C2 Legal and ethical GapFill

In 2017, the UK government published the Digital Economy Act 2017. The act stated that by 2020, every household in the UK should be capable of accessing an Internet connection of 10 megabits per second – more than enough required to stream high definition television, stay in touch with friends over VOIP and access a huge number of digital services. In 2010, only seven years previously, a target of 2 megabits per second was proposed, which even at the time was criticised for being too slow and not being future-proofed. This increase in minimum speed highlights how important the Internet has become to our lives.

All but some of the smallest businesses are now online. They will generally have a customer facing  faxonlineformwebsite where they can advertise their products, and are often the first contact between a company and its customers. High speed Internet access has opened up the door for employees to  work in different time zonesgo to cafeswork in the officework remotely (including from home), for example using a VPN giving access to the company servers and internal infrastructure, and companies can use cloud services and web apps when employees work onsite. Not having access to services means that a company cannot easily look at the operations of their  employeesstaffemployerscompetitors – for example, looking at the prices that they charge and the services that they provide. They may also use the websites of different suppliers to procure goods and services at a better price, and much easier than using a phonebook! Businesses can also use the Internet to reach out to customers through  emailletterformfax – used to send marketing, product updates and receive customer queries, in addition to live chat.

In terms of individuals, we currently have a population divided into those who can use computers or smartphones, and those who can’t. We call this the  digitalpapernorth-southmidland divide. People who can use computers, the Internet and smart devices such as TVs and games consoles have access to a wide range of entertainment and communications, reducing their risk of isolation. They also have access to  phonesmediaservicesportals such as online banking, shopping, online applications for jobs and government services – saving time and money. Without access, people still have to rely on the phone and writing letters – both are likely to take longer. People with IT skills may be able to get better jobs than those who don’t, and this also helps employers as less staff training is required – and most employers post their jobs online.

Overall, society benefits from a better  dividepay packeteconomygovernment department brought by larger numbers employed in well-paid jobs, overall people may be healthier and happier, and governments have more efficiency when people fill in forms and access services online.

To ensure that everyone has equal access to services, and are not discriminated against, there are various  illegalunlawfullegalvoluntary requirements, for example the Digital Economy Act 2017 mentioned above. But sometimes such codes are only  essentialvoluntarymandatoryenforced – professional guidelines establish best practices – what organisations should do, but not must do. Sometimes we call these accepted standards, such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that helps standardise the web, or the Unicode Consortium that helps standardise characters and emoji on your phones.

One way of creating an equal Internet is the concept of net  nationNeptuneneutralitynationality. Under this concept (which is the law in the UK), Internet service providers (ISPs) can’t prioritise any traffic – every webpage, download or stream is provided to you with equal priority. Unless blocked by governments, ISPs must not block or restrict access to content, including rival companies. Providers are allowed to set overall speeds depending on how much you pay.  Medium-sizedLargePrivateSmall organisations are most benefited by this. If it wasn’t in place, it would be hard for them to compete with larger competitors, and users could be forced to pay  equalmorenothingless to access different types of services – e.g. charge more for packages required to stream TV.

Businesses are now using social media – for example are using it to raise brand awareness and for customer feedback, but not for  industrial espionagerecruiting new talentshowing advertsincreasing website traffic. This new use of social media in the workplace can be challenging – for example posts may not be subject to the same standards as traditional communications. Keeping your social media profile clean is important because  employersacquaintancesfriendsfamilies sometimes view your profile as part of the application process and can decide not to hire you if they see evidence of antisocial or criminal behaviour. Finally, there are separate social media platforms for professional use – for example connecting with colleagues who endorsed your skills and finding new contacts, employers, job opportunities and skills providers. We call this  internettingsocial mediumsWi-Finetworking.