Ethical, Legal, Cultural & Environmental Impact (OCR GCSE Computer Science)

Exam Questions

1 hour14 questions
12 marks

Identify two examples of ethical issues in computing.

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22 marks

State two primary offences under the Computer Misuse Act (1990).

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31 mark

State one disadvantage of proprietary software.

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15 marks

Tick (✓) one box on each row to identify the legislation that would cover each of the given events.

Event

The Data Protection Act (2018)

Computer Misuse Act (1990)

Copyright Designs and Patents Act (1988)

A company transmits personal data to another company without the individual’s permission.

A school accidentally publishes their students’ addresses on the school website.

The interface for a piece of software is replicated by a rival company.

A user leaves a computer logged on and another person leaves them a message on their desktop.

A student guesses their teacher’s password and accesses their computer account.

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26 marks

Tick (✓) one box in each row to show which legislation applies to each action.

Action

Data Protection Act 2018

Computer Misuse Act 1990

Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988

Using a picture for the law company’s new logo without the original creator's permission.

A secretary accessing a lawyer’s personal email account without permission.

Making a copy of the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie and sharing it with a client.

Storing customer data insecurely.

A lawyer installing a key logger on the secretary’s computer.

Selling client’s personal legal data to a marketing company without their permission.

Fig. 2

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32 marks

Layla has created an educational game, she is going to release it as open source.

Give one benefit and one drawback of Layla releasing her game as open source.

Benefit

Drawback

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44 marks

Identify the legislation that relates to the following scenarios:

Scenario

Legislation

A programmer wants to protect their work from being copied or distributed.

A person logs into a computer without permission by guessing the password.

A hacker gains access to a company’s files over a network without permission

A company collects data that it does not need about its customers.

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5a2 marks

Fiona is a software engineer. She is creating a new version of a computer game she released three years ago.

Fiona is considering selling the game online and not making it available physically in shops.

Describe the environmental impact of Fiona’s decision.

5b2 marks

Fiona releases her game under a proprietary licence.

Explain why a proprietary licence is a more appropriate choice than open source.

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18 marks

Social networking websites use artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor posts from users.

Discuss the positive and negative uses of AI by social networking websites including:

  • Legal issues

  • Ethical issues

  • Privacy issues

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28 marks

People often want to buy the most up-to-date smartphones, even though the smartphone they own still works.

Discuss the impact of people wanting to upgrade to the latest smartphone.

In your answer, you might consider the impact on:

  • Smartphone users

  • Cultural issues

  • Ethical issues

  • Environmental issues.

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3a2 marks

A technology company brings out new, updated devices twice a year.

Describe the environmental impacts of the company bringing out new devices twice a year.

3b2 marks

Describe the cultural impacts of the company bringing out new devices twice a year.

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48 marks

A school asks its students to bring in their own electronic devices (e.g. tablets, laptops, mobile phones) to use in lessons instead of purchasing new equipment.

Discuss the issues surrounding students bringing their own devices. Include in your discussion:

  • Ethical issues

  • Legal issues

  • Privacy issues.

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58 marks

Daniel is a medical researcher trying to find a cure for a disease. He has a team of hundreds of people carrying out medical testing.

Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) mean that a computer program could do the work of dozens of researchers in a much shorter time. Daniel decides to increase his use of Artificial Intelligence.

Discuss the issues surrounding this decision. Consider the following in your answer:

  • Ethical issues

  • Legal issues

  • Cultural issues

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68 marks

A small island has 100 people living on it. The island has just been connected to the Internet, after previously having no Internet or mobile phone signal.

Discuss the impact on the island’s inhabitants and businesses of getting access to the Internet.

In your answer you might consider the impact on:

  • Inhabitants

  • Businesses

  • Ethical issues

  • rivacy issues

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