Legal constraints

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Date:

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which of these is a legal constraint on a software solution?

A The solution must comply with the Privacy Act 1988 when storing customer details

B The solution should use a blue colour scheme because the client likes it

2. A developer wants to use a photo found on a website in their app. What does copyright law generally require?

A Permission or a suitable licence from the copyright owner

B Nothing, because anything on the internet is free to use

3. A school app collects student names and addresses. Which type of legal constraint applies most directly?

A Privacy law

B Software licensing law

4. A legal constraint is best described as:

A A preference the client can choose to ignore

B A law or regulation the solution must obey

5. A team uses an open-source library with a licence that requires attribution. What must they do?

A Remove the licence text and claim the code as their own

B Follow the licence terms and credit the original author

Match the Pairs

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

Left column		Right column
1Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth)		ALicensing terms that limit how third-party code or assets can be copied, changed or redistributed in the solution
2Copyright licence: MIT or GPL		BImages found online are still protected by copyright, so the developer needs permission or a suitable licence to use them.
3A legal constraint can come from industry regulations, such as a payment card standard that sets how card data must be handled		CA privacy law the solution must obey when it collects, stores, uses or discloses personal information
4A legal constraint written in an SRS names the law and says what the solution must do to obey it		DConstraint: must comply with PCI DSS when storing card details
5Constraint: the app can ignore copyright because the images were found online		ELegal constraints are mandatory, not optional. A low budget does not remove the need to obey privacy law.
6Constraint: privacy law is optional if the budget is small		FConstraint: user data must be collected only with consent (Privacy Act 1988)

Definitions

legal constraint

Fill in the Blanks

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

// _________ Act 1968 protects creators

IF consent = TRUE ____ SAVE data

IF licensed ___ paid THEN USE library

IF data = "health" THEN _______ record

IF age > 7 THEN ______ record

Spot the Error

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

Question 1

A GET imageLicence

B IF imageLicence = "none" THEN

C DISPLAY "Image allowed"

D END IF

Question 2

A GET userConsent

B IF userConsent = FALSE THEN

C SAVE email TO database

D END IF

Question 3

A GET cardNumber

B SEND cardNumber TO bank

C STORE cvv IN database

D DISPLAY "Payment done"

Question 4

A SET keepYears = 7

B IF recordAge > keepYears THEN

C KEEP record forever

D END IF

Question 5

A GET songLicence

B IF songLicence = "CC-BY" THEN

C PLAY song

D HIDE creditToArtist

E END IF

Answer Key

Legal constraints

Section A: Quick Questions

A — The solution must comply with the Privacy Act 1988 when storing customer details

A — Permission or a suitable licence from the copyright owner

A — Privacy law

B — A law or regulation the solution must obey

B — Follow the licence terms and credit the original author

Section B: Match the Pairs

Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth) → A privacy law the solution must obey when it collects, stores, uses or discloses personal information

Copyright licence: MIT or GPL → Licensing terms that limit how third-party code or assets can be copied, changed or redistributed in the solution

A legal constraint can come from industry regulations, such as a payment card standard that sets how card data must be handled → Constraint: must comply with PCI DSS when storing card details

A legal constraint written in an SRS names the law and says what the solution must do to obey it → Constraint: user data must be collected only with consent (Privacy Act 1988)

Constraint: the app can ignore copyright because the images were found online → Images found online are still protected by copyright, so the developer needs permission or a suitable licence to use them.

Constraint: privacy law is optional if the budget is small → Legal constraints are mandatory, not optional. A low budget does not remove the need to obey privacy law.

Section C: Definitions

legal constraint — A law or regulation a solution must obey, such as privacy law, copyright and licensing rules, or industry regulations. It limits what the software can do and how it handles data.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

// Copyright Act 1968 protects creators

IF consent = TRUE THEN SAVE data

IF licensed AND paid THEN USE library

IF data = "health" THEN ENCRYPT record

IF age > 7 THEN DELETE record

Section E: Spot the Error

C — Copyright law means an image with no licence cannot be used. The line should block the image, for example DISPLAY "Image blocked", not allow it.

B — Privacy law says personal information is collected only with consent. The email should be saved when consent is TRUE, not when it is FALSE.

C — Payment card industry rules forbid storing the security code (CVV) after payment. It should be deleted after the payment, not stored.

C — Privacy law requires personal information to be destroyed once it is no longer needed. Records older than the retention period should be deleted, not kept forever.

D — A CC-BY licence allows use only if the creator is credited. The artist credit must be displayed, not hidden.