IT Law and Ethics - 2025 entry

***DEGREE APPRENTICESHIP STUDENTS ONLY***

This module addresses a wide range of legal, ethical and societal issues that confront IT professionals. You will look into civil and criminal law as it pertains to digital technologies, focusing on pressing issues such as intellectual property, confidentiality, data protection, privacy, contracts and computer crime. You will also explore ethical issues in IT and software engineering, addressing the responsibility of the IT professional towards others and encompassing issues such as system reliability and relevant codes of conduct. A series of case studies will be examined.

The aim of this module is to ensure that you understand the ethical and legal implications of the work you do and can conduct yourself ethically and in accordance with relevant laws.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge

1. Understand and apply knowledge of civil and criminal law

2. Understand and apply knowledge of intellectual property rights, including software copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and passing off, copyright and webpages, Internet domain names, protection of computer images and icons, jurisdiction

3. Understand and apply knowledge of confidentiality, data protection law; freedom of movement of personal data and privacy issues.


Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge

4. Understand and apply knowledge of computer crime, fraud and computer misuse.

5. Understand and apply knowledge of ethics relating to IT and its impact on society, including ethical issues in software engineering, computer science and software and hardware reliability

6. Describe case studies of notable system failures.
Personal and Key Transferable / Employment Skills and Knowledge

7. Communicate orally and in writing

8. Think analytically and critically

9. Organise your own work

10. Work to a deadline

11. Collaborate and negotiate

12. Conduct independent research
 

IT law (6 weeks)

•          Introduction: civil and criminal law (1 week)

•          Intellectual property (1 week)

           o          Copyright; software ownership; licensing; piracy

           o          Patents

           o          Designs

           o          Trade secrets

           o          Trademarks; passing off; domain names

•          Confidentiality and privacy (1 week)

           o          Use of cryptography; eavesdropping; surveillance

           o          Data protection; Information Commissioner’s Office

           o          Freedom of movement of personal data

           o          Freedom of Information; censorship

•          Computer crime (1 week)

           o          Computer misuse

           o          Fraud

           o          Hacking; denial of service attacks

           o          Malware

•          Contracts and legal liability (1 week)

•          Defamation; incitement (1 week

IT ethics (6 weeks)

•          Introduction (1 week)

           o          Society and ethics

           o          Ethical theories (duty, utility, choice)

           o          Ethical issues in IT

•          Case studies in IT ethics (1 week)

•          Automation and Artificial Intelligence (1 week)

           o          Efficiency

           o          Impact of IT on work and working practices

•          Information warfare (1 week)

•          Software and hardware reliability; dependence (1 week)

           o          Safety-critical systems

           o          Case studies; notable system failures

           o          Ethics of artificial intelligence/expertise

•          Professional standards (1 week)

           o          Professional bodies

           o          Codes of conduct (e.g., BCS)

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be deferred in the assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you may be required to sit a referral. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 40%.

Reading list for this module: