With all topics in this section students are expected to know the general issues rather than have specific knowledge. However, it is felt by keeping up with news in the various topics students will develop a better ability to discuss issues that may be posed in exam questions.
The specification for GCSE mentions a need to understand that ordinary citizens normally value their privacy and may not like it when governments or security services have too much access. It also says that students should be aware that governments and security services often argue that they cannot keep their citizens safe from terrorism and other attacks unless they have access to private data.
In certain instances there needs to be a trade off between these. Some situations where it has become an issue: