The Data Protection Act.

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The Data Protection Act

The Data Protection act is an act that came into force on 1 March 2000. It gives effect in UK law to the 1995 EC Data Protection Directive. The Act strengthens and extends the data protection regime created by the Data Protection Act 1984, which it replaces.

The 1998 Act applies to:         

  • Computerised personal data (like the 1984 Act);
  • Personal data held in structured manual files (new).

It applies to anything at all done to personal data ("processing"), including collection, use, disclosure, and destruction and merely holding data.

It was created to protect everyone’s civil rights and the information that is kept on them by organisations.

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The principles are similar to those in the 1984 Act. But the 1998 Act creates some express new requirements. Controllers must:

  • meet one of six conditions in order to process personal data;
  • meet further conditions in order to process sensitive data*;
  • inform individuals when their data are collected.

* Sensitive data are data about a person's ethnic origins, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, health, sexual life and criminal history.

Individuals' Rights

The Act strengthens individuals' rights to:

  • gain access to their data;
  • seek compensation. ...

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Here's what a star student thought of this essay

The writing in some areas is quite informal and this will need to be addressed. As there's some sections which are formal and professional and some areas aren't The report will need to have a consistent writing style throughout.

The report states the eight different principles, however this doesn't explain how it's necessary to have each point and what type of websites these points are applied to. For example the report could include something on the lines of 'The data must be stored on secure servers, in order to protect data which if accessed and used incorrectly, this could damage the day-to-day living of consumer's.'. The above example could be used to explain the principle 'Secure'. This will show the examiner that the student has not only acknowledged the eight principles, but have gone further and explained how each one applies to websites and the implications of not enforcing these principles.

In summary, the report explains how the internet is subject to the Data Protection Act. However the student clearly doesn't understand the eight principles of the regulation, and this is shown though-out the report. The first opening sentence is in-correct. The report states 'The Data Protection act is an act that came into force on 1 March 2000.' However further down the report this states it came into force in 1998. The correct date, is 1998, and this is the date when the regulation became law. This will need to be corrected, in order to achieve even a 'Pass', as this shows low level understanding, as this is false. The report states 'Personal data covers both facts and opinion', although data is usually only facts as the data needs to be accurate. (This is even within one of the eight principles of the law). This shows a weak understanding of the subject, and shows the examiner that the student doesn't fully understand the eight principles. The report described how the act compares to other laws within the UK, and this shows quite a good understanding of how this impacts on people within the UK.