Data Protection Act 1998
The Data Protection Act 1998 was brought into force on March 1, 2002 and works in two ways. It gives individuals certain rights. It also says that those who record and use personal information must be open about how the information is used and must follow the eight principles of 'good information handling'.
The principles state that information must be
- processed fairly and lawfully;
- processed for limited purposes
- adequate, relevant and not excessive;
- accurate and up-to-date
- not kept longer than necessary;
- processed in accordance with the data subject's right
- secure
- not transferred to countries outside EEA without adequate protection.