Politics+and+government+social+and+ethical+issues

Social and ethical issues related to politics and government


 * Political Process **

The role that online campaigning played in the 2008 US presidential campaigns:

[] [] []#

Online voting websites: [] []

Is e-voting good? []

Articles: [] [] [] http://blogs.reuters.com/africanews/2011/05/25/a-%E2%80%98day-of-rage%E2%80%99-in-ethiopia/ [] [] [] http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/777456

Benefits: Everything becomes faster - Online voting More people can access it - Online voting Can develop methods that are user friendly and can be used by disabled members of the society - E-voting - People and machines Cost effective for the governments as some citizens will use their own laptops and internet from home to vote. Less paper, less employees. Hackers are able to hack even the digital signatures that are used by votersfor security purposes. Securtiy- privacy Not everyone has a computer at home, so poor people will have less chance of voting. - Digital Divide

Drawbacks:

[|Obama Online Campaign Facilitating Fraud] - security, integrity.
[|Different views of E-voting] Difficulty in Evaluating Legitimacy of Transaction - Fraud websites The elderly might not be able to use E-voting or Online voting.


 * Government information sites**

Benefits: They can be used to view data instantaneously, especially if they are occurring in real time. - Security, People and machine They can be user friendly for the disabled members of society.

Drawbacks: They have to be regularly updated - Reliability, Security, Integrity They must be secure - Security,Privacy They must be user friendly, load quickly and no advertisements - People and machine Not all countries have the majority of the citizens owning or having quick access to a computer - Digital divide


 * Access to, and updating of, personal information held on government databases**

Reliability of data Security and privacy of citizens as the data is stored in a database which can be entered online. Digital Divide Reliability of the system

Online Police Records: An issue for this is reliability: to update the information on the online database you need an internet connection if there is a problem with connection some the information may not get updated and complications may occur. Again as the information is on the internet it can be hacked and this poses a privacy issue as all criminal records would be available to the hacker. This can raise a security issue since editing these records may be dangerous either to the criminal or the the public. Government control and use of information


 * Law and order**

Criminal Profiling: Persons privacy is being violated - Privacy Data might be manipulated - Integrity - Security Citizens are safer - Security

DNA: Pros:

DNA fingerprinting has considerable advantages over conventional means of forensic crime detection.

The innocent and the accused should appreciate a novel fingerprinting technique that is both objective and accurate.

The creation of a DNA database would not require a disproportionate investment of time or public resources.

Cons:

Environmental factors at the crime scene such as heat, sunlight, or bacteria can corrupt any genetic data.

The accuracy of any genetic profile is dependent upon the number of genes examined.

The initial and continuing expense of a DNA database would be a gross misapplication of finite public resources.

Military **Cyberwar-fare**
 * Security **

With advanced technology, hackers can shut down the victim's firewall, making the computer system more vulnerable to attacks. Victims of these attacks usually find it hard to recover the important data that has been stolen. It is up to the private companies to ensure the safety of their networks. In a more serious scale, a hacker can gain access to the enemy's nuclear system and can cause global destruction by launching a nuclear warfare.

**Advantages**
 * Cyberwarfare is less deadly than traditional warfare.
 * This is a useful strategy against terrorists by allowing a nation to trace the origin of an attack.
 * The military can deliberately give they enemies incorrect information.
 * Information about enemy forces can be intercepted.
 * Disadvantages **
 * Hackers can interfere with the enemy's military or air traffic control system and can cause harm.
 * An enemy can attack from anywhere.
 * Improving technology means unprepared defense by many nations.

**Smart weapons**

**Reliability** The development of the smart weapons depends on software.

**Control** The military controls the development of the smart weapons.

**Globalization and Cultural Diversity** Anybody with internet access can get information about smart weapons.

**People and Machines** The design of smart weapons very effective, given that data is input correctly. The design is controlled by the government or the military, in order to improve speed, judgement, analysis accuracy and innovation.


 * Battle Field Technology **
 * **Integrity** - //as new technology is developed, information and data from previous systems must be migrated to the new system//
 * **Reliability** - //technology must be working accurately and at all times, for example GPS systems//
 * **Security** - //confidential information needs to be secured at all times - are iPods and iPads safe to use in war missions?//
 * **People and machines** - //machines may cause redundancy such as in the case of unmanned aircrafts. Does the use of technology such as using game controllers make killing people emotionally easier? Dehumanizes the act, makes it like a game.//