1.6

• What are cultural issues?

  Social norms, values, beliefs, and practices that impact a group of people.
• What is the digital divide?

  This is the gap between those who have access to modern digital technology and those who have limited access.
• Give an example of a cultural issue.

  • Changes to work - the internet, development of new technologies puts other people out of work
• What are environmental issues?

  These are issues that concern the natural world and the negative effects of producing, using and discarding computer systems and devices.
• What are some examples of environmental issues?

  • Energy and material consumption - thousands of new devices are manufactured each day using a range of materials.
  • Pollution and Waste - generating the electricity to power computers creates pollution.
• What are ethical issues?

  How something is perceived - is it right or wrong?
• What are some examples of ethical issues?

  • Drones - they could be used for filming and photography or dropping off packages.
  • Self-driving cars - they may be safer but software processes may fail.
• What are legal and privacy issues?

  Issues that regard laws that have been introduced by the UK government to protect data, systems and networks from unauthorised access.
• What are 3 examples of legislation?

  Data Protection Act (2018)

  Computer Misuse Act (1990)

  Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)
• Data Protection Act (2018) - Six Principles

  • Collected lawfully and processed fairly
  • Only used for the reasons specified
  • Data must be relevant and not excessive
  • Data must be accurate and up-to-date
  • Data must not be stored longer than necessary
  • Data must be stored and processed securely
• Computer Misuse Act (1990) - Three Principles

  • No unauthorised access to data.
  • No unauthorised access to data that could be used for further illegal activities.
  • No unauthorised modification of data.
• Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)


  It is a criminal offence to copy work that is not your own without the permission of the creator or the copyright holder.
• What is a software licence?

  A software license refers to how a user can legally use the software, there are 2 main types.
• What are the advantages of open source license?

  + The source code is available to edit so it can be customised to the organisation's needs.

  + Unwanted features can be removed to make the software run faster.

  +Often low in price and sometimes free.

  +Shared in the public domain so users can work together to modify, debug and improve a product.
• What are the disadvantages of open source license?

  -There are security risks as editors may add malicious code to the program.

  -The code may not be prone to errors as it may have not been tested fully.

  -It may be difficult to receive support as development is often distributed.
• What are the advantages of proprietary license?

  +The code is well tested and has been professionally developed.

  +Most developers will provide some type of support.

  +The company can be held to account if it doesn't work as listed.

  +Updates will generally be secure.
• What are the disadvantages of proprietary license?

  -Users may rely on the company to provide updates and fix issues.

  -Often not free and may be expensive.

  -Users cannot modify, debug or improve the code for their own benefit.