Key term
CCEA A-Level Digital Technology 2650
Systems Analysis and Development Approaches
Topic overviewThe software crisis and the need for systems developmentUser needs, time and costRoles in a systems development teamThe purpose of analysisFact-finding techniquesFunctional and non-functional requirementsData flow diagramsThe waterfall modelRapid application development and AgileResources, constraints and risks in a software projectProject management, Gantt charts and critical path analysisVersion management
Design, Development and Testing
Topic overviewThe purpose of systems designStoryboarding the user interfacePrototyping the interface and the data modelThe development stage: turning a design into working codeWhy testing runs throughout developmentLevels of testing: unit and integrationSystem testingAcceptance testingAlpha and beta testingThe purpose and components of a test planTypes of test data
Implementation and System Security
Topic overviewThe purpose of system implementationDirect and parallel changeoverPilot and phased changeoverUser documentationTechnical documentationData conversionThe purpose of system maintenanceCorrective, adaptive and perfective maintenanceArchiving dataBackup and recoveryFull, differential and incremental backupsDisaster recovery plans
Programming
Topic overviewThe purpose of a computer programThe integrated development environmentTranslation: compilers, interpreters and assemblersThe stages of compilation and linkingAlgorithms, pseudocode and syntaxVariables, constants and data typesSequence and selectionIteration: count-controlled and condition-controlled loopsFlowcharts and algorithm representationObjects, classes and methodsInheritance and evaluating the object-oriented approach
Data, Information and Data Representation
Topic overviewBits, bytes and units of storageHow many values a given number of bits can holdConverting decimal to binaryConverting binary to decimalTwo's complement and negative numbersCharacter sets: ASCII and UnicodeData, information and knowledgeFactors affecting the quality of informationValidation: range, type, length and presence checksValidation: format checks and lookup checksCheck digits and the Modulus 11 methodBatch totals, verification and the limits of checking
Computer Architecture and Processing Systems
Topic overviewThe processor, the clock and the registersThe fetch-execute cycleBuses, input and output controllers and portsMain memory: RAM, ROM and addressingCache memory and the memory hierarchyFactors that affect processing speedThe need for secondary storageMagnetic, optical and flash storage mediaChoosing secondary storage for common applicationsBatch, real-time and transaction processingAutomatic teller machines and point of sale terminalsSmartphones: input, output and processing
System Software, Application Software and the User Interface
Topic overviewUser interfaces: WIMP, command line and forms dialogueChoosing and evaluating a user interfaceInputting text, sound and videoThe purpose of an operating systemHow an operating system manages memory and processesTypes of operating systemUtility programsThe need for data compression, lossless and lossyZipping and archive filesCommon data file formatsApplication software: generic and special purposeObtaining and delivering software
Web Technology and Multimedia
Topic overviewThe internet, the World Wide Web and web standardsURLs, HTTP and the request-response cycleDomain names, DNS and IP addressesWeb browsers, search engines, cache and cookiesWeb servers, hosting, ISPs and file transferIntranets and how an organisation uses oneCreating web pages with HTMLHTML tags for text, lists, images and linksStyling pages with CSSMultimedia assets in a web pageClient-side and server-side processingSecurity over the internet: encryption, HTTPS and certificates
Networks
Topic overviewNetwork scope: LAN, MAN and WANNetwork hardware and connection devicesIP addresses and MAC addressesPeer-to-peer and server-based networksBus, star and ring topologiesThe need for communication protocolsThe OSI seven-layer modelTCP/IP, Ethernet and media access methodsWi-Fi, Bluetooth, VoIP and RFIDBandwidth and broadbandTransmission media: metal cable, fibre optic and wirelessDetecting and correcting transmission errors
Databases
Topic overviewThe relational database and its main featuresLogical and physical data modelsEntities, attributes and keysEntity-relationship modellingNormalisation to third normal formThe data dictionaryStructured Query Language: creating and changing dataStructured Query Language: retrieving dataQuery By Example and alternatives to SQLDatabase security, integrity and recovery
Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems and Robotics
Topic overviewWhat artificial intelligence meansThe Turing test and machine intelligenceNeural network modellingThe structure of an expert systemThe knowledge base and the inference engineShells, heuristics, fuzzy logic and the knowledge engineerExpert systems in medicine, fault diagnosis and insuranceNatural language processingVoice recognition technologyEvaluating natural language and voice recognition systemsThe technology of roboticsRobotics in commercial situations
Mobile Technology, Data Mining and Cloud Computing
Topic overviewCells, masts and frequency reuseHandoff between cellsThe base station controller, the mobile switching centre and the PSTNWhat data mining isGathering and storing data for miningProcessing and analysing large volumes of dataBig data in health, finance and retailData mining and the privacy of the individualWhat cloud computing isVirtualisation, hosted instances, hosted solutions and clusteringCloud services: storage, email, software and backupEvaluating cloud computing for business
Individual, Social and Legal Considerations
Topic overviewThe Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPRThe data protection principles and the rights of the data subjectThe Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988The Computer Misuse Act 1990Data protection duties of an organisationHow the legislation affects employees and the publicThe ethics of automated decision makingOnline censorshipMonitoring of personal behaviourThe ethics of artificial intelligence and of personal information
The Development Project: Analysis and Design
Topic overviewScheduling the project with a Gantt chartInternal and external constraints on the solutionDetailing user requirements as inputs, processes and outputsPrioritising requirements as essential and non-essentialData flow diagrams at level 0 and level 1Specifying hardware and software requirementsThe overall system designProcess descriptions and algorithmsUser interface design and validationData modelling and normalisation for the solutionDesigning the queries and reportsDeveloping a comprehensive test plan
The Development Project: Build, Testing and Evaluation
Topic overviewChoosing software to develop the solutionBuilding the solutionTest data and the types of testingCarrying out and recording the testingDocumenting a strategy for system implementationEvaluating the solution against the user requirementsIdentifying extensions to the systemThe electronic user guideBringing the system into use and supporting itDocumentation for the completed system
Individual, Social and Legal Considerations
- 10 subtopics
- 30 things to know
- A2 Unit 1
What Individual, Social and Legal Considerations covers
Individual, Social and Legal Considerations is examined in Unit A2 1, Information Systems. It covers the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR, the data protection principles and the rights of the data subject, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the Computer Misuse Act 1990, data protection duties of an organisation, how the legislation affects employees and the public, the ethics of automated decision making, online censorship, monitoring of personal behaviour and the ethics of artificial intelligence and of personal information.
