The Data Protection Act (1998)
The 1998 Data Protection Act was introduced to control the way information is handled and to give rights to people who have information stored about them.
It was introduced due to a number of reasons. Towards the end of the 20th century, computers were getting more and more powerful and government and companies began to use them with databases to store large amounts of information about people, such as their customers and staff. Computers were being used instead of paper to keep personal data about people (i.e. contact details). Also, it became easy to access information due to the ease of databases. Also as more and more companies used computers to store personal information, there was a risk that the information could be misused in the wring hands.
The main principals of the Act are that data must be:
- processed fairly and lawfully
- used for the lawful purpose it was collected for
- data must be relevant to purpose collected for
- kept accurate and up-to-date
- kept no longer than necessary
- processed within the rights of the data subjects
- kept secure
- not transferred to other countries without protection
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Peer Reviews
Here's what a star student thought of this essay
Quality of writing
On a small number of sentences it's quite broken English, and when reading though it doesn't make sense. The student would need to re-though and just re-write some of the content to ensure it's easily readable throughout all of the report.
Level of analysis
The report states the eight different sets of laws which are under the 'Data Protection Act'. However the report only lists these eight points. For a distinction, the student would need to briefly explain what each of these points mean for website owners and how there could implement changes to remain by the law. The student explains how the Data Protection Act is enforced on a number of parties, such as the student, work place and the communication. However on all these three sections, the report doesn't state any direct examples of the misuse of data and how this can effect the victim. As if data can be misused this could cause an dramatic effect on one person, as this could damage their way of living, due to the shear amount of data people store in today society.
Response to question
In summary, I would grade the report as a 'Merit'. This is the second highest level in ICT. The report explains the Data Protection Act and explains how this effects different people in three different environments. For an Distinction, the student would need to link the eight key points of the Data Protection Act to how it effects people. As some of the areas will apply more to one group, rather than another. The report states 'to control the way information is handled', however this is in-correct. The law is based upon how DATA is controlled and used, and not information. This is an important difference, as this may suggest that the student isn't aware of the law. The report continues to state 'information' instead of 'data', and this isn't just one mistake. The student should replace 'information' to the correct term of 'data. The report as it is, will only be granted upto an Merit due to the error.
