Risks of collecting and keeping too much data

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A school app stores students' full birth dates, home addresses and phone numbers. After a data breach, which statement is true?

A The amount of data stored makes no difference to the harm

B The more data stored, the more harm the leak can cause

2. Which approach reduces the risk of identity theft?

A Collect only the data the system actually needs

B Collect as much data as possible in case it is useful later

3. A canteen app only needs a student's name and lunch order. It also stores their driver's licence number. This is:

A A helpful backup that makes the app safer

B An unnecessary risk that could help identity theft

4. A criminal steals a database containing names, birth dates and addresses. Which use is identity theft?

A Using the details to open a credit account in the victim's name

B Deleting the database so nobody can read it

5. A company keeps customer records for 15 years after they stop using the service. What is the risk?

A Old data can still be stolen or misused in a breach

B Old data is safe because nobody uses it any more

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1SELECT firstName, house FROM students;		Afields = [name, birthDate, address, licenceNo]
2SELECT * FROM students;		BKeeping data longer than needed means more is exposed in a breach and more can be misused.
3Keeping extra personal details makes identity theft easier, because a thief can combine them to pose as the person		CCollects only the fields the task needs, which limits what could be exposed if the data leaks
4Only collecting what the solution needs reduces the harm if the data is stolen		Dfields = [firstName, yearLevel]
5Store every customer's birth date and licence number just in case we need it later.		ECollecting data without a current need increases the data exposure risk, and a leak could lead to identity theft.
6Keep old student records forever, because storage is cheap and deleting is extra work.		FPulls every stored field for every student, which increases the harm if the results are stolen or leaked

Definitions

data exposure risk

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

input name _____ email

SELECT firstName, house ____ students

______ FROM orders WHERE orderDate < '2020-01-01';

ALTER TABLE students ____ COLUMN address;

if hasConsent _ true then input phoneNumber end if

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A stored <- "5000"

B leaked <- stored * 0.1

C print leaked

Question 2

A for each field in form

B if field is not needed then

C collect field

D end if

E end for

Question 3

A exposed <- 0

B for i from 1 to 3

C exposed <- count[i]

D end for

E print exposed

Question 4

A purpose <- "newsletter"

B if purpose = "newsletter"

C input email

D end if

Question 5

A define leakRisk(records rate)

B risk <- records * rate

C return risk

D end define

Answer Key

Risks of collecting and keeping too much data

Section A: Quick Questions

B — The more data stored, the more harm the leak can cause

A — Collect only the data the system actually needs

B — An unnecessary risk that could help identity theft

A — Using the details to open a credit account in the victim's name

A — Old data can still be stolen or misused in a breach

Section B: Match the Pairs

SELECT firstName, house FROM students; → Collects only the fields the task needs, which limits what could be exposed if the data leaks

SELECT * FROM students; → Pulls every stored field for every student, which increases the harm if the results are stolen or leaked

Keeping extra personal details makes identity theft easier, because a thief can combine them to pose as the person → fields = [name, birthDate, address, licenceNo]

Only collecting what the solution needs reduces the harm if the data is stolen → fields = [firstName, yearLevel]

Store every customer's birth date and licence number just in case we need it later. → Collecting data without a current need increases the data exposure risk, and a leak could lead to identity theft.

Keep old student records forever, because storage is cheap and deleting is extra work. → Keeping data longer than needed means more is exposed in a breach and more can be misused.

Section C: Definitions

data exposure risk — The more data a system keeps, the more harm if it is stolen or leaked. Extra stored data makes identity theft and misuse of that data more likely and more damaging.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

input name
input email

SELECT firstName, house FROM students

DELETE FROM orders
WHERE orderDate < '2020-01-01';

ALTER TABLE students DROP COLUMN address;

if hasConsent = true then
    input phoneNumber
end if

Section E: Spot the Error

A — 5000 is wrapped in quotes, so it is text, not a number. Line 2 multiplies it to estimate how many records leak, so it must be the number 5000: stored <- 5000.

C — Collecting a field that is not needed adds more data that can be stolen. Unneeded fields should be removed with delete field.

C — The accumulator is overwritten each time round the loop, so it only holds the last count. It must add each count to the running total: exposed <- exposed + count[i].

B — The if line is missing the keyword then. It should be: if purpose = "newsletter" then. The email is only collected when it is needed, which keeps stored data small.

A — The parameters must be separated by a comma. It should be define leakRisk(records, rate). The function estimates how risk grows with the number of records kept.