INTRODUCTION

Mobile Technology has radically changed our personal and social lives and how the business world works. Although these changes have mostly been positive (social networking, navigation, and so on), the security of our personal information is at great risk.

UNIT
4.1 Mobile technology

In Chapter 3 we learned that a mobile device is any type of handheld computer, for example, tablets, e-readers, global positioning system (GPS) devices, wireless debit/credit card payment terminals and smartphones. These devices are portable, fit in your hand and are powerful enough to do many of the same things you can do with a desktop or laptop computer.

Internet privacy (also called online privacy) is the right of personal privacy in regards to the rearranging, storing, provision to third parties, and display of information relating to you via the internet. In general, the right to be free from secret surveillance and to determine whether, when, how, and to whom, one’s personal or organizational information is to be revealed.

IMPACT OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

ADVANTAGES

INSTANT COMMUNICATION

Family and friends have easy access to SMS, text messaging, call, video chat, and apps that allow them to instantly communicate with everyone across the globe. Smartphone cameras allow this ‘selfe’ generation to constantly post pictures of themselves, business related pictures, holiday videos and business related videos etc. via social media.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

These devices are integrated with mobile browsers that enable them to access websites anytime and anywhere. A large amount of the total time spent by people on smartphones is used in opening browsers to surf the internet. With easy access to helpful content, learners can have interactive learning through watching education videos, playing education applications and researching topics.

ENTERTAINMENT

Mobile technology (especially smartphones) provides a source of entertainment. Users can listen to their favorite music, play games, gamble on-line, watch movies and read e-books among other things.

SAVING TIME – INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY

Smartphones can do almost everything with the help of apps. Both individuals and businesses benefit from the use of apps like: photo and video editor, ticket booking, online store, payment system, data analysis, personal assistant, and so on. These services are not restricted to business hours. With Global Positioning System (GPS), people can locate certain addresses and areas all around the world which has helped both individuals and business with communication and especially transportation.

PRIVACY

You can do whatever you want without anyone knowing it via a smartphone. You can snap photos of yourself and secure your photo library with a password. You can also send messages to your loved ones without the fear of anyone knowing it. Online transactions can also be done through smartphones.

DISADVANTAGES

COST

Smartphones can be expensive, especially high-end phones with great specs and features. This added cost has a negative impact on a family’s and businesses financial budget.

POOR SOCIAL INTERACTION

‘Real’ social interaction degrades. People no longer interact with people outside since they spend more time with their smartphones.

DISTRACTION

Smartphones can be distracting. Applications notify you when there are messages, updates, latest offerings, etc. These interrupt the momentum and can affect your productivity.

HEALTH

Mobile devices (like smartphones) emit radiofrequency energy which can be absorbed by the tissues in the body. Sleep deprivation, damage to your eyes etc. are some of the health issues associated with the use of smartphones. Addiction to games, social media, and so on, also impacts negatively on your health.

EXTRA WORK

Smartphones are widely used in business. Various apps allow you to work on extra workloads which were not even existent before. Your boss can instantly call you even in the middle of the night.

UNCENSORED CONTENT

With easy access to information and the internet, people, especially children can see uncensored content including violence, pornographic content, fake news, and so on.

IMPACT ON PRIVACY

Your smartphone interrupts you with texts, WhatsApp messages, tweets, e-mails, Facebook alerts, and so on. You are being overloaded by social networking Information on a daily basis. This flood of messages and alerts, distracts you to an extent that productivity and efficiency suffers. All networking tools, sites and apps encourage you to share information, but you are not told of the possible negative consequences. You are also unaware of how your information and uploads will be shared. Search engines are built into various social networking tools and apps and privacy settings are defaulted to ‘maximum sharing and visibility’. These settings allow search engines to access data that you have not restricted. Even if you keep your data private, a search engine can still access your networking profile. Anything you say or do in a group environment is immediately public and vulnerable in terms of being shared. Some social engineers can be con artists who pretend to be what they are not in order to benefit themselves (gain access to information, money, and so on). The availability of personal information on social networking sites makes the jobs of social engineers much easier and hence identity theft (stealing and using another persons identity to fraudulently open accounts) is becoming increasingly prevalent.

