Impacts of Digital Technology on Society

How digital technology changes society

Digital technology does far more than store and process data. It changes how people work, talk, learn, shop and treat one another, and those changes bring both good and harm. This module weighs five kinds of impact: - Legal impacts: the laws that set out what people and organisations may and may not do with computers and data. - Ethical impacts: questions of what is fair or right, such as replacing workers with machines. - Cultural and social impacts: how everyday life, work and communication have changed. - Environmental impacts: the energy that technology uses and the waste it leaves behind. - Privacy impacts: how much information is now collected about each of us, and who controls it. A strong answer never says technology is simply good or simply bad. It weighs the benefits against the drawbacks. This module builds that habit.

Words for digital impacts

Five terms you need before you use them. Learn what each one means.

Match each impact type to an example

Benefits against drawbacks

Almost every use of digital technology has two sides. A good answer names both. Here are the broad ones.

Which impact is this?

A factory replaces its packing team with robots. Several workers lose their jobs, while a few new roles appear looking after the machines. Which kind of impact does this show most clearly?

• an ethical and social impact
• a purely legal impact
• an environmental impact only
• no real impact at all

Tap the two environmental impacts

Tap the TWO statements that describe an environmental impact.

• The large amount of energy used to run data centres
• Old devices thrown away and left to pile up as waste
• A law protecting the personal data of customers
• The gap in technology access between richer and poorer areas

The digital divide

Not everyone can share in the benefits of digital technology equally, and that gap is called the digital divide. It can open up by money, when a household cannot afford a computer or a reliable connection; by place, when an area has poor network coverage; and by skill or age, when someone has never had the chance to learn. The divide matters because more and more services, from banking to job applications to school work, now assume everyone is online. When they are not, the people already at a disadvantage can be shut out further. A fair society tries to close the gap rather than widen it.

Pick the true impact facts

Select the TWO statements that are true.

• Discarded devices can contain harmful materials that must be recycled with care
• Automation can remove some jobs while also creating new ones
• Digital technology brings only benefits and never any drawbacks
• The digital divide means everyone has completely equal access to technology

Order the life of a device, from making to waste

Put the stages in the life of a typical electronic device in order, from where it starts to where it ends.

• Raw materials are mined and the device is manufactured
• The device is bought and used every day
• A newer model appears and the device is replaced
• The old device is thrown away or handed in
• Its parts are recycled, or they end up as electronic waste

One phone, cradle to grave

Follow a single smartphone from where it begins to where it ends, to see how many impacts one device can carry. Making it: metals are mined and shipped, and the phone is built in a factory far away, using energy and raw materials before it is even switched on. Using it: for a year or two it connects its owner to friends, work and the whole of the internet, a genuine benefit that also gathers a great deal of information about them. Ending it: a shinier model appears, the phone is set aside, and unless it is handed in for recycling its useful metals are lost and its harmful parts can pollute. One small device, and already it has touched work, connection, resources and pollution. That is why the impacts of digital technology are judged across the whole of a product life, not just the moment of use.

Complete the digital impact facts

A law such as the Data Protection Act is a _____ impact of digital technology. The gap between those who can and cannot easily use technology is the digital _____. Electronic devices thrown away when no longer wanted are called _____. Collecting information about a person without their consent harms their _____.

Build a digital impact point

Choose the words that complete this balanced statement.

The digital impacts run

Five questions on the impacts of digital technology. Three lives.

Weigh the impact

Read each case and choose the fairest response, then think about why.

• A council wants to move all of its services online to save money. What is a fair concern to raise?
• A company gathers a lot of data about how its customers browse. What does data protection law require of it?
• A school is getting rid of hundreds of old computers. What is the responsible choice?

Explain the impacts of digital technology on society

A student in the year below thinks digital technology is simply a good thing. Give them a balanced picture using what this module has covered.

• Explain one legal impact, naming a law and what it requires
• Explain what the digital divide is and why it matters
• Explain one ethical or social impact, such as automation and jobs
• Explain one environmental impact of digital technology
• Finish with a balanced view that weighs the benefits against the drawbacks