Group items tagged

"There is an enormous pent-up demand for personalised location advertising, whether it is on your cellphone or PDA, on your radio in your car, or on the billboards you walk by on the streets and inside stores," says Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer of BT. "This is yet another technological intrusion into privacy. And like all such intrusions, it will be taken as far as the owner of that intrusion finds it profitable."

"There is an enormous pent-up demand for personalised location advertising, whether it is on your cellphone or PDA, on your radio in your car, or on the billboards you walk by on the streets and inside stores," says Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer of BT. "This is yet another technological intrusion into privacy. And like all such intrusions, it will be taken as far as the owner of that intrusion finds it profitable."

After the professor of computer science and technical director of the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins University and his students broke the encryption of a popular RFID system in car keys, it was apparent that there is a security issue when it comes to the use of RFIDs. The stakeholders are consumers who use products that have radio frequency identification systems embedded in them. As seen from the experiment done by the professor and his students, people can have their cars broken if the encryption of this identification is broken. The area of impact is business because this identification is on items sold in stores. The IT system is RFIDs, which are radio frequency identification. These forms of identification are similar to bar codes because when scanned can show people the price of items. However, being more advanced, RFIDs also show what the item is, the trends in sales and much more.

In big corporations such as Wal-Mart, the use of RFIDs has increased, but the disadvantages of RFID is now a serious issue. With the use of RFIDs on items, the customer is able to avoid waiting at a register, and the RFID will charge the person's credit-card. Yet the tags embedded in the items bought, such as clothing, can be tracked down by the store management systems, risking customers' security and privacy. Since RFIDs do not require a power supply or batteries to operate, all that is needed is a wireless scanner, which Wal-Mart's managing system uses to keep track of the items. Privacy has now become a major issue within the use of RFIDs for many Wal-Mart customers. Also, in many credit cards and "gas-cards", RFIDs are being used, yet the information on the tags also stays within the system. At airports, many modern passports are now using RFID tags that can be scanned from a range as far as 30 feet. Thus this results in chaos for the passengers, and an issue in being able to control the airport security properly.

Large scale businesses like Wal-mart and government authorities in passport make use of sophisticated RFIDs which make the data stored in them or to be accesses through them safe, which helps them keep their business data or data of the clients(in some cases passport holders) safe, however many corporates make use of cheap RFIDs which have a weak encryption code to protect them. This code can be broken easily and hence the client of that RFID is vulnerable to hackers. Ford for example makes use of RFIDs manufactured by Texas Instruments, in their car keys. These RFIDs are protected by very weak codes, hence it is easy for thieves to break the code and steal cars.

"According to Cary Coglianese, an American e-government expert, imagining that online consultation will breathe new life into democracy "is a bit like imagining that giving automobile owners the ability to download technical manuals and order car parts online would turn a great number of them into do-it-yourself mechanics". Greater involvement by experts may make for more sensible rules, but it will not turn the system of public administration on its head. In short, badly managed organisations with computers will stay badly managed. That has been the lesson from private business, and it equally applies to the public sector, where e-government has barely begun to scratch the surface of what is possible. That is reason for disappointment, but also for hope. "

"In a statement the ICO said the Trust reported the loss of an unencrypted memory stick containing treatment details "after a member of staff left it in an unattended vehicle" towards the end of last year. Other ICO cases revealed Central Lancashire Trust lost an encrypted memory stick with details of 6,360 prison patients of HMP Preston The North West London Hospitals Trust reported the theft of computers containing the details of test results of 361 patients. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust reported the loss and theft of computers containing details of 2,300 patients. The memory stick, which was privately owned, was discovered by a car wash attendant who was able to access the contents to establish ownership and returned it to the Trust. Three other health trusts have also been found to have breached the Data Protection Act: Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust, North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. All four have all signed formal undertakings outlining that they will process personal information in line with the Data Protection Act. "

"Virginia Tech Transportation Institute recently reported that large truck drivers increase their crash risk by 23 times when they text and drive. Merely reaching for communication device or dialing a cell phone increased the chance of a car accident or a truck collision by six times. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says that more than 1 million auto crashes a year that happen in North American can be linked to driver inattention."

"Obama Signs Executive Order Limiting Text Messaging for On-The-Job Government Employees Monday, November 23rd, 2009 On September 30, 2009, the Obama administration ordered a ban on texting for all government employees while driving on the job or driving government-owned vehicles. Studies show that talking on a cell phone causes almost 25% of all car accidents. Already, seven states have banned any cellphone use while driving, 18 states have banned texting while driving, and 17 states have made it illegal for school bus drivers to use cellphones while driving. This is all great news for U.S. drivers since last year distracted drivers caused nearly 6,000 deaths in this country alone. The administration is considering additional restrictions on cellphone use by rail, truck and bus drivers."

"Petition drives are under way in six cities with the goal of offering local residents the opportunity to vote in the next election on whether automated ticketing should continue or not."

This article on the banning of traffic cameras meets all of the requirements for ITGS because the article introduces and establishes/expands on the ideas found on the ITGS Triangle. Various Social and Ethical issues are established by the protest currently occurring with the protest to get red of these "robot cops". One of the Social and Ethical issues introduces is Policies. The government currently enforces the policies that allow the use of these traffic cameras on highways and on many of the streets in our communities/societies today. These policies restrict drivers from ever attempting to cross a red light or do thing that may be inappropriate when driving. With these policies, traffic cameras are allowed to take pictures of drivers and their license plate if committing a crime. States like Maryland a protesting against these policies and laws enforced by the government. This article also introduces stakeholders, which are the people driving in their cars, and the government that enforces the practice of these cameras. These Cameras are also the IT system that the article introduces. This article including or referencing an IT system is the single most important aspect of the article. If this article did not introduce the importance of an IT system it would not be reliable to analyze for the ITGS triangle.

This is an article about a European team creating an app can be downloaded on to any internet connected communications device. However, even after being presented with 10m euros, this group of 22 organizations hasn't yet received help from companies such as Apple. Apple still wishes to be different from others.

This meets the requirements for the IT triangle because within the article it refers to some companies not accepting this application. Within strand 1 the issue of The digital divide and equality of access comes up. Within the article i learned about the organizations who are trying to make this app for all people with internet connected devices. This shows that the Apple company is at a sort of disadvantage for being behind in this new "App for all" program. By staying out of they will not be allowing the app created to the devices the company has created. This also related to Strand 2. In this app it will created to work on what ever people desire the app to work on. This is expressed in the article through "The idea would enable a given app to work, for example, on a web-ready television, in a car and on a mobile, no matter the makers of the devices." It would work on all of these things listed. This is represented through "Home and Leisure" and "Political Process". It would relate to "Home and Leisure" because the app can connect to computers and cell phones. It can also relate to the political process, with Apple not really wanting to get involved with the project. The relation between this article and Strand 3 is that this article involves Personal and Public Communications. This app can be downloaded by just about anyone with a internet connected device. The stakeholders in this situation would be the people using the apps. Another stakeholder would be the 22 organizations creating the app. The other stakeholders would the Companies who are allowing this app into their device;.

"A safety device which prevents drivers using mobile phones by automatically intercepting calls and text messages when they are moving has been unveiled. The software tells callers the person they are trying to reach is driving and asks them to leave a message. "