to access blocked websites because it connects to another client in another country, therefore the user's browser is essentially running on that countries server, so it can access the websites that are not blocked in that country. Websites such as WikiLeaks that are blocked universally cannot be accessed.

Another one

ITGS Blog Post

Article URL: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/83732.html

Article analysis:

ITGS article analysis in a different way...

After several occasions of analysing articles, I decided to change my approach to them.  I decided to analyse articles using the questions in a typical paper 2 exam, in order to practice for my test next year!

Article

1a) Describe one social/ethical concern related to the IT system described in the article.

The social and ethical concern in the article is that the privacy of the stakeholders is at stake. Google's your timeline collects data about the locations you've been to to personalise your software. Negative impacts of this include the selling of your data to 3rd party organisations.

1b) Describe the relationship of one primary stakeholder to the IT system in the article.

The stakeholder is any user with a device that can connect to Google's "location services" (typically  smartphone). The user can activate location services on their device to take advantage of points of interest close to them. Wherever they go with their mobile phone, Google is constantly mapping their journey. 

2a) Describe how the IT system works step-by-step

First the user is prompted to activate location services. When they input their consent by activating it, the mobile device sends signals to at least 3 satellites. The satellites then use re-send signals to the mobile device, giving information about time and the distance between the device and the satellite. When 3 different distances are acquired from 3 different satellites, through the process of triangulation, the GPS software on the mobile phone is able to pinpoint the location of the user. This information is then synced with Google's cloud software and saved, then it is presented in "your timeline" on the Goolge Maps application.

2b) Explain the relationship between the IT system and the social/ethical concern described in Criterion A.

When the location services are turned on, the mobile device is constantly syncing information to Google's cloud. This means that a hacker could acquire this information as it is live and constantly being transferred and because the information being transferred is not encrypted, which is highly dangerous and could threaten the user's privacy. Furthermore, all of the user's information is saved on Google's cloud. This cloud may be accessed by Google which means that the user's information at stake, since there is no measure to prevent corruption. This information can also be sold to 3rd party organisations.

3) Evaluate the impact of the social and ethical concerns on the stakeholder.

This IT system has many positive and negative impacts on the stakeholders.

The main stakeholder is the owner of the mobile device. The advantages of this service is that the user can enjoy all of the benefits of Google maps and your timeline. They can find points of interest on their map whenever they require. Or perhaps they want to revisit a store which they visited before, yet have forgotten its exact location. Your timeline allows them to revisit that place with ease. Furthermore, this software can be beneficial to someone who wants to track all their journey's, or the kilometres they have walked, etc. It can also be a digital photo album, since it syncs with Google Photos. 

However there are several disadvantages as well. The main one is that the privacy of the user is at stake. Since the information is not encrypted, it would be possible for a hacker to illegally acquire this information, which could be used for malicious purposes. Furthermore, this information could be sold by Google to 3rd party organisations, which would ultimately have control over  the user as they could monitor their movements. This information could be used for data mining/data matching purpose to create a fact file about a specific person. Although this is beneficial to the Police Department or the government (as it eases catching criminals), it is a breach of the user's privacy. Furthermore, other social and ethical concerns include reliability and security. If Google's "your timeline" has no security measure, any person could illegally access the user's information and use it for malicious purposes (blackmailing, etc.). In addition to that, this system uses location services and the GPS, which are not necessarily the most reliable system as they do not work inside buildings. Therefore Google's system could be incorrectly logging the information of the user, which may bring great problems to the user in the future. What if the GPS software incorrectly logged the user's information and thought that he was in a gun shop instead of a restaurant? That would raise suspicion in the police department if a murder occurs, which may have serious implications.

Another main stakeholder is Google. The advantage of Your timeline to Google is that, through this software, they can make revenue by advertising other companies such as restaurants and businesses. They can also make money by selling information related to some businesses, like "how many people visited the restaurant, at which time of the day" which would be beneficial for the businesses as they can predict when most customers will come.

The disadvantage to Google however is that this system may increase the chance of corruption, which could tarnish the companies reputation if it is found that information is sold to 3rd parties. Furthermore, if Google's security is not of a high standard and a hacking organisation manages to steal this vital information, Google will lose its customer's trust and may lose lots of money.

