Computing, Society and the Law

What Computing, Society and the Law covers

Computing, Society and the Law is examined in AS Unit 1, Fundamentals of Computer Science. It covers social and economic change from computing, computers and the nature of employment, the digital divide and cultural change, environmental cost of computing, data protection and freedom of information law, the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and computer crime and copyright, surveillance and professional codes.

The 7 subtopics

Each one has its own page. WJEC AS Computer Science students sit this topic in the first year.

• Social and economic change from computingRecall questions on online retailing and the high street, banking, the long tail of niche products, streaming and the people who create content, social media and misinformation, public services online, dependence on systems, and the boundary between work and home.Open →
• Computers and the nature of employmentFour kinds of job created by the growth of computing, computing raising rather than lowering the skill a job needs and structural unemployment.Open →
• The digital divide and cultural changeDigital divide, why the divide is about skills as well as equipment and three accessibility features that widen who can use a system.Open →
• Environmental cost of computingEnvironmental problems caused by extracting the metals used in electronics, purpose of restricting hazardous substances in electrical equipment and planned obsolescence.Open →
• Data protection and freedom of information lawTerms data subject, data controller and data processor, special category data and five rights the law gives a data subject.Open →
• The Computer Misuse Act 1990 and computer crimeSecond offence created by the Act, third offence created by the Act and why prosecuting computer crime across borders is difficult.Open →
• Copyright, surveillance and professional codesThree acts that infringe copyright in software, two harms caused by widespread software piracy and double lock on an interception warrant.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Computing, Society and the Law further

The same content, four other ways.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Describe how online retailing has changed the high street.

   Model answer

   Shoppers can compare prices and buy from anywhere at any time, so many town centre shops have lost trade and closed, while warehousing and delivery work has grown.

2. 2

   How has computing changed the way people bank?

   Model answer

   Most transactions are now made through an application or a website rather than at a counter, branches have closed and payments are increasingly made by card or phone rather than in cash.

3. 3

   Give two economic advantages a small business gains from an online presence.

   Model answer

   It can sell to customers anywhere in the world without opening premises there, and it can trade at all hours with far lower overheads than a shop.

4. 4

   Explain why niche products are more viable to sell online than in a shop.

   Model answer

   A shop needs enough local customers to justify shelf space, whereas an online seller reaches a scattered national or global market for which even a rare item has enough buyers.

5. 5

   How has computing changed the way music and film are distributed?

   Model answer

   Streaming has largely replaced physical copies, so distribution costs almost nothing, back catalogues are always available, and revenue has shifted from sales of discs to subscriptions and licensing.

6. 6

   Describe one economic effect of streaming on the people who create content.

   Model answer

   Income arrives as very small payments for each play rather than as a sale, which rewards a small number of highly popular works and makes earning a living harder for most creators.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Computing, Society and the Law revision questions

Is Computing, Society and the Law examined at AS in WJEC Computer Science?

Yes. It sits in AS Unit 1, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does Computing, Society and the Law cover in WJEC AS-Level Computer Science?

7 subtopics: social and economic change from computing, computers and the nature of employment, the digital divide and cultural change, environmental cost of computing, data protection and freedom of information law, the computer misuse act 1990 and computer crime and copyright, surveillance and professional codes. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Computing, Society and the Law organised?

By the WJEC 601-5345-3 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.