The 10 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPRPersonal data, special category data and data processor.Open →
- The data protection principles and the rights of the data subjectSeven data protection principles, purpose limitation principle and data minimisation principle.Open →
- The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988Four acts that infringe copyright when done without permission, secondary infringement of copyright and moral rights.Open →
- The Computer Misuse Act 1990Why existing law could not reach unauthorised access, the offences of access, access with intent and impairing operation, the offences added later for supplying hacking tools and for causing serious damage, and the maximum penalties.Open →
- Data protection duties of an organisationData protection impact assessment and personal data breach.Open →
- How the legislation affects employees and the publicAcceptable use policy and expected of an employee who handles personal data.Open →
- The ethics of automated decision makingAutomated decision making and automation bias.Open →
- Online censorshipOnline censorship, four bodies that restrict what can be seen online and three technical methods used to restrict access to online material.Open →
- Monitoring of personal behaviourMonitoring of personal behaviour, five ways an employer may monitor staff and main ethical objection to collecting data about a whole population.Open →
- The ethics of artificial intelligence and of personal informationEthical question for an employer whose work is being automated, ethical difficulty with machines that make life-and-death decisions and ethical test at the point where personal information is captured.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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What does the first principle, lawfulness, fairness and transparency, require?
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Explain the right to erasure and its limits.
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What does a software licence actually grant?
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Distinguish copyright, patents and design protection.
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State the maximum penalties for the three main offences.
Numbers
What offence covers the making and supplying of hacking tools?
Numbers
What offence covers an attack causing serious damage?
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What must an organisation tell people at the point it collects their data?
Process
What must be in place before a controller uses a processor?
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What is expected of an employee who handles personal data?
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What rights does an employee have over the personnel data their employer holds?
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How does the accuracy principle help a member of the public in practice?
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What protection does the law give against decisions taken solely by machine?
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Explain how bias enters an automated decision system through its training data.
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Compare the way a human assessor and an automated system make mistakes.
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What does ethical content moderation require of the body doing it?
Numbers
Which legislation governs the interception of communications?
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What does proportionality mean when judging whether monitoring is acceptable?
Evaluation
Why is consent to commercial tracking often criticised as meaningless?
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Why does the use of artificial intelligence raise ethical questions that conventional software does not?
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What does transparency require of an organisation using an intelligent system?
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Why does a lawful privacy notice not necessarily achieve transparency?
Numbers
What is the purpose of the Data Protection Act 2018?
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What is meant by online censorship?
Numbers
How does the Data Protection Act 2018 relate to the UK GDPR?
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Name the seven data protection principles.
Numbers
What does the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 protect?
Process
Why must a controller keep records of its processing activities?
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Name four bodies that restrict what can be seen online.
Take Individual, Social and Legal Considerations further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
A data controller decides the purpose and the vs A data processor decides the purpose and the
A data controller decides the purpose and the: of processing and carries the legal responsibility. A data processor decides the purpose and the: it acts only on instructions given to it.
Personal data vs Special category data
Personal data: any information identifying a living individual. Special category data: the narrower group needing an extra condition because misuse could lead to discrimination or serious harm.
The right to erasure vs The right to restrict processing
The right to erasure: having the information deleted altogether. The right to restrict processing: it leaves the information stored but freezes any use of it while a dispute is settled.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the purpose of the Data Protection Act 2018?
Model answer
The Data Protection Act 2018 governs how organisations may collect, hold and use information about living people. The Act gives individuals rights over data about themselves and places duties on those who handle it.
- 2
How does the Data Protection Act 2018 relate to the UK GDPR?
Model answer
The Data Protection Act 2018 sits alongside the UK General Data Protection Regulation and supplements it. The Act adds the exemptions and national provisions that the Regulation leaves for each country to settle.
- 3
Define personal data.
Model answer
Personal data is any information relating to a living individual who can be identified from it, either directly or by combining it with other information the organisation holds.
- 4
Give four examples of personal data.
Model answer
A person's name, their home or email address, a photograph in which they can be recognised, and an online identifier such as an account number are all personal data.
- 5
What is special category data? Give four kinds.
Model answer
Special category data is personal data needing extra protection. Health, racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs and sexual orientation are all special category data.
- 6
Name three further kinds of special category data besides health, ethnicity, beliefs and sexual orientation.
Model answer
Special category data also covers political opinions, trade union membership and biometric or genetic data used to identify someone.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Individual, Social and Legal Considerations revision questions
- What does Individual, Social and Legal Considerations cover in CCEA A-Level Digital Technology?
- 10 subtopics: the data protection act 2018 and the uk gdpr, the data protection principles and the rights of the data subject, the copyright, designs and patents act 1988, the computer misuse act 1990, data protection duties of an organisation, how the legislation affects employees and the public, the ethics of automated decision making, online censorship, monitoring of personal behaviour and the ethics of artificial intelligence and of personal information. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Individual, Social and Legal Considerations organised?
- By the CCEA 2650 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Individual, Social and Legal Considerations, on a schedule.
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