Data Protection Act

Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which defines UK law on the processing of data on identifiable living people.

Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless- at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met, and in the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met.
Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.
Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
About the rights of individuals e.g. personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects (individuals).
Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

Three rights to data subjects

The data subject (the person whose data is stored) has consented ("given their permission") to the processing
Processing is necessary for the performance of, or commencing, a contract
Processing is required under a legal obligation (other than one stated in the contract)

What does a organisation have to do to ensure that it abides by the law?

The personal data should be relevant to the reason the data has been kept in the first place. It should be accurate and only used and kept if it is necessary. Also, when needed the information needs to be updated so the data is correct. To keep the data safe and used only for business, the rooms need to be locked, devices need to have a safe password and employees need to be kept under restraint from using and finding the data in any way it could be used in the wrong circumstances. Once the data is used, it needs to be deleted so the company or device doesn't have the personal information any more. It should only be kept for the certain amount of time it is needed for and shall not be kept longer than necessary.