Technology and Society
What the domain tests
Technology and society asks how technical systems shape, and are shaped by, social choices. The exam tests whether you can assess benefits, risks, power and regulation rather than assuming technology is automatically progress.
Core rules and concepts
- Technological determinism says technology drives society; social shaping says users, institutions and power shape technology. Most real cases are mixed.
- Key issues: privacy, surveillance, algorithmic bias, automation and work, digital divides, e-government, cybersecurity and environmental costs.
- The GDPR (EU 2016/679), applied in Malta through data-protection law, requires lawful basis, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limits, security and accountability. Consent must be freely given, specific and informed.
- Ethical analysis goes beyond legality: ask who benefits, who bears risk, whether alternatives exist and whether the measure is proportionate.
Worked example. A school proposes facial recognition for attendance. Reasoning: identify the purpose (efficiency, safety), the data (biometric templates, sensitive), the alternatives (cards, roll call), the risks (misidentification, function creep, pressure to consent) and the legal tests (necessity, proportionality, data minimisation). A less intrusive method may achieve the same aim. The strongest answer weighs benefits against rights, not just technology is useful.
Traps that cost marks
- Techno-solutionism: assuming an app solves a social problem.
- Saying technology is neutral; design embeds values.
- Confusing legal compliance with ethical acceptability.
- Ignoring the digital divide and unequal impacts.