← QCE Digital Solutions Unit 4

Evaluating the security impacts of a data exchange

Judging a data exchange on five aspects: use, dissemination, storage, accuracy and ownership of data, with evidence for each, then recommending a fix.

Part of: QCE Digital Solutions Unit 4 — Prototype Digital Data Exchanges — Module 123

Understanding Evaluating the security impacts of a data exchange in QCE Digital Solutions Unit 4

What it does: Storage and protection are judged by evidence of safeguards such as encryption and secure connections. A recommendation must be a concrete change that addresses a weakness found in the evaluation. Use of data asks whether data is used only for the purpose it was collected for. Sending ads goes beyond the sign-up purpose. Dissemination is about who else receives the data. Passing it to a third party without consent is a dissemination concern. Out-of-date or incomplete data is an accuracy issue. It can cause wrong decisions and harm to the person. Ownership is about who holds legal control of the data and whether the person can access, correct or remove it.

Common mistakes: == compares values, it does not store evidence for the 'use' aspect. Saving evidence in the dictionary needs the assignment operator =. A for loop header must end with a colon. It should be: for a in aspects:.

Class: _____________________ · Name: _____________________ · Date: _________

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 334–401) and word search (Modules 127–401).

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Learning

Duo

A school app collects student emails for sign-up but later uses them to send ads. Which aspect of a security-impact evaluation does this mainly raise?

Accuracy of dataUse of data

Matches

Evaluation: 'The exchange is secure because it is fast.'

↓

Gives no evidence for any of the five aspects. Speed says nothing about use, dissemination, storage, accuracy or ownership.

Applying

Meanings

Term

Security-impact evaluation

Meaning

Judging a data exchange on five aspects: use, dissemination, storage, accuracy and ownership of data, with evidence for each, then recommending a fix.

Practice

Use: marks are only used for reporting

Testing

Gaps

five = ["use", "", "storage"]

Check Answer

Spots

1ev = {}

2ev["use"] == "Marks only"

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Quick Questions

1. A school app collects student emails for sign-up but later uses them to send ads. Which aspect of a security-impact evaluation does this mainly raise?

A. Use of data ✓

B. Accuracy of data

Use of data asks whether data is used only for the purpose it was collected for. Sending ads goes beyond the sign-up purpose.

2. An app sends users' location history to an advertising company without asking them. Which aspect is being judged?

A. Dissemination to other parties ✓

B. Storage and protection

Dissemination is about who else receives the data. Passing it to a third party without consent is a dissemination concern.

3. A student record database keeps passwords as plain text on an unencrypted server. Which aspect does this evidence belong to?

A. Ownership of data

B. Storage and protection ✓

Plain text passwords on an unprotected server show weak storage and protection. Encryption at rest would reduce the risk.

4. A data exchange keeps a student's old address after they have moved, so mail goes to the wrong house. Which aspect is this?

A. Dissemination to other parties

B. Accuracy of data ✓

Out-of-date or incomplete data is an accuracy issue. It can cause wrong decisions and harm to the person.

5. A fitness app's terms say the company owns all health data users upload and can keep it after accounts are deleted. Which aspect is this?

A. Ownership of data ✓

B. Use of data

Ownership is about who holds legal control of the data and whether the person can access, correct or remove it.

Match the Pairs

Use of data → Checks what the exchange does with the data and whether that purpose matches what the user agreed to

Dissemination of data → Checks which other parties receive the data, such as third-party APIs, partners or advertisers

Storage and protection: evidence is that data is encrypted at rest and in transit → Evidence: the API uses HTTPS and the database file is encrypted

Recommending a fix: name a specific change that removes the weakness found → Fix: move the API key into an environment variable, not the code

Evaluation: 'The exchange is secure because it is fast.' → Gives no evidence for any of the five aspects. Speed says nothing about use, dissemination, storage, accuracy or ownership.

Ownership: 'We collected the data, so we can sell it to anyone.' → Ignores that the data owner keeps control and rights over their data, so the data cannot be passed on without permission.

Key Term

Security-impact evaluation

Judging a data exchange on five aspects: use, dissemination, storage, accuracy and ownership of data, with evidence for each, then recommending a fix.

Fill in the Blanks

1. five = ["use", "dissemination", "storage"]

Hint: Type the aspect name that covers sharing data with other parties.

2. findings["accuracy"] = "no checks on input"

Hint: Type the dictionary key for the aspect about whether data is correct and complete.

3. findings["ownership"] = "user cannot delete"

Hint: Type the dictionary key for the aspect about who controls the data.

4. five = ["use", "dissemination", "storage"] for aspect in five: print(aspect)

Hint: Type the name of the list variable that holds the aspects being looped over.

5. if "storage" in findings: fix = "encrypt data at rest"

Hint: Type the operator that checks whether a key exists in a dictionary.

Spot the Error

Question 1

A ev = {}

B ev["use"] == "Marks only"

C ev["store"] = "Plain text"

Line B — == compares values, it does not store evidence for the 'use' aspect. Saving evidence in the dictionary needs the assignment operator =.

Question 2

A aspects = ["use", "storage"]

B for a in aspects

C print("Evaluate:", a)

Line B — A for loop header must end with a colon. It should be: for a in aspects:

Question 3

A risk = "high"

B if risk == "high":

C print("Keep it plain")

Line C — A high storage risk needs a fix that protects the data. The recommendation should be to encrypt it, not leave it as plain text.

Question 4

A shared = ["school", "vendor"]

B for party in shared:

C print("Sent to " + shared)

Line C — shared is a list, and a list cannot be joined to a string with +. Dissemination should name each party in the loop, so use party.

Question 5

A owner = "student"

B holder = "school"

C if owner != holder:

D print("Ownership clear")

Line D — The condition owner != holder is True when the owner and the holder are different people, so ownership is unclear. The message should be Ownership unclear.

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