Data protection normally only stands for personal details but if it was statistical data which was collected there is no problem in having that passed on since surveys never normally involve a person writing their names so it is ok. There can be exceptions of data protection individuals can have medical files sent to other hospitals in case they have an accident and are in a hospital which is not their normal GP.
This act is weaved in to every technology including mine and my schools; it will mainly protect my documents at school. At my school I have a file which I have had since I started school it has been moved from each school I go to, this is protected under the data protection act since no unauthorised personal can look at this file without permission from either me or a teacher of high rank This act also protects the work which I have on the school server. In which I use to do word processed work on, no one can access my login account if they are not a teacher. Since it is all protected by a login name and a password with out these 2 details you can’t access my account or work on the server.
For Mr. James Turner the person I chose for adult in employment the data protection act will help him mostly at work. This is because being a Financial Manager he has to deal with a lot of personal accounts, like loans, mortgages and debts. This type of information may be stored on his computer and he may use a connection from transferring this data from his work to home. He can access his work computer from home by having an internet access to the server at his work; the data which is on his computer would be private to him and the person of whom it may concern, this data can not be shown to anyone else with out Mr. Turner getting permission from his client.
The person with special needs Mr. Stephen Hawking he has only one piece of technology which is protected under the data protection act. This is his mini laptop which he has attached to his wheelchair, on this laptop he probably has many things like appointment dates, medical data etc. But for someone to access his pc and read all the data about his medical condition and other things relating to his personal life is against the data protection law.
In the community the data protection act can help various things like for instance in learn direct there will be peoples personal details including the courses they are taking and if they are having difficulties learning their course. These are pieces of information in which no one wants spread about and if someone was able to take the data or if this data was spread around the internet or sent to other places with out the persons consent it is against the data protection act.
The Computer Misuse Act 1990
The computer misuse act secures all computer material against unauthorised access and modifications. This basically means that a person will not able to access a computer or a file on a computer without having some one else’s consent. This act covers these three things:
- Unauthorised access to computer material
- Unauthorised access with the intent to commit or facilitates commission of further offences.
- Unauthorised modification of computer material.
These three things basically cover anyone from hacking, computer fraud, blackmail and viruses.
This protects me at home mainly since when ever I access the internet and other websites it leaves me open to hackers because accessing a website you need to have an IP (internet protocol). This determines how much information passes between the two systems across the internet. If I entered a site a hacker could automatically get my IP address and using this they can enter my computer. For me to stop this I have to have a firewall this basically stops any unauthorised personal entering my computer with out my permission. If a hacker was able to access my computer they could get access to information like my credit card number and other personal information, since I use my card over the internet to order products from websites and with them hacking in to my computer they can get my credit card number and password.
Hackers can also put viruses into my computer this will either cause my computer to crash or cause problems to it. Normally most viruses like the worm just delete every piece of information on the computer.
For James Turner the computer misuse act will protect him since he has a lot of other peoples information on his computer for a hacker to enter his computer and take that would be against the computer misuse act. If a hacker was to enter his computer it would be either to find data on a client whom he is working with or to delete something on a client. If James Turner got a virus sent from a hacker it would cause serious problems for his business since he has most of his information on computer, for Mr. Turner to be protected and ready for any hackers he will need a firewall to block viruses and unauthorised personal, an anti – virus system like Norton anti – virus which will delete or identify any viruses that enter his computer and a back up of all his information just in case he loses any thing.
Stephen Hawking has his personal laptop this is able to connect to the internet from anywhere since he has wireless connection. This laptop will need protection from hackers since its IP is always available on the net since it is never signed off the net, for this laptop he must have many protection systems. These systems will be similar to the other ones I mentioned earlier like an anti – virus and a firewall.
For the community this act protects the people from credit card fraud, this is like someone using another person’s credit card without their permission. Resulting in taking money from this account and it doesn’t belong to them. That is another form of hacking since when the person obtains the credit card they won’t know the password so they will have to guess to get the correct password which is a form of hacking.
Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988
This covers the rights of individuals or groups who produce new materials. This means people have to seek permission before using someone else’s materials. This includes things like web material or designs. This can also include such things as copying CDS, say for instance a brand new game was created and only just come out in America and it hasn’t reached Europe as of yet, if someone obtained that CD and made an illegal copy then sold it in Europe before the release date this would be against the Copyright act.
If I was to make a game on my computer or on my school computer, if someone was to obtain that game and start to sell it on before I could that is against the copyright. If I was to get all the latest songs from downloading and made a CD with them all on and sold them on to other people before they had reached Europe or the UK that would be against the copyright act. Most of these games which you can buy normally has that it should only be used by one person and not to be sold on but it gives the right that user can use this product or piece of technology.
For James Turner this would protect him from getting the information which he has on his computer from being copied and used as proof in court case or anything else the information would concern, it could be used in such things but it has to have James Turner’s permission before hand. If he does give the person the right to use this information they cannot duplicate it and pass it on it is for that one person and that person only.
Stephen Hawking this act would cover over his lectures and his computer, for his lectures he must have a set of information in which he specifically wants his class to know that he knows him self. This is probably his own way of lecturing for someone to obtain this schedule and use it as their own copying Stephen’s ideas this is against the copyright act has they are using his material with out his consent. They could obtain this information from his laptop but if this information is published on the net it would have the copyright laws on the same page stating the person can use the information but not pass it on.
In the community this act covers copyright of any original information that a person in the community has created or designed from being taken and used as someone else’s and sold on. For instance if some one in the community wrote a song or a book which would become famous later on if publish or brought out for sale and someone else took that idea with out authorisation and sold it as their own that is against the copyright act. This would mainly cover over downloading or uploading over the net with out authorisation; with out permission it is against the law to copy it.