1.6

• What is a legislation?

  many countries have created legislation or have passed laws about the use of computers and data to protect data about people, hacking computer systems and protecting copyright and patents
• What is the GDPR?

  General Data Protection Regulation - Imposes strict regulation and penalties for companies in the EU that suffer data breaches

  -aim is to protect privacy of data for people in the EU
• What is the Data Protection Act (2018)?

  -it protects the data of individuals that is stored on computers and processed by organisations

  -it controls how your personal information is used by organisations, businesses or the government

  -aims to safeguard all information held about an individual classified as personal or sensitive

  -the act ensures data stored about you is processed fairly and lawfully

  -for example, there are strict rules on who can access or alter your health records
• What are the principles of data protection act?

  -data must be collected and used fairly and inside the law

  -data must only be held and used for the reasons given to the information

  -data must be relevant and not excessive

  -data must be accurate and up to date

  -data must not be stored for longer than necessary

  -data must be stored and processed securely
• How does the data protection act work?

  -each person who has their data stored is known as a data subject

  -an employee within an organisation must be appointed as a data controller and it is they who are responsible for registering with the Information Commissioner

  -the Information Commissioner is the person in the UK who is responsible for managing several laws, most significantly the Data protection act

  -when registering with the information commissioner, the organisation's data controller must be clear on exactly:

  -what information is being collected

  -why it is being collected

  -what the data will be used for
• What is the Computer Misuse Act (1990)?

  -the act was introduced as computers became cheaper and more common at home and work

  -the act attempts to stop and punish those who use computers inappropriately

  -breaking any of the three principles could result in fines and a jail sentence but only if it can be proved it was done on purpose and not by accident
• What are the three main principles of the Computer Misuse Act (1990)?

  -no authorised access to data, like hacking a computer system

  -no unauthorised access to data that could be used for further illegal activities, like accessing personal data to use as blackmail or identity theft

  -no unauthorised modification of data, like spreading a virus to change data
• What is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)?

  -this act makes it a criminal offence to copy work that is not your won without the permission of the creator or the copyright holder

  -this can refer to text, images, music, videos or software

  -owning the copyright of an image might not prevent others from copying and using it but this act means that the owner can bring legal proceedings in court to those who have stolen their work

  -however it is difficult to trace who has stolen work once it has been uploaded to the internet and copies can easily spread, especially television shows and movies
• What actions does the copyright, designs and patents act prohibit?

  -making copies of copyrighted material to sell to others

  -importing and downloading illegally copied material, except for personal use

  -distributing enough copyrighted material to have a noticeable effect on the copyright holder

  -possessing equipment used to copy copyrighted material, as part of a business
• What is a software licence?

  refers to how a user can legally use the soft ware
• What are the two types of software licences?

  -open source licence

  -proprietary licence
• What does source code mean?

  he software code written by programmers
• What does open source code mean?

  if the software is open source it means that users can view and modify the source code
• What are examples of open source code?

  Linux, Python and Firefox
• What are the benefits of open source code?

  -since the source code is available to edit, it can be customised to the organisations needs

  -unwanted features can be removed to make the software run faster

  -often shared in the public domain so users can work together to modify, debug and improve a product

  -it is often at a low price and sometimes free
• What are the disadvantages of open source code?

  -security risks- some editors may add malicious code to the program

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

  -it may be difficult to receive support as development is often distributed between people in different locations

  -requires technical skills to be able to adapt source code efficiently and to maintain the code
• What is proprietary licence?

  -closed source because the code is restricted

  -users are prevented from being able to view or modify the source code

  -you are able to buy the right to use the software, but you do not actually own it
• What are examples of proprietary licence?


  Microsoft Office and Spotify
• What are the benefits to proprietary Licence?

  -code is well tested and has been professionally developed

  -updates will generally be secure

  -the company can be held to account if it does not perform as listed in the terms and conditions upon purpose

  -most developers will provide some for or help or support
• What are the disadvantages to proprietary source code?

  -users must rely on the company to provide updates and fix issues

  -this might be infrequent or stop completely

  -it is not often free and may be expensive

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