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will be developed to make it illegal to do this, but there will always be a delay and the legislation is bound to be out of date.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.

One way to classify software is through ownership and licensing. There are two types of ownership and licensing software:

• open source software

• proprietary software

While both types of software are usually widely available, they differ quite considerably in what can and cannot be done.

Open source software

Open source software is software that is free of copyright.

Open source software has several advantages:

• It costs nothing and provides the source code so that anyone can modify the software for their own purposes.

• It can have many authors. This enables programmers to contribute to the development of a program over time, refining and improving it and adding extra features.

• A modified version, known as a derivative, must also be made freely available for anyone else to use or adapt.

Open source software has its disadvantages too:

• There is no guarantee that it works properly as there is no requirement for anyone to ensure it is bug free.

• Support might not be readily available, especially if the program is not in widespread use.

Examples of open source software include:

• Linux operating system

• Firefox web browser

• Python programming language

• Open Office productivity suite

• Thunderbird mail client

• Apache web server

• GIMP image editing software

• Moodle virtual learning environment

Proprietary software

Proprietary software is software that is copyrighted, which means it can only be obtained by paying for a licence.

Proprietary software has many advantages:

• The product should be free of bugs. If bugs still exist, updates known as patches are often provided free of charge, which fix these bugs.

• Help can be sought from the organisation who supplied the software if problems occur.

• Feature updates which extend the software's facilities are often available, although usually at a cost.

• Proprietary software that is in widespread use often has support available from many sources.

Proprietary software also has a number of disadvantages:

• There is an initial or ongoing (subscription) cost.

• Software cannot be adapted to meet the needs of the user. Only the machine code version of the software is distributed, which cannot be edited.

• It can be limited to a single computer or network, so unless the licence allows it, a user may not redistribute the software.

Examples of proprietary software include:

• Windows and OS X operating systems

• Microsoft Office productivity suite

• Adobe Creative Suite productivity software

• Logic music creation software

• paid-for games for consoles