Although smartphones are made private, there is still security risks and threats everywhere. Hackers are always present and virtual viruses are potent. Smartphones are vulnerable to these threats when you access the internet.

Several other institutions give internet users cause to worry about their personal or corporate privacy online. Government and law enforcement agencies, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), public search engines, and social media gain access to our private data as we interact with them online – and many of them gain from gathering and distributing this information more widely. This might be for political, investigative purposes, as leverage in facilitating criminal activities or as a profit-making tool in sales to third parties.

Mobite technology users often aren’t even aware that by making an online transaction, they may in effect be selling data about themselves to not only the parent company or website they’re dealing with, but their affiliates and supply chain partners, as well. The ease of connecting mobile devices to public free wifi hotspots and always-on networks has compromised personal and corporate privacy online.

UNIT
4.2 loT – Technologies enabling the loT and their impact on society

The Internet of Things (loT) consists of all the web-enabled devices that collect, send and act on data they acquire from their surrounding environments using embedded sensors, processors and communication hardware. IoT refers to the billions of devices around the world that are connected to the internet through sensors or Wi-Fi.

TECHNOLOGIES THAT ENABLE IOT

The recent convergence of three technological trends has made the IoT possible:

• Increasing processing power of embedded platforms: due to the smaller sizes, reduce in cost and reduce in power consumption, general purpose CPU’s have gradually replaced microcontrollers in devices. The transition to CPUs is critical because CPUs can run operating systems that support networking and popular programming languages.
• Development of smaller OSs and protocol: as the performance of embedded platforms rose, lightweight versions of mainstream operating systems like Windows and Linux displaced embedded operating systems and brought their massive software ecosystems, and large pool of developers, with them.
• Development of wireless communications: Wi-Fi has gotten faster with each new addition to the 802.11 class of protocols. The connectivity options for low-power devices have also been expanding in the industrial and consumer electronics markets.Impact on society

There are many ways that IoT will affect and benefit society, below are a few examples:

• Waste management: sensors in a fridge will record anything that is not used so that you can examine the trends and patterns. The less waste the less pollution. Sensors in bins can record the trends and patterns of what can be recycled.
• Daily commute: Sensors will let you know the shortest route to your work or home; which routes would be the most economical on petrol and if you can rather take public transport. Taxi services for business meetings can be planned according to your calendar and synced with your smartphone.
• Smart cities: These can include fast and convenient transportation systems, street lighting that switches on or off depending on the amount of natural light and energy-efficient buildings. For example, Barcelona has a citywide WiFi and information network linked to sensors, software and a data analytics platform. This provides the city with smart water technology, automated street lighting, remote-controlled irrigation for parks and fountains, “on-demand” waste pickups, digital bus routes and smart parking meters. This has reduced traffic jams and pollution, as well as water, light and energy usage.
• Agriculture: Sensors can track microclimates across farms, to monitor temperature changes and humidity levels as perishable goods move from field to warehouse to store. This can extend their shelf life and eliminate waste.
• Businesses: IoT is used to detect and troubleshoot remote issues, predict maintenance needs, track production line efficiency, monitor devices etc. These directly impact a company’s revenue.
• Smart water sensors: These sensors monitor the water quality, temperature, pressure, and usage. This data is used by the water company to analyse how customers are using water and to help them be more efficient. Water leak detectors are used to find tiny leaks that can lead to huge water waste.

1.Mention any THREE mobile technologies that make life easier, how they have improved your life, and the danger of using this technology.

2.Mention any THREE mobile technologies that make life easier, how they can improve a business, and the danger of using this technology.

3.Research the following companies and complete the table. Sometimes an app might not have any disadvantages.

4.What is your ultimate smart device, either real or invented. Explain its benefits. Design an advertisement and present your smart device to the class.