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Unit 5 · Impact of Computing Flashcards Cheat Sheet Essentials Visual Review MC Practice FRQ Practice

AP Computer Science Principles Unit 5 FRQ Practice

Practice a Create-Performance-Task-style written response about the effects of computing, bias, and safe computing. Write your response, then reveal the model answer to see exactly what earns each point.

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Written Response · Unit 5 · Impact of Computing

Note: The AP CSP exam is all multiple-choice; extended writing appears in the Create Performance Task. This question gives you practice with that style of written response.

A city releases a new app that uses computing to recommend the fastest public-transit routes. It collects each user's location and travel history to improve its recommendations.

A
Describe one beneficial effect and one harmful effect this app could have. Indicate whether the harmful effect is likely intended or unintended.

✓ Model answer

A beneficial effect is that riders save time and travel more efficiently, which can also reduce congestion and encourage the use of public transit. A harmful effect is that collecting each user's location and travel history creates a privacy risk — the data could be misused, shared, or breached, exposing where people live and go. This harmful effect is most likely unintended, since the creators' goal was to improve routing, not to endanger privacy.

Why it scores: Gives a specific benefit AND a specific harm, and correctly classifies the harm as (most likely) unintended. A vague "it helps people but could be bad" without concrete effects would lose credit.
B
The app works less well in low-income neighborhoods, where fewer people use it and less data is collected. Explain how this relates to the digital divide and to computing bias.

✓ Model answer

This reflects the digital divide: people in low-income neighborhoods may have less access to smartphones or data plans, so fewer of them use the app. Because the app improves from the data it collects, it gathers less data from those areas, which leads to computing bias — the recommendations become systematically worse for low-income riders. The unequal access produces unfair outcomes, reinforcing existing inequalities.

Why it scores: Correctly connects unequal access to the digital divide, AND explains that the resulting unrepresentative data causes biased (worse) results for that group — computing bias. Naming only one of the two concepts would earn less.
C
Describe two things the city could do to use this app more responsibly, addressing users' data safety and privacy.

✓ Model answer

First, the city could protect the collected data with encryption and strong access controls, and secure user accounts with multifactor authentication, so that location and travel data cannot be easily stolen or misused. Second, it could minimize and be transparent about data collection — gathering only what is needed, letting users consent to and opt out of tracking, and clearly explaining how the data is used. Together these steps reduce privacy risks while still letting the app provide its benefit.

Why it scores: Gives two concrete, appropriate measures (e.g., encryption/MFA and data minimization/consent) that directly address data safety and privacy. Vague answers like "be careful with data" without specific practices would lose credit.

How to write strong AP CSP responses