DSE ICT | Data Privacy and Intellectual Property Lesson-Prep Guide (for tutors) | six principles, four IP types, four common errors

2026-11-05

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary ICT

Students hear privacy and think of passwords, hear copyright and think downloading is banned. This lesson drags both back to the text: the six data protection principles turned into an audit of a tutoring centre database, and four kinds of intellectual property plus six Creative Commons combinations, so that may I use it and on what terms stop being the same question.

Objectives — Students can: (1) state the six data protection principles and audit a system that collects student data against each of them (lawful purpose and proportionate collection, accuracy and retention, use limitation, security, openness, access and correction); (2) state the deadline for answering a data access or correction request (40 days) and draft a written request that meets the requirement; (3) distinguish copyright, patent, trademark and registered design by subject matter and term (copyright for 50 years after the author dies, a standard patent for up to 20 years, a trademark renewable every 10 years), and pick one of the 6 Creative Commons combinations for a project with a stated reason.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Data and information	The difference between data and information	Data are raw facts, information is organised and meaningful
Network security basics	Encryption against hashing	Encryption is reversible, hashing is not
IP basics	When does copyright take effect	As soon as the work is fixed, with no registration

02 Lesson flow (60 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-6 min	Prior check	Three quick items, especially when copyright starts	Answer orally, errors go in the board corner
6-20 min	Audit the six principles	One student database, six rows of checks	Students write complies or breaches, with a reason
20-32 min	Access and correction	The 40-day deadline and the written request	Students draft three sentences
32-44 min	Four kinds of IP	Subject matter, term, how it is obtained	Students fill a comparison grid
44-56 min	Creative Commons drill	Four elements make 6 combinations	Students choose one and justify it
56-60 min	Exit check	Three items collected and marked on the spot	Work alone

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Act 1: the six principles are a checklist, not a slogan

Open with a scene: a tutoring centre keeps names, schools, phone numbers and marks in one spreadsheet, emails the whole file to three tutors, and leaves a departed tutor account active. Ask what is wrong and the class usually says the data should not leak, without naming a single breached principle.
So walk the six: (1) purpose and manner of collection must be lawful, relevant and not excessive, so ask whether the school name is really needed to teach; (2) accuracy and retention, so is the old version of the marks deleted; (3) use, so data may only be used for the stated purpose and third-party transfer needs prior notice; (4) security, so an active ex-staff account is a hole; (5) openness, so were students and parents told what the data is for; (6) access and correction, so a student may see the record.
Students fill a six-row audit, each row marked complies or breaches with one sentence of evidence. Misconception box: a password does not make a system compliant, because security is one of six principles while purpose and retention break just as easily.

Students restate: six principles form a checklist, and every one needs a concrete practice behind it.

Scene 2: Act 2: access and correction, answered within forty days

Act two covers how the rights are exercised. A data subject may ask in writing to see the record, and the organisation must reply within 40 days, charging only a reasonable fee. If the record is inaccurate, correction can be demanded and must be handled within the same deadline, with written reasons for any refusal.
Students draft three sentences: who I am, which records over which period I want, and a request for a reply within the statutory period. Two points to stress: the request must be in writing to be formal, and refusal is allowed in some situations, for example where answering would expose another person personal data.
Then discuss exemptions for crime prevention or tax collection. The exam wants the reason, not a bare yes or no, so the habit to build is name the ground for refusal before concluding.

Students restate: written request, answer within forty days, and a refusal needs a stated ground.

Scene 3: Act 3: four kinds of intellectual property and the CC grid

Act three sorts four rights. Copyright covers the expression of an idea (text, music, code, photographs), starts when the work is fixed and generally runs for 50 years after the author dies. A standard patent covers an invention for up to 20 years and must be applied for with renewal fees. A trademark covers a brand mark, registered and renewable every 10 years. A registered design covers the look of a product for a shorter term. The one-liner to memorise is that copyright protects how something is expressed while a patent protects how something works.
Then Creative Commons: four elements, BY for attribution, SA for share-alike, NC for non-commercial, ND for no derivatives, combining into 6 common licences from the loosest BY to the strictest BY-NC-ND, since NC and ND cannot be combined. Give a task: a school project needs an image and will be posted on the school site where a commercial site might reuse it, so NC must be avoided; if derivatives must stay open, SA is required. Students must say which licence, why, and what they must still do, rather than pictures online are fine.

Students restate: copyright covers expression and patents cover inventions, and the CC elements combine, with NC and ND never together.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Principle matching	A departed tutor can still log in and read student records: which principle	1 read the scene 2 name the principle 3 state the fix	Security, so disable the account at once and log the change
Access request	A parent asks to see the child marks record, what does the centre do	1 confirm in writing 2 verify identity 3 reply within the deadline	Provide a copy within 40 days for a reasonable fee
IP classification	A new design for a phone charger, what protects it	1 expression or function 2 name the right 3 state the term	Registered design for the look plus a standard patent for the technical part
Licence choice	A project posted on a school site with no commercial reuse	1 list the needs 2 drop conflicting elements 3 name the licence	BY-NC, or BY-NC-SA if derivatives must stay open

Sanity check (teach this): Check plausibility: copyright must outlast a patent (50 years against 20), so an answer of ten years for copyright has borrowed the trademark term of 10. The access deadline of 40 days is the standard figure, so three months signals confusion with another procedure. Every CC licence starts with BY, so NC-ND without BY breaks the combination rule, and every answer needs a concrete action, since naming a principle alone does not score.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
List the six data protection principles and give one retention breach.	Purpose and manner, accuracy and retention, use, security, openness, access and correction; example: full mark sheets kept three years after a student leaves	No principle missing, example truly about retention
A parent asks in writing to see the child record: by when must the centre reply?	Within 40 days	Both the written form and the deadline stated
State the terms of copyright, patent and trademark.	Copyright 50 years after death, standard patent 20 years, trademark renewable every 10 years	The three terms not swapped

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Privacy equals a password	Answering that a login password makes the system compliant	Security is one of six principles; purpose, retention and third-party transfer breach just as easily.
Treating an oral request as formal	Counting a phone call from a parent as an access request	The law asks for writing; help them by phone, but the formal step is on paper.
Swapping copyright and patent	Claiming an app needs a patent before it has copyright	Copyright starts on completion, no application needed; a patent covers an invention and needs filing and fees.
Reading CC as public domain	Using any CC image freely because of the badge	CC is conditional: NC, ND and SA are limits, and each must be checked.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Redo this chapter — Redo practice items 1 to 3 (questions 1-3), naming the principle or right for each
ICT chapter index — Pick the network security chapter and do question 2, listing three safeguards
Build a licence table — Tabulate the 6 CC combinations with one suitable use each

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
What does the retention principle require	Keep data no longer than the purpose needs	Answering never keep means replay act one
Deadline for an access request	40 days	Answering one month means replay act two
Copyright against patent	Copyright protects expression, a patent protects an invention	Answering they are the same means replay act three

09 Tutor FAQ

Does the privacy ordinance cover schools?

Yes, a school is a data user and must meet the six principles when collecting student data.

Is an image marked free to share open for anything?

Check the terms: free to share does not imply free to modify or to use commercially.

Must a school project credit a CC image?

Yes, BY is the minimum, so state the author, the source and the licence.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.