JANE DIAZ

MR. PAJO

ITETHICS

BSIM

 

 

BOOKREVIEW # 11

INFORMATION SECURITY AND ETHICS

by: Marian Quigley

 

 

Chapter VI – INTERNET VOTING

 

 

One basic precondition for e-elections must be the feasibility of implementing the

voting under such conditions that the principles underpinning the electoral system are

not disregarded. Accordingly, the system must be at least as secure as corresponding

traditional voting procedures. Another precondition is that the e-voting procedure must

be simple and function smoothly for the voters. Its overall purpose is to enhance

accessibility to voters. The present form of voting in general elections is founded entirely

on paper based and largely manual voting procedures.

New technology with advanced vote-client machines for e-elections may entail

several advantages. It may, as mentioned above, enhance the voters’ scope for

participating in the election. It also creates scope for more rapid tallying of votes and

distribution of seats. This also enables the electoral administration to promptly announce

the election results to a broader circle. The risk of error in vote-tallying can also be

largely eliminated. The new technology also entails disadvantages that must be

considered. One is the difficulty of guaranteeing ballot secrecy with absolute certainty.

Another is the question of how to guarantee the reliability of the system. that the system

should be perceived as trustworthy and should impart legitimacy to the election results,

imposes special requirements in terms of permitting a revision of the system to be

carried out where necessary.

 

 

Chapter VII – PROTECTION OF MINORS FROM HARMFUL INTERNET CONTENT

“one of the basic conditions for its progress and for the development of every

man”.

 

 

Dealing with harmful content, particularly in order to protect minors, has been a

growing concern for the past few years. Due to the decentralized, border-crossing and

permanently available nature of the new information and communication networks,

increasing attention has been brought to the difficulties associated with efficiently

protecting minors against harmful information and images, which were not as easily

accessible before. This had led to fierce advocating of the use of self- and co-regulatory

mechanisms and/or technological tools when it comes to safeguarding minors from

harmful content.

It is argued that using alternative regulatory mechanisms could provide more

guarantees for the protection of freedom of expression. Technology is in many cases an

essential part of an alternative regulatory strategy. The use of filtering tools, for instance,

is a prime example of the shift away from top-down state control. Filtering technologies

present a way of transferring control of and responsibility for managing harmful content

from governments, regulatory agencies, and supervisory bodies to end users, primarily

parents.

 

 

Chapter VIII – MOBILE COMMUNITIES

 

 

The development of the Web, unlike the subsequent questions, this question was

not delimited by the research focus. The motivation of this question was on one hand to

start the discussion with a quite broad topic without biasing the interviewee. On the other

hand the intention was to see whether mobile social media or related phenomena would

be recognized as important trends by the interviewees.

Social communication drove the growth of the Internet for two decades before

the Web transformed the Internet into a mass medium in a matter of months. Mobile

communication is organized around known social networks. People call and message

people they already know. Most often, you communicate with people who are already in

your address book, text-based evolving to text and sound and graphics-based

communications. Customized ring tones and cute graphics for SMS messages are only

the beginning. Cameras and telephones are merging. Whatever it is called, and

wherever it is used, this simple, accessible technology alters the way in which individuals

conduct their everyday lives. It has extensive implications for the cultures and societies

in which it is used; it changes the nature of communication, and affects identities and

relationships. It affects the development of social structures and economic activities, and

has considerable bearing on its users’ perceptions of themselves and their world.