Road to 5**﹕Smartphones and privacy
【明報專訊】◆Source A
Now what? Who is your owner that was mugged?
Source: A cartoon by 尊子, published in Ming Pao on 2017.09.14
◆Source B
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the advent of the iPhone, Apple released the iPhone X in September 2017, which features a full screen design for the first time. What is more, a facial recognition function (Face ID)has replaced fingerprint unlocking (Touch ID). The front camera and sensor provide 3D images of the owner's face, which can be used to unlock the phone and make payments through Apple Pay.
——an abridged report by Ming Pao published on 2017.09.14
◆Interpretation of the cartoon
The smartphone in the cartoon can recognise an owner only through their facial features but nothing else, showing the limitations of the iPhone's facial unlocking function. If the owner has an injury to the face, the phone might not be able to recognise the owner, calling into question the security or convenience.
■Questions and answering guidelines
1. What are the user-related factors that increase the risk of leakage of private information when using a smartphone?
Lack of awareness of network security
For convenience, people might not enable the locking function, and their passwords for online accounts might be too simple or not updated regularly. When they lose their phones, they might lose their private information. Their online accounts might also be hacked into.
Using too many apps
As smartphones become increasingly popular, there are more and more applications, some of which ask the user to allow access to private information. This increases the risk of leakage of private information.
Web-based social interactions
Nowadays people tend to connect with friends with social networking applications, where a large number of photographs and videos are stored. The fact that users tend to log into their social network accounts with their smartphones means that their phones contain a lot of folders with personal information. This increases the risk of leakage of personal data if they lose their phones.
2. How can we reduce the negative impacts of information technology?
Treat information technology as just a tool
Information technology brings convenience to our lives, but over-reliance on them can lead to addiction. We should reduce the use of technological products like smartphones unless it is necessary, and broaden the scope of our lives by, for example, exercising more.
Enhance our technological knowledge
Science and technology leads to negative impacts often because people do not fully understand it. They might not understand issues of network safety when using the network or fail to pay attention to posture and usage time when using a smartphone. We can reduce the negative impacts of technology through understanding how to use it appropriately.
Cultivate good manners for using information technology
Given the power of information technology, it can be exploited by some to engage in illegal activities, such as internet fraud and the invasion into others' computers for personal data. If efforts are made to cultivate and enhance people's manners and teach them the importance of respecting others' privacy, illegal activities that are driven by curiosity, mischief or greed might be reduced.
Text: 劉俊偉, Liberal Studies teacher at Po Leung Kuk Yao Ling Sun College
Translation: Terence Yip
[通通識 第540期]
