Abuses of computer technology
ABUSES OF COMPUTER TECHNO
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The Information Age has given people many opportunities and challenges that they never had before. One of the greatest challenges is learning to use computers and the vast amount of information they provide in beneficial ways.
Unfortunately, computer technology can be abused. One area of great concern is the protection of an individual's privacy. Databases now contain information about people that is considered to be private. Hospital records tell about past and present illnesses. Employee records include salary data. Credit records have individuals' bill-paying histories. It is important to control who has access to such records so that only people who have a need for the information can see it and only authorized people can change it. Sometimes, through an error, incorrect information gets into a database. Errors of that sort have been known to cause people a great deal of difficulty.
Computer crimes take a variety of forms. When unauthorized people gain access to a computer system or a database, they can steal valuable information, maliciously delete or change records, or even steal money by changing bank records.
The concept of copyright laws that protect wriginal ideas has also changed. It is diffodt to atch whes makes an unauthored copy of interesation in electronic e Furthere, unlike a photographic copy ofa sem or printed document, avegy of information in digital em ets and bynest can be puguinhable from the original Beyond that, a pengramme can be copied onto a ROM chip Is it then hanheare of software if it is hardware, can you get a patest on the way it works? Legal questions such as these are arising faster than courts can settle them.
The growing use of compu business and industry has matind new jobs, but it has also elimneć old ones. People who lose their jobs a robot takms over certain tal still have many working years belan retirement. Retraining have helped some people an new skills-such as running the robot. But the solutions amon always easy, and they may happen very quickly. Each sor must deal in its own way wis problem as computers change nature of work