ICT in the Law
Data Protection Act 1998
The data protection act is there to keep people safe from identity theft. It also helps the police identify the criminals and stop them. This benefits people like me because it keeps my personal information safe when I use it on the internet and give my details when subscribing to a website. The act keeps my details safe from theft. Schools and colleges that I have been to have my personal information. They have my phone numbers and addresses. The Data Protection Act protects this information so it cannot be stolen. This means that they cannot give out any of my information to other people. My doctor also has my information. He has my address, phone number and medical records which are kept safe on a database so my details aren’t stolen. My bank also has my details. It has my name, age, numbers and addresses. It also has my account details which need to be protected from thieves so my money is safe. Personal data must be got fairly and lawfully. It was brought in because more and more organisations were starting to hold people’s personal information on computers. This was a problem because nobody knew who was holding their information. Data users must register all their purposes on a national register held by a Date Protection Commissioner and the data can only be used for that purpose. The second act was brought in after more people began to use the internet to collect information. This makes the community safer from identity theft and gives the thief a fine if he/she does wrongly. Data must only be used for the purposes that have been registered. This means that the minimum data required to complete any task can be held but not more than the minimum. . Appropriate measure should be taken to ensure personal data is held securely. The act was updated in 1998 because people were starting to use the internet more. It also deals with the problems that weren’t around in 1984. Mr Hulse, Mr James and I have a lot of information stored by companies such as schools, doctors and dentists. This law means that any information they have about us is stored correctly, up-to-date, accurate and not sent out to companies who don’t abide by the data protection act. Mr Hulse and Mr James also hold information about people as part of their job. They must make sure that any information that they have is in line with the 8 principles of the act.
