Fiducia TogetherData protection in computing
The legislation a computer science specification expects you to know.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
The main Acts: the Data Protection Act 2018 with UK GDPR, the Computer Misuse Act 1990, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and freedom of information legislation.
Where it applies
GCSE and A Level computer science, in the ethical, legal and environmental topic.
How it works
The Computer Misuse Act creates offences of unauthorised access, unauthorised access with intent, and unauthorised modification. Data protection law gives people rights over data about them and duties to organisations holding it.
Open source and proprietary licensing is usually examined alongside.
How to use it in your work
Name the Act and the specific offence or principle, not just "it is illegal".
For ethical questions, structure the answer by stakeholder — user, company, wider society — and reach a judgement.
Where to get help
Your teacher and your board's specification — the pseudocode and the required language differ between boards. Bitesize covers the concepts; the computer science song runs the topics.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The Computer Science Song The GCSE computer science topics, set to music.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.