Ethical Legal and Environmental Impacts of Digital Technology

Overview 📘 

Digital technology affects our lives in many ways, both positively and negatively. This topic helps students think about the wider impact of computing, including legal, ethical, cultural, environmental and privacy issues. 

New technologies such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition raise concerns about how our personal data is collected and used. There are also ethical concerns around job loss due to automation, and environmental impacts such as e-waste and energy use. 

The law tries to keep up by protecting people through acts like the Data Protection Act and Copyright laws. Students are encouraged to consider different viewpoints, such as how digital tech may improve healthcare or education, but also bring risks such as digital exclusion or surveillance. In exams, you may be asked to explain and evaluate these impacts with examples. 

• Digital technologies affect people, the environment, and society.

• Consider positive and negative impacts (e.g. online banking is convenient, but can be hacked).

• Ethical issues: job loss, AI bias, digital inequality.

• Legal concerns: privacy, copyright, data misuse.

• Environmental problems: energy use, e-waste.

• Cultural impacts: changing how we communicate, work, and learn.

• Some people benefit more than others – digital divide.

• Law often lags behind technology development.