What you'll learn
This topic examines how computing technology affects individuals, organisations and society. You need to understand the ethical dilemmas technology creates, the laws that govern computer use, and the environmental consequences of digital systems. The Edexcel specification requires you to analyse stakeholder perspectives and evaluate the impact of emerging technologies.
Key terms and definitions
Stakeholder — any individual, group or organisation affected by or with an interest in a technological system (e.g. users, developers, businesses, government)
Ethics — moral principles that govern behaviour and decision-making; in computing, ethics concern what is right or wrong when designing, implementing or using technology
Legislation — laws passed by Parliament that set legal requirements and consequences for computer use and data handling
Privacy — the right of individuals to control what personal information is collected about them and how it is used
Surveillance — the monitoring of people's behaviour, communications or data, often using automated systems
Digital divide — the gap between those who have access to modern information technology and those who do not, based on factors like income, location or age
Carbon footprint — the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by an individual, organisation, event or product
E-waste — discarded electrical or electronic devices, including computers, phones and components, which contain hazardous materials
Core concepts
Ethical issues in computing
Ethical issues arise when technology creates situations where there is no clear right or wrong answer, but decisions must consider moral implications for different stakeholders.
Privacy and surveillance
- Organisations collect vast amounts of personal data through websites, apps, social media and IoT devices
- Technologies like facial recognition, location tracking and browsing history monitoring raise questions about individual privacy rights
- Benefits: crime prevention, personalised services, improved security
- Concerns: loss of anonymity, potential for misuse, chilling effects on free expression
Artificial intelligence and automation
- AI systems make decisions about employment, credit, criminal justice and content moderation
- Algorithmic bias occurs when AI systems produce unfair outcomes due to biased training data or flawed design
- Automation replaces human workers, raising questions about responsibility for unemployment
- Autonomous vehicles create ethical dilemmas (e.g. programming decisions in unavoidable accident scenarios)
Censorship and freedom of expression
- Governments and platforms control what content users can access or publish online
- Balancing free speech against harmful content (misinformation, hate speech, extremism)
- Different countries have different standards; content legal in one jurisdiction may be blocked in another
- Questions arise about who decides what is acceptable
Digital divide and inequality
- Not everyone has equal access to technology, internet connectivity or digital skills
- Rural areas in the UK and Caribbean often have slower broadband speeds than urban centres
- Lower-income households may lack devices or reliable internet access
- Educational and employment opportunities increasingly require digital access, widening inequality
Environmental responsibility
- Companies must balance innovation and profit against environmental impact
- Planned obsolescence encourages frequent upgrades, generating more e-waste
- Energy-intensive processes like cryptocurrency mining and AI training consume significant power
- Decisions about sustainable design, repairability and recycling programmes
Legal issues and legislation
UK law establishes requirements and penalties for computer use. You must know the purpose of specific legislation and how it applies to scenarios.
Data Protection Act 2018 (incorporating UK GDPR)
- Governs how personal data must be collected, stored, processed and shared
- Personal data: information that identifies a living individual
- Data controller — organisation determining purposes and means of processing personal data
- Data processor — organisation processing data on behalf of the controller
Key principles:
- Lawfulness, fairness and transparency
- Purpose limitation (data used only for stated purposes)
- Data minimisation (collect only what's necessary)
- Accuracy
- Storage limitation (don't keep longer than needed)
- Integrity and confidentiality (security)
- Accountability
Rights of data subjects:
- Access their data (subject access request)
- Rectification of inaccurate data
- Erasure ("right to be forgotten")
- Restriction of processing
- Data portability
- Object to processing
Penalties: organisations can be fined up to £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover for serious breaches.
Computer Misuse Act 1990 Criminalises unauthorised access to computer systems and data.
Three main offences:
- Unauthorised access to computer material (e.g. guessing someone's password to read their files)
- Unauthorised access with intent to commit further offences (e.g. hacking to steal data or commit fraud)
- Unauthorised modification of computer material (e.g. deleting files, distributing malware, DDoS attacks)
Penalties range from fines to imprisonment (up to 10 years for serious offences).
