AQA A-Level Computer Science: Consequences of Uses of Computing — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Consequences of uses of computing study guide | Consequences of uses of computing revision notes

These questions cover section 4.8.1 of the AQA A-Level Computer Science (7517) specification: the individual (moral), social (ethical), legal and cultural opportunities and risks of computing, and the challenges facing legislators. The extended questions are marked with a levels-style guide written by Marlbridge, not AQA’s own mark scheme.

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Section A: short answers

1. The specification states that digital technologies have transformed the capacity to do three things with information about people. State all three. [3]

2. Explain what is meant by the statement that software and its algorithms “embed moral and cultural values”. Give an example. [3]

3. Explain why the scale of software use increases the responsibility of software engineers. [2]

4. A social media company is based in one country, stores data in a second and has users in a third. Explain one challenge this creates for legislators. [2]

5. Give two further challenges legislators face in the digital age, explaining each. [4]

6. An online shop records every product a customer views and uses it to set personalised prices. (a) Identify one opportunity and one risk for the customer. [2] (b) Explain whether this is mainly a moral, an ethical or a legal issue. [2]

Section B: extended response

7. A secondary school plans to install software on students’ school laptops that records the websites they visit and flags searches that may indicate a risk to their safety. Staff can see the reports.

Discuss the individual (moral), social (ethical), legal and cultural issues the school should consider before installing the software. [9]

8. A recruitment company uses an algorithm, trained on ten years of its past hiring decisions, to rank job applicants automatically. Only the top 10% are seen by a human.

Discuss the issues raised by the company’s use of this algorithm. In your answer you should refer to the responsibilities of the people who designed it and to the challenges this kind of system creates for legislators. [12]

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Answers

1. Monitor behaviour [1]; amass and analyse personal information [1]; distribute, publish, communicate and disseminate personal information [1].

2. Decisions made by designers about what the software does, promotes or blocks reflect their own values and those of their culture [1], and these choices then affect every user [1]. Example: a news feed that ranks posts by engagement promotes sensational content; or default settings that share data unless the user opts out [1].

3. Software can be used by millions of people across the world at once [1], so a single design decision or error can cause great harm (or great good) on a scale no individual could otherwise achieve [1].

4. It is unclear which country’s laws apply, and a law passed in one country may not be enforceable against a company or servers in another [1]; legislators must cooperate internationally, which is slow and difficult [1].

5. Any two, with explanation [2 each]:

• Pace of change: technology develops faster than laws can be drafted and passed, so laws may be out of date.
• Enforcement: offenders may be anonymous or overseas, and encryption makes evidence hard to obtain.
• Balancing rights: laws that protect security or prevent harm can reduce privacy or free speech.
• Understanding: legislators may lack the technical knowledge to write effective, workable laws.
• Unforeseen uses: laws written for existing technology may not cover new ones.

6. (a) Opportunity: relevant recommendations or discounts [1]. Risk: paying more than other customers without knowing, or loss of privacy through profiling [1]. (b) Award a reasoned answer, e.g. it is mainly ethical because it treats groups of customers differently and raises questions of fairness [1]; it may also be legal because data protection law requires personal data to be processed fairly and transparently [1].

7. Indicative content (credit any valid, well-explained points):

• Moral / individual: students’ right to privacy versus the school’s duty of care; whether students know they are monitored; risk that monitoring discourages legitimate searches for help (e.g. on health issues).
• Social / ethical: may identify students at risk early and protect them; false positives could label students unfairly; fairness of who sees the reports and what they do with them; trust between staff and students.
• Legal: browsing records are personal data – the school needs a lawful reason, must tell students and parents, keep the data secure and keep it no longer than necessary; access must be limited to authorised staff.
• Cultural: expectations of privacy differ between families and communities; normalising surveillance for young people may change attitudes to being watched as adults.
• Judgement: e.g. acceptable if transparent, proportionate, limited to safeguarding and overseen.

Marlbridge marking guide (9 marks):

• 7-9: several issues from different categories, each explained in the context of the school; both benefits and risks; a clear, justified conclusion.
• 4-6: a range of relevant points with some explanation; may be one-sided or the conclusion may be weak.
• 1-3: a few points, mostly listed, with little explanation or link to the scenario.

8. Indicative content:

• Benefits: processes large numbers of applications quickly and consistently; may reduce some individual human prejudice; lower cost.
• Embedded values and bias: trained on past decisions, it can reproduce past bias (for example against groups under-represented in previous hires); patterns such as gaps in employment may disadvantage carers or people with illness.
• Transparency and accountability: applicants may not know an algorithm rejected them or why; who is responsible for an unfair decision – the designers, the company, the supplier?
• Responsibilities of designers: their power over many applicants brings responsibility to test outcomes for different groups, explain how the model works, and allow human review; scale means one flawed model affects thousands of people.
• Legal: applicants’ data is personal data and must be processed fairly and lawfully; discrimination in hiring is unlawful, but proving bias inside a complex model is difficult.
• Challenges for legislators: the technology changes faster than law; models are hard to inspect; companies and suppliers may be in different jurisdictions; balancing innovation with protection of applicants.
• Judgement: e.g. acceptable only with regular audits for bias, transparency to applicants and a human review of rejected applications, not just the top 10%.

Marlbridge marking guide (12 marks):

• 10-12: detailed, balanced discussion of several issues including designers’ responsibilities and legislators’ challenges, consistently applied to the recruitment scenario, with a well-supported judgement.
• 7-9: good range of issues with explanation; covers both required areas but one less fully; conclusion present.
• 4-6: some relevant issues explained; limited balance or limited use of the scenario; one required area missing.
• 1-3: a few points listed with little explanation.

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Where marks are usually lost

• Writing about technology in general instead of the school or company in the question.
• Giving one-word points (“privacy”, “bias”) without saying who is affected and how.
• Missing a part of the question that is explicitly required, such as the challenges for legislators in question 8.
• No conclusion, or a conclusion that does not follow from the points made.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a 12-mark answer be? Quality matters more than length. Four or five well-explained points, each linked to the scenario, plus a justified conclusion, is usually enough to reach the top level.

Should I organise my answer by the four categories? It helps you cover a range, but you do not have to label each category. What matters is variety, explanation and balance.