Data Protection Act

Data Protection Act
Everything you need to know

The Data protection act is designed to give rights to individuals (data subjects), those that the information is held on, and it forces the data controllers (those that hold the information) to follow the 8 principles. The data protection act was passed in 1998.


The 8 principles are as follows:
obtain and process information fairly and lawfully
register the purposes for which they hold it
not disclose the information in any way that is different from those purposes
only hold information that is adequate, relevant and not excessive for the purposes they require
only hold accurate information and keep it up-to-date where necessary
give individuals copies of the information held about themselves if they request it and, where appropriate, correct or erase the information
take appropriate steps to keep the information safe

As an individual (data subject) you are entitled to certain rights.
The right of subject access
Allows the individual to rightly see or request alterations of information held about them.
The right to prevent direct marketing
Individuals can request that you don't use the information held on them for direct marketing. The request must be in writing.
The right to have information corrected
An individual has the right for incorrect information held on their body to be corrected, if this is not done, the individual can make claims should they suffer due to this.
The right to compensation
If an individual suffers damage as a result of any breaches of the 8 principles, they can claim compensation. Physical or financial.
The right to prevent automated decisions
This allows an individual to halt any automated decisions made about them, for example recruitment tests done by a computer.

Organisations also have obligations, as listed:
the organisation has to need the information
the organisation must notify the data subject that they have the information

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