Why is it essential for your organisation to comply with the Data protection Act?
The Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA”), lays down eight data protection principles that any organisation processing information of individuals need to comply with.
What does the DPA cover?
The DPA came into force on 1 March 2000. The DPA implemented the European Union (“EU”) Directive on information protection into UK law introducing radical alterations to the way in which personal information regarding identifiable living folks can be used. The continual want for businesses to process individual information signifies that the DPA impacts upon most organisations, irrespective of size. Furthermore, the public’s growing awareness of their right to privacy suggests that information protection will stay an vital problem.
The DPA tends to make a distinction between private data and individual sensitive data. Private data includes individual information relating to workers, consumers, organization contacts and suppliers. Sensitive data covers an individual’s ethnic origin, healthcare circumstances, sexual orientation and eligibility to perform in the UK . The information protection principles set out the requirements which an organisation have to meet when processing personal data. These principles apply to the processing of all personal data, regardless of whether these information are processed automatically or stored in structured manual files.
What is information?
Information implies information and facts which is processed by personal computer or other automatic equipment, like word processors, databases and spreadsheet files, or info which is recorded on paper with the intention of being processed later by pc or information which is recorded as component of a manual filing program, where the files are structured according to the names of folks or other characteristics, such as payroll quantity, and exactly where the files have adequate internal structure so that particular information and facts about a certain person can be discovered simply.
What are the eight information protection principles?
The eight information protection principles are as follows:
Individual data ought to be processed fairly and lawfully
Individual information have to be obtained only for specified and lawful purposes and will have to not be processed additional in any manner incompatible with those purposes
Individual data have to be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were collected
Personal information have to be correct and, exactly where essential, kept up to date
Private data should not be kept longer than is vital for the purposes for which they have been collected
Private data should be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects
Personal information should be kept secure against unauthorised or unlawful
processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage
Personal data ought to not be transferred to nations outdoors the European
Economic Region unless the country of location offers an sufficient level of information protection for these data.
What information comprises private information?
Individual data relates to data of living men and women who can be identified from those data, or from those information and other facts which is in the possession of the information controller or which is likely to come into its possession for example, names, addresses and house telephone numbers of staff.
What information comprises sensitive data?
Private Sensitive information (“sensitive data “) consist of data relating to a data subject’s (individuals):
racial or ethnic origin
political opinions
religious beliefs or other equivalent beliefs
trade union membership
physical or mental health or condition
sexual orientation
commission or alleged commission of any offences convictions or criminal proceedings involving the information topic.
convictions or criminal proceedings involving the information topic.
What is the meaning of processing under the DPA?
The definition of ‘processing’ is pretty broad. It covers any operation carried out on the data and contains, acquiring or recording information, the retrieval, consultation or use of information, the disclosure or otherwise creating readily available of data.
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A ‘data controller’ is any particular person who (alone or jointly with others) decides the purposes for which, and the manner in which, the private data are processed. The information controller will therefore be the legal entity which workouts ultimate control over the private data. Individual managers or personnel are not data controllers.
The data controller is responsible for:
Individual information about identifiable living individuals
Deciding how and why personal data are processed
Information and facts handling – complying with the eight data protection principles
Acquiring “information subjects” consent for processing sensitive information
Existing procedures for handling sensitive or personal data
Safety measures to safeguard personal information
Notification
Who is a information processor?
A ‘data processor’ is a person or organisation who processes the data on behalf of the information controller, but who is not an employee of the data controller.
Who is a information topic?
A ‘data subject’ is any living person who is the topic of personal data. There are no age restrictions on who qualifies as a data topic, but the definition does not extend to folks who are deceased.
Are we necessary to notify? What does notification mean?
An organisation have to not process any personal information unless it has first notified the Information and facts Commissioner of specific particulars, including:
the organisation’s name and address
the purposes for which the information are to be processed
any proposed recipients of the data
nations outdoors the European Economic Area to which the data may perhaps be disclosed.