M2: Explain Legal and Ethical Issues Involved In Creating a Website

Globalisation means that everyone can see my website. I will need to be aware of the different laws, regulatory bodies and ethical issues that comes with creating a website, but also make sure I am not going to offend anyone from different countries around the world. My website needs to meet these standards and be presented in a professional manner; I want my website to create a positive personal brand image for myself.

I need to meet the laws put in place by the government and the regulatory body, Ofcom. They regulate the content on websites to ensure there isn’t any illegal activity or inappropriate content on websites and to make the internet safer for us.

Copyright is a law that protects an artist’s work from being used without their permission (graphics, artwork, text, music…). I will need to follow copyright laws to ensure no legal action will be taken against me. To do this, I will take some of my own photos and I will also create my own graphics such as my own personal logo. If I was to use another person’s work, this must be creative commons (I will have to follow the rules the owner puts in place) or copyright/royalty free (the only content that you can use however you like). Because this is my personal portfolio website, I only want to use my work to showcase what I can do.

Libel is a written statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation. The victim could take legal action against me if I did this; it is also unethical to bring someone down. I will only be writing about myself for my portfolio website so I cannot be libel. Slander is a spoken damaging statement; I will not say or write anything that will upset or hurt someone’s image.

The DPA (Data Protection Act) also known as GDPR, is a major law I will need to abide by when I create my website. This law tells companies what data they are allowed to ask for, how to keep it confidential and how long it is allowed to be stored. Websites usually include cookies. These cookies can track your website preferences, browser history, IP address etc. If a company or holder of the information doesn’t take the necessary measures to protect this information, they can be fined a certain percent of their overall income from the year. This is important because personal information can be used maliciously by cyber criminals. For my website, I don’t think I will be using cookies; I won’t need to track my website visitors since I won’t be using this information to market towards them for example.

I also need to be aware of how my website will be perceived by others. I won’t include content that might make others feel uncomfortable such as violence etc. I won’t discriminate against anybody by being sexist, racist, homophobic…. I will not be using any swearing on my website, and I will be kind to all. I will not by lying on my website because this is unethical; I am going to provide correct information about myself which makes me reliable and trustworthy. Furthermore, I don’t want to offend different cultures so I will not be including anything about cultures on my portfolio website. To conclude, I am going to follow all the laws and make my website welcoming to everyone.