Ethical, Legal, Cultural and Environmental Impacts of Technology

Digital technology has transformed how people live, work, communicate, and learn. These changes bring significant benefits but also create new problems across five areas that OCR J277 requires you to discuss:

Impact area	What it covers
Ethical	Whether technology use is morally right or wrong
Legal	Whether actions involving technology comply with the law
Cultural	How technology changes society, behaviour, and human relationships
Environmental	The effect of technology on the natural world
Privacy	How technology affects individuals' right to control their personal information

Exam questions typically ask you to discuss how a specific digital technology creates issues in one or more of these areas, or to evaluate a scenario from multiple perspectives.

Ethics concerns what is morally right or wrong — even when no law is broken.

Issue	Example
Artificial intelligence decision-making	An AI that makes decisions affecting people's lives (e.g. loan approvals, criminal sentencing) — is it fair? Who is responsible if it is wrong?
Surveillance	CCTV and tracking technologies that monitor behaviour — at what point does security surveillance become an invasion of privacy?
Digital divide	Not everyone has equal access to technology — those without access are excluded from educational, economic, and social opportunities
Automation and employment	Machines replacing human workers — beneficial efficiency, but ethical questions about job losses and responsibility for affected workers
Data collection by companies	Companies collecting vast amounts of user data for profit — users may not fully understand what is collected or how it is used

Legislation governs what is and is not permitted when using computers and data. Three acts are required knowledge for OCR J277:

Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018)

The DPA 2018 regulates how organisations collect, store, and use personal data. Key principles:

• Data must be processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently
• Data must only be collected for specified, explicit purposes
• Only the minimum necessary data should be collected
• Data must be kept accurate and up to date
• Data must not be kept longer than necessary
• Data must be kept secure (appropriate technical and organisational measures)
• Individuals have the right to access their own data and request its deletion

Purpose: Protect individuals from misuse of their personal data by organisations.

Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA 1990)

The CMA 1990 makes it a criminal offence to:

1. Unauthorised access to computer material (e.g. hacking into someone else's account)
2. Unauthorised access with intent to commit further offences (e.g. accessing a system to steal data or commit fraud)
3. Unauthorised modification of computer material (e.g. deleting or altering data, releasing a virus or malware)

Purpose: Criminalise hacking, unauthorised access, and the creation/distribution of malware.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988)

The CDPA 1988 protects the intellectual property rights of creators. In the context of software and digital content:

• Software, music, films, images, and text are automatically protected by copyright at creation
• Copying, distributing, or modifying copyrighted work without permission is illegal
• Illegal to use software without a valid licence

Purpose: Ensure creators receive credit and compensation for their work; prevent unauthorised copying and distribution.

Software must be licensed — the licence determines what users are permitted to do with the software.

Proprietary software

The source code is owned by the developer and is not made available to users. Users purchase a licence to use the software but cannot modify it.

Key features:

• No access to source code
• Cannot be freely modified or redistributed
• Usually paid-for, off-the-shelf
• Developer controls updates and support

Advantages: Professional support; typically polished and well-tested; developer has commercial incentive to maintain it. Disadvantages: Costs money; dependent on the developer continuing to support it; cannot customise it.

Examples: Microsoft Windows, Adobe Photoshop, most commercial games.

Open source software

The source code is publicly available. Anyone can view, modify, and redistribute it (within the terms of the licence).

Key features:

• Source code is freely available
• Can be modified and adapted by anyone
• Usually free to use and redistribute
• Community of developers typically maintains it

Advantages: Free to use; can be customised for specific needs; benefits from many developers finding and fixing bugs; not dependent on a single company. Disadvantages: May lack professional support; quality can vary; some technical knowledge needed to modify.

Examples: Linux, Firefox, VLC Media Player, LibreOffice.

Choosing a licence for a scenario:

Scenario	Recommended licence	Reason
Small business needs office software with professional phone support	Proprietary	Support available; polished product; staff don't need to modify code
University research group that needs to customise and share tools	Open source	Flexibility to modify; free to use; can share modifications
School with a tight budget	Open source	Free; many open source alternatives exist for common tasks

Technology changes how societies function and people interact:

• Social media has changed communication — instant global connection, but also spread of misinformation, cyberbullying, and reduced face-to-face interaction
• 24/7 connectivity — people are always reachable, blurring work/life boundaries
• Gaming and entertainment — global culture is shaped by shared digital experiences, but concerns about addiction and impact on children
• Remote work — technology enables working from anywhere, changing office culture and urban geography
• Access inequality — wealthier societies and individuals have more access to technology, creating cultural divides

Technology's environmental impact spans its entire lifecycle:

Issue	Detail
Energy consumption	Data centres running cloud services and the internet consume enormous amounts of electricity; many still rely on fossil fuels
E-waste	Discarded electronic devices (computers, phones, tablets) contain toxic materials (lead, mercury) that pollute if not properly recycled
Manufacturing	Producing hardware requires rare earth metals mined with significant environmental cost
Carbon footprint	The global IT sector has a substantial carbon footprint from manufacturing, operation, and disposal

Privacy concerns arise when personal data is collected, stored, processed, or shared:

• Data tracking — websites and apps collect browsing habits, location, purchases, and social connections
• Government surveillance — governments can access communications data for security purposes — at what point does this infringe privacy?
• Data breaches — even well-intentioned organisations suffer breaches that expose personal data
• Facial recognition — cameras in public spaces can identify and track individuals without their knowledge
• Social media data — personal information shared publicly or harvested by platforms

1. Confusing the DPA and CMA

DPA 2018 governs how personal data is handled by organisations. CMA 1990 criminalises hacking and unauthorised access to computer systems. They address different problems: data misuse vs. cybercrime.

2. Saying open source software is always free and proprietary software is always expensive

Many open source projects are free, but some have paid support tiers. Proprietary software can also be free (e.g. freeware). The defining difference is access to source code, not cost.

3. Omitting environmental and cultural issues

Exam questions about technology's impact are not limited to legal or ethical issues. Environmental impact (energy, e-waste) and cultural impact (social changes) are equally valid areas to discuss — and students who only write about legal issues will miss marks.

4. Confusing copyright and patents

Copyright protects creative works (software, music, images) automatically at creation. Patents protect inventions and must be formally applied for. OCR J277 covers the CDPA 1988, which primarily concerns copyright in the context of software.

Mistake	Correction
"Open source software has no licence"	Open source software has a licence — it specifies that the source code may be viewed, modified, and redistributed
"CMA 1990 covers data protection"	CMA 1990 covers unauthorised computer access; DPA 2018 covers personal data protection
"CDPA 1988 only applies to music and films"	CDPA 1988 also covers software — using software without a licence is a breach of copyright