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
- Protects intellectual property including software, music, films, images and written work
- Copyright is automatic; creators don't need to register
- Illegal to copy, modify or distribute copyrighted material without permission
- Software licences specify terms of use (number of installations, modifications, commercial use)
- Open source software permits users to view and modify source code; proprietary software restricts access to source code
Offences include:
- Software piracy (using unlicensed copies)
- Distributing copyrighted content without permission
- Plagiarism (presenting others' work as your own)
Freedom of Information Act 2000
- Gives public right to access information held by public authorities
- Promotes transparency and accountability in government
- Exceptions exist for national security, personal data and commercially sensitive information
Environmental issues
Computing technology has significant environmental impacts throughout its lifecycle, from manufacturing to disposal.
Energy consumption
- Data centres consume approximately 1-2% of global electricity
- Processing power for AI training, cryptocurrency mining and cloud services requires substantial energy
- Streaming video and online gaming contribute to energy use
- Many data centres now use renewable energy sources to reduce carbon footprint
- Energy-efficient hardware design and optimised software reduce power consumption
Manufacturing and resources
- Producing computers and smartphones requires rare earth metals and other finite resources
- Mining and manufacturing processes generate pollution and carbon emissions
- Supply chains span multiple countries, increasing transport emissions
- Water usage in semiconductor manufacturing is substantial
E-waste and disposal
- UK households discard millions of devices annually
- Electronic devices contain toxic materials (lead, mercury, cadmium) that harm ecosystems if improperly disposed
- Valuable materials (gold, silver, copper) can be recovered through recycling
- Many devices end up in landfill or exported to developing countries with inadequate recycling facilities
- Manufacturers increasingly offer take-back schemes and design for recyclability
Sustainability measures
- Extending device lifespan through repair and upgrades
- Manufacturers designing modular, repairable products
- Cloud computing can be more efficient than individual devices through resource sharing
- Virtualisation reduces need for physical servers
- Software optimisation to reduce processing requirements
- Energy-efficient algorithms and code
Stakeholder perspectives and impact analysis
Technological decisions affect multiple stakeholders differently. Exam questions often require you to consider various viewpoints.
Individual users
- Benefits: convenience, access to information, communication, entertainment
- Concerns: privacy loss, data security, time consumption, health impacts (eye strain, sleep disruption)
Businesses and employers
- Benefits: increased productivity, automated processes, data-driven decisions, global reach
- Concerns: cybersecurity costs, compliance with legislation, employee resistance to change
Developers and IT professionals
- Benefits: career opportunities, creative problem-solving
- Concerns: ethical responsibility for systems they create, pressure to deliver quickly may compromise security
Government and law enforcement
- Benefits: improved public services, crime detection, data analysis for policy
- Concerns: balancing security needs against civil liberties, infrastructure costs
Society and communities
- Benefits: improved healthcare, education access, democratic participation
- Concerns: job displacement, social isolation, spread of misinformation, digital divide
Environment
- Negative impacts: resource depletion, energy consumption, e-waste, pollution
- Positive potential: environmental monitoring, efficiency improvements, reduced travel needs
When analysing stakeholder impacts:
- Identify all relevant stakeholders
- Consider both benefits and drawbacks for each group
- Recognise that impacts may be short-term vs long-term
- Address trade-offs between competing interests
Worked examples
Example 1: Data Protection Act application (4 marks)
Question: A social media company collects data about users' locations, browsing habits and friend connections. Explain two principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 that apply to how this company handles user data.
Mark scheme answer:
Principle 1: Purpose limitation [1 mark] The company must only use the location and browsing data for the specific purposes stated when collecting it [1 mark], such as showing relevant advertisements, and cannot repurpose it for unrelated uses without consent.
Principle 2: Storage limitation [1 mark] The company must not keep users' location and connection data indefinitely [1 mark] but should delete or anonymise it when it's no longer needed for the original purpose.
