1.6 – Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental impacts of digital technology

As Computer Systems become not only more advanced, but also much more widespread in our lives, people will no doubt think of ways of using the computer systems to exploit others and gain an unfair advantage. Laws will be developed to make it illegal to do this, but there will always be a delay and the legislation is bound to be out of date.

Governments that create the laws may also be poorly advised, and lacking the understanding of the issues - they may often apply completely unsuitable restrictions to computer systems based on how society has behaved before the systems were developed.

For your exam, you need to understand several key pieces of legislation.

The Data Protection Act has been around for several decades, but was updated in 2018 to include the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

The DPA concerns how personal data is stored and maintained. There are eight principles:

1. Data should be processed fairly and lawfully: not obtained by deception, and the purpose clearly stated.
2. Data should only be used for the purpose specified.
3. Data should be relevant and not excessive.
4. Data should be accurate and up-to-date.
5. Data should only be kept for as long as necessary.
6. Personal data must be handled in a way that ensures security

The Computer Misuse Act is often referred to as the "hacking law". It makes it an offense to access a computer system without authorisation. Accessing a computer system may just be logging on as another user because they have shared your password, or could mean a much more complex attack on a computer or network using sophisticated techniques (this is the kind of attack that you would see in a movie!)

• It is illegal to access data stored on a computer unless you have permission to do so. Unauthorised access is often referred to as hacking .
• It is illegal to access data on a computer when that material will be used to commit further illegal activity, such as fraud or blackmail.
• It is illegal to make changes to any data stored on a computer when the user does not have permission to do so. If you access and change the contents of someone’s files without their permission, you are breaking the law. This includes installing a virus or other malware which damages or changes the way the computer works.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act gives everyone rights over any original work that they create. When someone writes a new piece of text, song, creates a video, or designs something, then they are said to be the copyright holder of the work. Other people are not allowed to copy the work (which is said to be intellectual property), without the permission of the copyright holder.

When a new idea needs a more formal protection, the owner can apply for a patent. The owner will need to prove that the idea is unique and will register the design with the patent office. If the idea is particularly good and may be worth a lot of money, then this may need to be done in many different countries, which can be very expensive.

The patent will apply for a set term, usually several decades. Some of the larger tech companies hold a vast number of patents ranging from the shape of a mobile phone, to some speculative ideas that it would not be possible to implement now. If technology developed in such a way that the patent design could actually be made, then a royalty fee would have to be paid for every product which used it.