1998 Data Protection Act

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1998 Data Protection Act The purpose of the Data Protection Act – Why do we have it? The 1998 Data Protection Act was passed by Parliament to control the way information is handled and to give legal rights to people who have information stored about them. Other European Union countries have passed similar laws as often information is held in more than one country. The Data Protection Act was developed to give protection and lay down rules about how data about people can be used. The 1998 Act covers information or data stored on a computer or an organised paper filing system about living people. The really basic way it works is by: 1. setting up rules that people have to follow 2. having an Information Commissioner to enforce the rules It does not stop companies storing information about people. It just makes them follow rules. The Eight Principles of Data Protection –The Rules to be followed For the personal data that controllers store and process: 1. It must be collected and used fairly and inside the law. 2. It must only be held and used for the reasons given to the Information Commissioner. This is the company who are storing or using your information such as a College or University. 3. It can only be used for those registered purposes and only be disclosed to those people mentioned in the register entry. You cannot give it away or sell it unless you said you would to begin with. 4. The information held must be adequate, relevant and not excessive when compared with the purpose stated in the register. So you must have enough detail but not too much for the job that you are doing with the data. 5. It must be accurate and be kept up to date. There is a duty to keep it up to date, for example to change an address when people move. 6. It must not be kept longer than is necessary for the registered purpose. It is alright to keep information for

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