Knowledge Organiser: Legal Issues in Computing
Key Terms
- Data Protection Act 2018 (UK GDPR): Protects personal data and gives individuals control over their information
- Computer Misuse Act 1990: Makes unauthorised access to computer systems illegal
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988: Protects creators' rights over their original work
- Intellectual property: Creative works owned by their creator (software, music, images, text)
Must-Know Facts
- Data Protection: data must be lawfully collected, accurate, secure, and not kept longer than needed
- Individuals' rights under UK GDPR: access, correction, deletion in many cases (the right to erasure), portability
- Computer Misuse Act Section 1: unauthorised access (up to 2 years)
- Computer Misuse Act Section 2: unauthorised access with intent to commit further offences (up to 5 years)
- Computer Misuse Act Section 3: unauthorised modification/damage to impair computer operation (up to 10 years)
- Computer Misuse Act Section 3A: making, supplying or obtaining tools for computer misuse offences (up to 2 years)
- Copyright: you cannot copy, distribute, or modify software/media without permission
Key Concepts
- Main data protection principles: lawful/fair/transparent, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, security (plus accountability)
- Computer Misuse Act: Section 1 (access), Section 2 (access + further offences), Section 3 (damage/modification), Section 3A (making/supplying hacking tools)
- Open source software (named by OCR): the code can be viewed, changed and shared (e.g. Linux)
- Proprietary software (named by OCR): licensed for use only; copying is illegal
- Exam tip: distinguish between ethical issues (what is right) and legal issues (what is lawful)
Common Mistakes
- Applying the wrong Act to a scenario: Data Protection covers personal data (names, addresses); Copyright covers creative works (software, music, images) — they are different laws
- Thinking unauthorised access is only illegal if damage is done: Computer Misuse Act Section 1 makes unauthorised access illegal even with no intent to cause harm
- Confusing ethical and legal issues: Legal = what is lawful by statute; ethical = what is morally right — something can be legal but unethical (e.g. collecting excessive data)
- Forgetting individuals' rights under UK GDPR: Individuals have the right to access, correct, and request deletion of their personal data
- Saying open source software has no rules: Open source software comes with a licence that sets out what you may do with it, so it is not simply "free to do anything with"