Legislation and software licences – GCSE Computer Science exam questions with mark scheme

1Grade 1–33 marks

Identify the law that has most likely been broken in each situation. Choose from: Data Protection Act 2018, Computer Misuse Act 1990, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

(a) A student guesses a teacher's password and logs into their email account. [1]

(b) A gym sells its members' names and phone numbers to a marketing company without permission. [1]

(a) Computer Misuse Act (1990)(1)
(b) Data Protection Act (2018); allow DPA / GDPR(1)
(c) Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988); allow CDPA / copyright law(1)
Answer: (a) Computer Misuse Act (b) Data Protection Act (c) Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
Examiner tip: Unauthorised ACCESS = Computer Misuse Act; misusing personal DATA = Data Protection Act.

2Grade 4–54 marks

A company stores personal data about its customers.

(a) Describe two requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 that the company must follow. [2]

(b) A former employee uses an old login to access the company's network and deletes customer records. Identify the law that has been broken and explain why the former employee's actions are an offence under this law. [2]

(a) Any two from: data must be used fairly, lawfully and transparently; used only for the specified / stated purpose; adequate, relevant and limited to what is needed; accurate and kept up to date; kept no longer than necessary; kept secure / protected from loss or unauthorised access; customers must be allowed to see their data (subject access request) / have it corrected; allow: not transferred abroad without adequate protection(1)
(a) Second requirement from the list(1)
(b) Computer Misuse Act (1990)(1)
(b) Either: they no longer have permission, so logging in is unauthorised access to a computer system; or: deleting the records is unauthorised modification of computer material / data. Do not accept 'hacking' alone without the idea of no permission(1)
Answer: (a) e.g. kept secure; only used for the stated purpose (b) Computer Misuse Act 1990 – they are no longer authorised, so this is unauthorised access, and deleting records is unauthorised modification of data
Examiner tip: Ex-employees are not authorised just because they still have a login – the access is still unauthorised under the Computer Misuse Act.

3Grade 4–54 marks

A school is choosing between open source and proprietary software for its office suite.

(a) Give two features of open source software. [2]

(b) Give two reasons why the school might choose proprietary software instead. [2]

(a) Any two from: source code is available / can be viewed; users can modify / adapt the code; can be shared / redistributed; usually free (no licence fee); developed / tested by a community(1)
(a) Second feature from the list(1)
(b) Any two from: comes with official support / help / regular updates from the company; well tested before release / reliable; compatible with industry-standard file formats / software used elsewhere; staff may already be trained in it; code cannot be changed by others so it is more controlled / secure(1)
(b) Second reason from the list(1)
Answer: (a) Source code available and can be modified; usually free (b) Official support/updates; well tested / industry standard
Examiner tip: 'Open source = free' is only one feature – the key idea is that the source code can be seen and changed.

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