What is the difference between an ethical issue and a legal issue?
Based on: AQA 8525 · 3.8
AQA GCSE Computer Science (8525) · Impacts
Ethical, legal and environmental impacts: free AQA GCSE Computer Science practice questions
Section 3.8 is examined on Paper 2. You are expected to explain the ethical, legal and environmental impacts and risks of digital technology on society, considering data privacy where it arises, and to understand the general principles behind an issue rather than detailed knowledge of it.
Practice
Free practice questions
Which is an environmental impact that occurs at the manufacturing stage?
Based on: AQA 8525 · 3.8
Which is an environmental impact that occurs at the disposal stage?
Based on: AQA 8525 · 3.8
Why do data centres have a significant environmental impact?
Based on: AQA 8525 · 3.8
Mistakes to avoid
- Describing the technology without explaining its impacts and risks. The specification asks you to explain the ethical, legal and environmental impacts and risks of digital technology on society.
- Treating surveillance as one-sided. Governments argue that access to private data helps keep people safe, and citizens usually value their privacy.
- Writing it is bad for the environment with no mechanism. Say which stage, manufacture, use or disposal, and why.
- Treating ethical and legal as the same thing. Something can be legal and still widely considered wrong.
Ethical, legal and environmental are three different questions
An ethical issue is about what is right. A legal issue is about what the law allows. An environmental issue is about the effect on the planet. The same technology often raises all three at once, and something can be perfectly legal and still be widely considered wrong.
Privacy and profiling
Organisations collect data through accounts, apps, loyalty cards, location services and cookies. The benefits are personalisation and convenience. The costs are profiling, loss of control and the damage done when the data leaks. Data collected for one purpose can be combined with data from elsewhere to reveal something the person never disclosed.
Surveillance and the environment
Governments and security services often argue that they need access to private data to keep citizens safe from terrorism and other attacks, while ordinary citizens usually value their privacy. Be ready to argue both sides. The environmental cost has three stages. Manufacture can need rare earth metals and other materials that must be mined, using energy and water and causing pollution. Using devices, and the data centres behind many services, takes electricity, including for cooling. Renewable energy and more efficient hardware reduce this cost without removing it. Disposal produces electronic waste containing toxic substances such as lead and mercury, and if it is sent abroad and broken up by hand without proper safety controls, it can harm both people and the environment. Repair keeps a device in use for longer, and proper recycling recovers materials and reduces waste.
What the questions are about
Explain the impacts and risks of the technology in the question, and tie each point to that technology. The questions come from the areas the specification lists: cyber security, mobile technologies, wireless networking, cloud storage, hacking, wearable technologies, computer based implants and autonomous vehicles.
| Stage | Main impact |
|---|---|
| Manufacture | Mining materials such as rare earth metals uses energy and water and causes pollution. |
| Use | Devices and data centres use electricity, including for cooling. |
| Disposal | Discarded devices can leak toxic substances such as lead and mercury. |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an ethical issue and a legal issue?
An ethical issue is about what is right. A legal issue is about what the law allows. Something can be perfectly legal and still be widely considered wrong, which is why the exam separates them.
Why do governments want access to private data?
Governments and security services often argue that access to private data helps them keep citizens safe from terrorism and other attacks. The other side is that ordinary citizens usually value their privacy.
What are the environmental impacts of digital technology?
They come at three stages: manufacture, which needs mined materials, energy and water; use, where devices and data centres consume electricity; and disposal, where discarded devices can leak toxic substances.
What does an impacts question expect you to explain?
The ethical, legal and environmental impacts and risks of a digital technology on society, considering data privacy where it arises. You are expected to understand the general principles behind the issues rather than detailed knowledge of specific issues.
What is e-waste?
Electronic waste: discarded devices, which often contain toxic materials such as lead and mercury. Repair and proper recycling reduce the harm.
Practice questions