Lesson 5. Legislation

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Lesson Notes

Legal Issues

Computer use has brought new concerns and new crimes. With the rise of the internet, computers are increasingly being used for illegal activities.

Computers might be used unlawfully in many ways, for example:

• allowing someone to illegally share personal data.
• helping to steal financial information, such as credit card numbers or bank account details.
• helping to illegally copy and distribute films, television programmes and music.
• extorting information or blackmailing someone.

Legislation is needed to cover new technologies and protect the public.

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The Data Protection Act (1998/2018)

This Act specifies the rules about collecting and holding data. These include:

• Processing data fairly and lawfully
• Using data for the specific reason it was collected for
• Making sure the data is relevant and not excessive
• Making sure data is accurate and up to date
• Making sure data is not kept longer than is necessary
• Keeping data secure
• Not transferring data to a country outside the EU

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The Computer Misuse Act (1990)

The Computer Misuse Act (1990) recognised the following offences:

• Unauthorised access to computer material
• Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime
• Unauthorised modification of computer material
• Making, supplying or obtaining anything which can be used in computer misuse offences

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Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)

Copyright law protects the owner of a creative work from having it illegally copied. Copyright is applied automatically as long as certain criteria are met.

Work is automatically protected by copyright once it is recorded in physical or digital form, and the copyright holder can choose to sell, licence or give that right away. When you see the symbol and text, e.g.

© Copyright Mr Ahmed

This means that you are not allowed to copy or redistribute this work.

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Creative Commons Licensing

A Creative Commons licence is used when an author is willing to give people the right to share or use a work that they have created. This could be, for example, software that they have written, a set of instructions or a video. The creator can choose to allow only non-commercial uses, so that their work cannot be copied and distributed for profit.

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Freedom of Information Act (2000)

Introduced to give the public the right to access any information recorded by public sector organisations. These organisations include:

• schools
• councils
• government departments
• health trusts and hospitals
• libraries
• museums

Anyone is able to request information, regardless of how old they are, where they live or their nationality. Requests must be made in writing, either by letter or by email. The organisation then has 20 working days to provide the information.

Organisations are excluded from providing information if:

• The information required is regarded as sensitive - the Data Protection Act 2018 overrules in this instance.
• The information will be too costly or time consuming to produce.

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