Personal Data (Edexcel GCSE Computer Science)

What is a legal issue?

• A legal issue is a problem or dispute concerning the interpretation, application, or violation of laws

• Examples of legal issues in computing are:

  • Copyright - The use of other peoples content without permission

  • Cybersecurity - Protecting against hackings, data breaches and all other cybercrimes

  • Data protection - Responsible collection, storing and use of personal information

What is an ethical issue?

• An ethical issue is a situation that raises questions about what is right and wrong

• As technology advances and laws are slow to keep up, ethical issues are more prevalent

• Ethical issues call in a persons own morals and values as there is often a lack of an easy answer and decisions can have consequences for yourself and others

What is personal data?

• Personal data is information that relates to an identified or an identifiable individual

• Personal data can be extremely valuable to organisations and can be obtained in many ways

• Examples of how personal data can be collected include:

  • GPS

  • Number plate/face recognition

  • Smart listening devices

  • Signing up to services, organisations and products

  • Customer surveys

  • Electronic tagging

  • Official purposes - council/government/medical services

• The collection of personal data raises many ethical and legal issues such as:

  • Privacy

  • Data protection

  • Misuse

  • Cookies

Privacy

What is a privacy issue?

• A privacy issue is an issue that comes from collecting, accessing or using personal information without consent or control

• Who controls the data and how it is used raises crucial questions as technology becomes a bigger part of every day life

The argument

Examples of privacy issues in computing

Face recognition

• The increase in cameras and advances in technology means face recognition is possible, whilst this can mean an advantage in crime prevention/detection, people are concerned about privacy.

• Privacy concerns include, what else is being watched? and who is watching?

GPS

• GPS is built in to most smart phones and brings with it a number of features that many see as a benefit, 'find my phone' for when it gets lost/stolen, location tagging in photos and for navigation software.

• Some users are concerned with where this data is kept? ,who might have access to it? and is it being used for any other purposes?

Internet monitoring

• Most schools and businesses use monitoring software to track their students' and employees' internet activity

• Social media companies also employ similar tools to detect and remove illegal or harmful content like hate speech, misinformation, or violent threats

• Arguments for, these measures promote responsible online behaviour and prevent cyberbullying

• Arguments against, concerns about limitations to free speech, potential abuse by authorities who control the monitoring systems, and biased algorithms leading to censorship

Data Protection

What is the Data Protection Act (2018)?

• The Data Protection Act (2018) (DPA) is a law that protects personal data from being misused

• Examples of personal data would include

  • Name

  • Address

  • Date of Birth

  • Race

  • Religion

• The Data Protection Act gives individuals ownership of their own personal data

• The Data Protection Act requires organisations to get consent before collecting data

• Organisations/people that store personal data have to follow the data protection principles, although there are a few exemptions:

  • Domestic purposes – if you only use personal data for such things as writing to friends and family or taking pictures for your own enjoyment, you are not subject to the DPA

  • Law enforcement – the Police investigating a crime is not subject to the DPA. E.g. if someone has been suspected of a crime they can't request to see the evidence about them

  • Intelligence services processing – personal data processed by the intelligence services (e.g. MI5) is not covered by the DPA

The data protection principles 

Misuse

What is the Computer Misuse Act (1990)?

• The Computer Misuse Act (1990) (CMA) is a law to protect the malicious use of computers

• The act was originally created to make sure that computer hacking was covered within the law

• The law helps protect individuals' personal data by discouraging hackers from accessing it

Primary offences under the CMA

• The Computer Misuse Act has 3 primary offences:

  1. Unauthorised access to computer materials
     E.g. If a student finds out a teacher's password and then accesses their computer and opens their files
     

  2. Unauthorised access with intent to commit further offences
     E.g. If the student finds out a teacher's password and then accesses their computer with the intent to increase their marks on their last test result
     

  3. Unauthorised modification of computer files
     E.g. If the student finds out a teacher's password and then accesses their computer and increases their mark on their last test result

• The consequences of each offence are worse depending on whether it's offence 1, 2 or 3 with each offence being punishable with time in prison

Cookies

What is a cookie?

• A cookie is a tiny data file stored on a computer by browser software that holds information relating to your browsing activity

• Typically a cookie will contain:

  • Browsing history - what websites you have visited

  • Login information - usernames & passwords

  • Preferences - language/font size/themes

What is the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (2003)?

• The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (2003) is a law that governs the use of cookies

• Any website that wants to store a cookie must:

  • Tell users the cookies are there

  • Explain what the cookies are doing

  • Obtain users consent to store the cookie