Ethical & legal impacts of digital technology – GCSE Computer Science exam questions with mark scheme

1Grade 1–33 marks

For each situation, state the legal problem with what has been done. [3]

(a) An employee uses a colleague's login details, without permission, to read the colleague's emails.
(b) A company keeps customers' names and addresses on a cloud storage service for many years after they close their accounts, and does not protect the data with a password or encryption.
(c) A student writes a program that spreads across the school network and deletes files.

(a) Accessing a computer system / data without permission (unauthorised access / hacking) is illegal; allow 'breaks the Computer Misuse Act'; ignore 'invasion of privacy' on its own(1)
(b) Personal data must be kept secure / must not be kept longer than necessary (by law); allow 'breaks data protection law / the Data Protection Act / GDPR'; ignore 'it is unethical' on its own(1)
(c) Creating / spreading malware (a virus / worm) that changes or deletes data without permission is illegal; allow 'unauthorised modification of data' / 'breaks the Computer Misuse Act'(1)
Answer: (a) unauthorised access to a computer system (hacking) (b) personal data not kept secure / kept longer than necessary (c) spreading malware that deletes data without permission
Examiner tip: Say what the law forbids (getting in or changing data without permission; failing to look after personal data). AQA does not require the names of Acts, but naming the right one is still credited.

2Grade 6–74 marks

A student sees a teacher's password written on a sticky note. Later, the student uses it to log in to the school's network and looks at other students' exam results. The student does not change anything.

(a) Explain why the student's action is illegal, even though nothing was changed. [2]

(b) Explain one ethical issue raised by the student's action. [2]

(a) The student had no permission / was not authorised to use the teacher's account / access the data; allow 'it is hacking / unauthorised access'(1)
(a) Gaining unauthorised access to a computer system / data is itself an offence – it does not have to involve changing or deleting anything; allow 'breaks the Computer Misuse Act' only with this idea(1)
(b) Issue: it invades other students' privacy / exam results are personal data the students have not agreed to share(1)
(b) Expansion, e.g. the student could share the results, causing embarrassment / distress; or it breaks the trust between the school and students / the teacher, who may be blamed for the access. Allow other valid issue + expansion pairs(1)
Answer: (a) Using someone else's login without permission is unauthorised access, which is illegal even if no data is changed. (b) e.g. it invades other students' privacy, because their results are personal data that could be shared and cause distress.
Examiner tip: Knowing the password does not make access authorised – what matters is whether you have permission.

3Grade 6–74 marks

A delivery company plans to replace its van drivers with self-driving vehicles.

Explain two ethical issues the company should consider. [4]

First ethical issue identified, from: drivers lose their jobs / unemployment; who is responsible / liable if a self-driving vehicle causes an accident (programmer, company, manufacturer); safety of the public if the software has bugs / the vehicle is hacked; privacy of location / camera data collected by the vehicles; allow (positive) fewer accidents caused by tired / distracted human drivers(1)
Expansion matching the first issue: (jobs) drivers' skills may not transfer to other work, causing financial hardship, so the company should consider retraining / redeploying them; (liability) it may be unclear who victims can claim against, or the software may have to decide in an unavoidable accident whose safety to put first; (safety) a faulty or hacked vehicle could injure pedestrians or other road users; (privacy) cameras record people in the street without their consent; (fewer accidents) self-driving vehicles do not get tired, so lives could be saved(1)
Second, different ethical issue identified from the list above(1)
Expansion matching the second issue, as above. Max 2 marks per issue; the two issues must be different; ignore cost savings to the company unless linked to an effect on people(1)
Answer: Job losses (and retraining), and responsibility/liability for accidents caused by the software.
Examiner tip: Ethical issues are about right and wrong for people – keep cost savings out unless you link them to who is affected.

4Grade 8–99 marks

A city council plans to install CCTV cameras with automatic facial recognition throughout its town centre. The cameras will send footage over a wireless network, the system will compare faces with a database, and the footage will be stored on cloud servers.

Discuss the ethical, legal and environmental issues that the council should consider. [9]

Ethical: privacy – people are monitored / identified without their consent; constant surveillance may change how people behave(1)
Ethical: misidentification / bias in the recognition software could lead to innocent people being wrongly stopped(1)
Ethical: benefits – may deter crime / help find missing or wanted people, so a public safety vs privacy trade-off; the police / government may want access to the data, which citizens may resist(1)
Legal: footage of identifiable people is personal data – by law it must be kept secure, used only for the stated purpose and not kept longer than necessary; people can ask to see data held about them (naming the Data Protection Act / UK GDPR not required)(1)
Legal / security: footage sent over the wireless network or stored in the cloud could be intercepted or hacked, so it should be encrypted and the council must make sure the cloud provider keeps it secure; hacking into the system is illegal (unauthorised access), but the council could still be fined / sued if a data breach happens(1)
Environmental: energy used by the cameras and by the data centres storing / processing large amounts of video, often generated from fossil fuels(1)
Environmental: manufacture of cameras and servers uses raw materials; old equipment becomes e-waste(1)
Judgement, e.g. council should limit how long footage is stored / be open about how it is used / delete images of people not on the database, to balance benefits against risks(1)

Level	Marks	What it looks like
Level 3	7–9	Detailed, well-balanced discussion covering ethical, legal AND environmental issues, applied to the council scenario, with points developed (consequences explained) and reasoned judgements made.
Level 2	4–6	Discussion covers at least two of the three areas with some development and some application to the scenario; may be unbalanced.
Level 1	1–3	Isolated points, mostly listed rather than explained; little reference to the scenario.
No credit	0	Nothing worthy of credit.

Answer: Balanced discussion: privacy and accuracy concerns vs public safety; data protection obligations and keeping wireless / cloud data secure; energy and e-waste impacts; reasoned conclusion.
Examiner tip: Cover all three areas named in the question – a top-band answer cannot ignore environmental issues.

Still losing marks on this topic?

Book a free introductory session and we'll find exactly which step is costing you.

Book a free intro