Overall, I believe that this IT system has a negative impact on the mobile device user, as it endangers the user's privacy, and does not provide a reliable system. The disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

4) Identify a solution for the problem.

There is one solution to this problem that could potentially fix this device's privacy issues. If Google improved the security of their cloud system, and encrypted the data that the cloud acquires from the mobile device, then the problem of hacking would be completely eradicated. It would make sure that the user's data is safe from anyone who does not work in Google. This is why it is a good solution. However the disadvantage to this solution is that it does not decrease the possibility of corruption within Google and the fact that the user's data can be illegally accessed from within Google. This could be reduced by implementing policies to prevent that. In addition to that, the disadvantage of using encryption is that it would take a lot of time to sync and would require a strong internet connection and would drain battery life.

Fourth ITGS analysis, on Internet!

An Introduction to Strand 1!

ITGS strand criteria definitions:

1)  Reliability and integrity

• Reliability is how accurate the data on an IT system is. It is also how functional the hardware and software are. If the data is inaccurate then the IT system is not reliable, and if the hardware and software don't function properly, for example: a word document does not save properly, then the IT system is unreliable as well, as they can cause harm to the user.
• Integrity is basically the act of protecting the data on an IT system. If the data on an IT system has been inputed incorrectly then the IT system lacks integrity. However if the data has been deleted or altered for  a malicious purpose then the IT system has no integrity

2)  Security

• Security is the act of protecting IT systems from unauthorised use. Examples of this are: Security systems designed to protect the information on the IT systems from hackers, such as but not limited to firewall, automatic filtering software. Another example of this would be restricting access to personal data (religious/political views) from the employees working at the company.

3)  Privacy and anonymity

• Privacy is the ability for people to choose how much information they provide to be stored on an IT system, for example: they can choose to provide only information which is necessary but not information which is optional. Anonymity on the other hand is when a person uses extreme privacy cyber-mob someone else.

4)  Intellectual property

• Intellectual property is anything in the form of works of art, ideas, writings, and other creations. Intellectual property is protected by equality. Unfortunately, IT systems allow the plagiarism of intellectual property.  

5)  Authenticity 

• Authenticity is making sure that the person accessing the IT systems is a person who's authorised to do so. There are several ways of authenticating that the person using the IT systems is the correct person. A simple method is the use of a password and username, a more complex is the use of biometric systems.

6)  The digital divide and equality of access

• The evolution of IT has led to the prominence of it in our everyday lives. However, some people come from lower economic backgrounds, hence they are not able to catch up with technology as much as those who are financially able. This can lead to the poorer having a disadvantage in comparison to the rich as they will not be able to find many jobs since society demands the use of IT systems. This creates a digital divide within a community. 

7) Surveillance 

• Surveillance is used to monitor the activities of people. One use of this technology is to monitor employees, which makes sure that they follow the company’s policies. However, in some extreme cases, this surveillance may become a breach of personal privacy. To what extent should surveillance be allowed?

8)  Globalisation and cultural diversity 

• Globalisation is basically the decrease in the magnitude of geographical, political, economical, etc.. news. As technology becomes more and more common, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 which kills thousands of civilians becomes ordinary news. Although this leads to the increase in the number of global citizens, it may lead to the loss of some cultures or languages.

9)  Policies

• Policies are basically laws which promote appropriate and discourage inappropriate uses of IT systems. Policies can be developed by companies, governments, individuals and so on. 

10)  Standards and protocols 

• Standards and protocols are simply technical rules that IT systems must follow to allow compatibility between different IT systems.

11)  People and machines

• It systems have many pros, many of those being: available easily, easy access (for most people), allow complex errands to be completed without risking human life. However, the ultimate evolution of technology may have negative impacts. One such impact is the addiction to computer systems. Since more and more IT systems are being introduced daily, humans adapt and become lazy, allowing IT to take control of their lives. However, when they try to complete a task without the use of IT they find it impossible. A good example of this is the implementation of iPads in schools. Although it is easy to use, in a few years children will forget to write and hence they will forger to write, and what happens when their device is damaged and cannot be used? 

12)  Digital citizenship 

• A digital citizen should use IT systems ethically, legally and with a responsibility of their actions.