Examiner note: Each principle requires both identification and application to the scenario. Generic statements without context earn fewer marks.
Example 2: Evaluating ethical issues (6 marks)
Question: A school is considering installing facial recognition cameras to monitor attendance automatically. Evaluate the ethical issues this raises. [6 marks]
Mark scheme answer:
Privacy concerns [1 mark]: Students have a right to privacy, and constant facial recognition monitoring collects biometric data without students being able to opt out [1 mark]. This normalises surveillance from a young age.
Accuracy and bias [1 mark]: Facial recognition systems can be less accurate for certain ethnic groups, potentially leading to false identifications and unfair treatment [1 mark]. This could disproportionately affect minority students.
Proportionality [1 mark]: Traditional attendance registers are effective and less invasive. The convenience of automated systems may not justify the loss of privacy and the creation of sensitive biometric databases that could be breached [1 mark].
Counter-argument: The system improves efficiency, reduces administrative workload and prevents truancy, benefiting students' education.
Examiner note: "Evaluate" requires balanced discussion with a judgement. Strong answers present multiple perspectives and consider consequences.
Example 3: Environmental impact (3 marks)
Question: Explain how the increasing use of cloud storage services affects the environment.
Mark scheme answer:
Cloud storage requires large data centres that consume significant amounts of electricity [1 mark] to power servers and cooling systems, contributing to carbon emissions [1 mark]. However, centralised data centres can be more energy-efficient than individuals running their own servers [1 mark], and many providers now use renewable energy sources, reducing the environmental impact.
Examiner note: For environmental questions, consider both negative impacts and mitigation strategies.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Confusing ethical and legal issues: Ethical issues involve moral judgements without clear right/wrong answers; legal issues involve specific laws with defined consequences. An action can be legal but unethical, or ethical but illegal in certain jurisdictions.
Vague references to "the Data Protection Act" without specific principles: Always name specific principles (purpose limitation, data minimisation, etc.) and explain how they apply to the scenario.
Listing offences under wrong legislation: Hacking is covered by Computer Misuse Act, not Data Protection Act. Copyright infringement is covered by Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. Learn which law covers what.
One-sided answers to "evaluate" or "discuss" questions: These command words require balanced analysis showing awareness of different perspectives. Include benefits and drawbacks, or arguments for and against.
Generic environmental statements: Avoid "computers are bad for the environment." Be specific about energy consumption in data centres, rare earth mining, e-waste toxicity, and mitigation strategies.
Forgetting stakeholder perspectives: When asked about impact, consider multiple affected groups — users, businesses, developers, society, environment — not just one viewpoint.
Exam technique for Issues and Impact
Command word "Explain" (2-4 marks): Provide a point and then develop it with detail, cause-and-effect or application to context. Each developed point typically earns 2 marks (1 for identification, 1 for explanation).
Command word "Evaluate" or "Discuss" (typically 6-9 marks): Present multiple perspectives, consider advantages and disadvantages, assess significance or severity of impacts, and reach a reasoned judgement. Use evidence and examples to support arguments.
Apply knowledge to scenarios: Don't just recite facts about legislation. Show how principles apply to the specific situation described in the question. Use details from the scenario in your answer.
Extended response structure: Use paragraphs for different points or perspectives. Include technical terminology accurately. In 6+ mark questions, quality of written communication contributes to marks, so write clearly and organise logically.
Quick revision summary
Computing creates ethical dilemmas around privacy, AI bias, censorship and the digital divide that require balancing competing interests. UK legislation governs computer use: Data Protection Act 2018 controls personal data handling through principles like purpose limitation and data minimisation; Computer Misuse Act 1990 criminalises unauthorised access and modification; Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 protects intellectual property. Environmental impacts include energy consumption in data centres, resource depletion in manufacturing, and toxic e-waste requiring sustainable practices. Always analyse how technology affects multiple stakeholders differently when evaluating impacts.