Most countries establish laws which are to ensure safety for every individual. There are many areas which are protected with different legislation which is allocated for that specific area. The area which is the main concern in this discussion is the laws which governs the internet specifically in south Africa.

The main legislation which is of high concern based on the internet laws is the electronic transaction and communication act 25 of 2002. The objective of this act, according to the government gazette (2002), is to facilitate electronic communication and transaction in the public eye and the purpose for it is to:

• Recognise the information for the importance of the economy for economic and social prosperity of the country
• The information is of use to the underserviced areas
• To ensure that there aren’t any electronic communication barriers within the republic
• Providing the e-government service to the general public services which can be available of the private citizens

The main concern on the internet which has been a trend for over a decade are the cyber-attacks that have happened over the internet as they have infected social media to e-mail account, even tracking ones’ personal details on the internet. As it is stated in chapter 13 of the electronic transaction and communication act of 2002, cybercrime is described as unauthorised access indicates that they access information which they are aware that they are not suppose access the data that they are committing a criminal offense. This is a crime as it applies to the Interception and Prohibition Act( Act no.127 of 1997)

For more information, you can visit https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a25-02.pdf as to learn more about the electronic transaction and communication act.

Bibliography

Indpendent Instituttion of Education, 2015. DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP 2019 Manual Guide, s.l.: s.n.

The Statistic Portal, 2019. Most popular social networks worldwide as of January 2019, ranked by number of active users (in millions). [Online]
Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/
[Accessed 13 April 2019].

Yadav, S., 2006. Facebook – The Complete Biography. [Online]
Available at: https://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/#NiztRw_j0uq5
[Accessed 13 April 2019].

Q2.2 Digital footprint has traces of which contains personal information arising from the activities online can be risky as other technological users can access that information. Digital footprint can be known for the basis of the user online reputation as people can see their activities and should the person not consider how they behaviour online this can harm their reputation both online and offline. Online users need to consider what they do online as their activities are monitored by other users and the type of information which they display such as hateful comments, images and videos can be very destructive towards a person overall reputation whether its online or offline. Certain issues which can question their creditability and integrity within the real world, so users should be very careful and beware of the dangers of the internet as it might affect your real life.

Q1.1 Nine elements of digital citizenship

• Digital access- It is known as the full electronic participation in society.
• Digital commerce- The refers to the electronic transaction which comprises of the
• Digital communication- It is a form of exchanging information electronically.
• Digital literacy– this is being able to use information and communicate technologies as to finding, evaluating and creating information.
• Digital etiquette- This is a set of rules which refers to behaviour to ensure that the internet can be better for all users.
• Digital law- It is the electronic responsibility which are the based-on actions, deeds which can be either ethical or unethical.
• Digital rights and responsibilities- This refers to the freedom and privileges that is granted to all the digital technology users but are responsible for the behaviour that is expected of them.
• Digital health and wellness- This is based on the physical and psychology of the digital technologies.
• Digital security- This refers to the electronic information and information system which can be accessed without the interference of unauthorised access.

Q1.2 Understanding what social capital is?

Social capital can be defined according to (Indpendent Instituttion of Education, 2015)“the collective value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise form these networks to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity). The central premises of social capital are that social networks have value.” This translates that social capital can be valuable in forms of communication as it is effective and can contribute towards both social growth and personal growth.

Organisation such as Facebook, Airbnb and Uber have been able to take advantage of social capital as they have promoted their brands on so many social networks which has helped them grow their company on the market. A company such as uber has managed to expand their operation through the high demands of social networks users which has enable them to operate in different countries and continue to create a high demand in different areas. They use social network tools as part of advertising their products by collaborating with the social media platforms as to effectively communicate with the users of the social media which reaches a wider demographic as a result of social capital.

What is a digital footprint?

The first thing before discussing the advantages and disadvantages of digital footprint, we first need what is a digital footprint. It is said that when we access the internet, we leave a trail which basically our “footprint” on the internet. This can contribute based on our online reputation which people use examine and determine their characteristics. This means that it can contribute or damage our reputation. There are positive or negative effects of having a digital footprint which are explained below:

Advantages:

One advantage is that should your digital footprint reflect a positive image can help with your offline image such self-promotion can help which reaching new level within your job or the possibility of a job opportunity. There can be benefits of a digital footprint but the reason why their aren’t that many advantages of digital footprint is because they are limited by the disadvantages that are going to be discussed below.

Disadvantages:

• Digital footprint can leave a trail which many tend use to gain information about one person as their can help access their emails, uploading or downloading image and videos. This can be used against them as it can attract hackers.
• Your online reputation can affect your offline one which means that many have to be careful about what you say online as it can be used against you offline.
• Not only is your reputation at stake but the things which are said online for instance on social media platforms (e.g. Facebooks, Instagram and Twitter) can stay on those platforms can’t be changed or removed as it stays there possibly forever.

In conclusion, a digital footprint has more cons that pros which means that people have to be more careful about their digital footprint as it can be used against them and can impact a person’s life in a negative way.

Stats SA is the leading experts of grouping and gathering information, then presenting the information to the public in order to show the general growth or shrinkage of the country based on the population, the economy and the access to basic services. According to the Stats SA website, they use Census as a way to gathering information in order to evaluate the general living condition of the general population. This organisation takes a population census which is captured at a particular moment in time as the last population census was taking on October 9^th, 2011. For any other information relating to Statistic South Africa background, go to this URL link http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=3859 to find out more information.

Alexandra this one of the oldest townships around Johannesburg ever since it was established in 1912, which means its over 100 years old. This area has a huge population group as according to the 2011 statistic report, the population number is an estimate 179 624 people who live in Alexandra and the number of houses were an estimate of 63 737 which are residents within the community. the sex percentage at that point in time whereby 51.7% of the population were male and 48.3% were female.

This area is somehow at a technological disadvantage as they are limited to have access to the internet. The statistic from the 2011 report point out that a few individuals have access to the internet, other have limited access to the internet whilst the rest of the population don’t have any access whatsoever. The illustration based on this observation is that within the report it shows that the grouped analysis of the population that the percentage of individuals who have access to the internet at their homes is 4.5% and have internet access on their cell phones is 16.5%. There are others who have limited access as they the percentage of those who access the internet at their work place is 3.4% and other facilities such as internet café in their areas is 14.7% . The last group who do not have any access to the internet are 60.9%.

There might be a possibility that there are certain factors which have contributed towards the large percentage of people not have any access to the internet. One of these factors can be due to the fact that most of these peoples from the Alexandra population doesn’t have any landlines as in the 2011 report it shows that out the all the households in this area only 6.4% have telephone/landline which can mean that the fibre connection can be reduced. The other possible factor towards the digital divide in Alexandra is the economic state of the area. The statistics show that from the 2011 report that the rage of groups which begins from people who have no possible income is up to a rate of 25.1%  up until the group which earns approximately R2 457 601+ is only at a rate of 0.1%.

For more information about these results on click at the link below:

Bibliography

Stats sa, 2011. Alexandra. [Online]
Available at: http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=4286&id=11305
[Accessed 27 Feburary 2019].

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Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton