The Ethical Implications of Living in a Digital World
Security and making ethical decisions online are a huge part of digital content and engaging with the digital world. With everything you post being stored forever, it is hard to live a completely moral life in the digital society, with every picture you post, every comment you make and every post you like having an impact on the non-digital world, such as getting and maintaining a job or making or losing friends.
The ability to hide behind a screen also has an enormous impact on what people post. The anonymity of the digital world, specifically on social media, means many people say things they would not say in real life. It leaves users facing much more criticism than they would in everyday life. The internet can be scary if the ethics of using online spaces get thrown out of the window. However, there are many things that I have learned from this course that has helped me live an ethical digital life.
Data Security
Keeping your data secure online is a complicated task and not many people know how to do it. If you don’t, then the implications can be catastrophic, such as bank fraud and identity theft. One way to keep your data safe from hackers is by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). These help to protect your data online while working on your computer, especially when using public wifi, as it changes your network virtually to a private one.
On a larger scale, it can be hard to keep data from hackers when signing up to websites. There have been many websites or celebrities hacked and their personal information leaked to the public. For example, the Panama Papers leaked in 2016 detailed a list of people avoiding tax and laundering money in various ways. Also, the leaking of Ashley Maddison data in 2015, a dating website for married people, highlights how easy it is for hackers to gather data from one website if their data is not secure enough.
Data Leaking — Is It Always Unethical?
These incidences have sparked a debate over whether leaking that data was fair or not. On one hand, the people on that list were committing a crime and the public have the right to know who is not paying their taxes and hold them accountable. These people deserved to be found out as they were committing a crime anyway.
On the other hand, it is personal information and it is illegal to access others secure data. It is hard to see a right or wrong answer in this and leaves it open to assess the ethical value in the incident. I think that while what these people were doing was unethical, the leaking of personal information is illegal and unethical in itself. The fact that these people were revealed is a good thing, but the way that it happened was not good.
Engaging Online
Engagement online makes it easier to talk to people anywhere. We can talk to anyone around the world at any time we like, whether that be over message chat, voice chat or video chat. This type of engagement with people is much quicker and more convenient than analogue engagement, such as talking in person or writing letters. However, with this comes a challenge, as it makes it easier for people to say how they are really feeling with less of a filter. Most of the human communication lies in body language and non-verbal cues. Therefore, when talking over the internet, excluding video chat to a certain extent, it removes this fundamental communication device, so many things may get lost or not be interpreted in the desired way
The anonymity that comes with audio and message chat can come with positive and negative outcomes. For example, it makes it harder for people to track you and gather your personal information. On the other hand, it allows people to say things they wouldn’t normally say if they were in person. This comes with ethical problems. It enables people to hide behind their screen and say some really hurtful things. These comments can have detrimental effects on the recipient's mental health and, if persistent and serious, can lead to very serious outcomes, such as self-harm or suicide. Online harassment is a serious issue that has affected 45% of adults in the US alone, most of these being women or people of colour.
Engagement With the World Around Us
Does this increased engagement online lead to a decreased engagement with the world around us? We’ve all had someone tell us “get off your phone!” or “appreciate the world around you” at least once in our lives, but is there a way that these can be linked? Is there a way to appreciate the world around us digitally? Some may say that seeing things through a screen is just as good as the real thing, whereas others may say we cannot truly appreciate something if we are not there to see it and be immersed in it.
Ethically, appreciating the world around us, through the digital lens, is worthy of debate. Using digital media to see things all around the world allows us to be educated about things we otherwise wouldn’t. However, too much screen time is a problem. The blue light emitted by phone, tablet and laptop screens doesn’t allow our brain to switch off when we sleep. It is also having a large impact on eye health. For health, it is much safer to appreciate the world around us in person. However, it is not always that easy. During the COVID pandemic, non-essential travel has not been allowed, so we can't experience these things for ourselves. As the travel industry is opening back up, it is becoming “elitist”, as only those with two vaccines will be allowed to travel. While it makes it safer for those travelling, it means that to see things that are far away geographically from them, many people will turn to digital media and the internet to experience these things for themselves.
My Reflection
My overall reflection is to think critically as to whether you need to use digital media and services to do what you want to do. For example, do you really need to play solitaire on your phone, when you could play with a real pack of cards? It is important to consider when and when not to use digital media to protect your’s and others health and well-being. Technology can do so many good things, but they always come with the bad. If you do decide to use digital media to engage with others, assess what you have said before saying it to make sure you are not hurting upsetting anyone in the process.
Studying the ethical implications of using digital media made me more aware of my online privacy and data. Because of this, I installed a VPN on my phone and computer so I can make sure my data is secure, especially on public wifi. Having read about hackers and how easy it is to access someone else's data, gives me peace of mind to know that I have an added level of security installed on my devices. I have also engaged in many discussions about the ethics of data leaking, specifically about high profile cases such as the Panama Papers scandal and whether that was justified or not. There are good arguments on both sides of the debate, so it was hard to come to an agreement, but it was useful to think critically about these ethical issues. Engaging in this kind of conversation and debating the key issues with others is key to understanding the ethics when engaging online and using digital services.
I have learned a lot about engaging with people online and online services. The main thing I have learned over the course is to think twice before posting or replying to someone else's post. Words can be very hurtful, and the anonymity of the internet can make it easy to post these hurtful things and really harm people. I will read what I have written and see if there are other ways to interpret what I have said or if it could be offensive to anyone. I have also reflected on the need to communicate online. Since the start of the COVID pandemic last year, online communication has been really vital for us. We live in an impatient society; everything has to happen now, from fast food to high-speed internet. Without the use of digital media, communication in lockdown would have been much worse. The rise of zoom and other video calling services have allowed us to have the instant communication we would have in person while being miles apart.
