Data Protection Act Introduced
The data protection act introduced a way to protect people's personal data from being misused. There are sets of rules that prevent the ways for organizations from using the information incorrectly. It was intended to integrate already existing protection laws. The Act also set down many rules of how organizations can use that information. In 1998 data protection act introduced a revised and edited version of the already implemented act. These changes went into effect on March 1, 2000.
The records that contain your personal data, is kept on computers and sometimes on paper. The person data consist of information such as name, address, phone number, etc. The Act allows you the right to know what kind of information is in your record, so as an individual you have the right to access your own personal data. Of course you will be charged a fee for your records, and you will need to make a written request, as well as verify your identity before you can get it. It's a bit of a process, but it's not so bad.
There is also a sub section that is called sensitive personal data. This sub section includes information regarding ethnic origin, political or religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and physical or mental health conditions. The Data Protection Act has more of a stricter guideline on this type of information.
I know that it's difficult to understand the reasons for the data protection act being introduced, but it's actually a good thing for you. If this act wasn't in place that would mean your personal and valuable information would be in the hands of many different people, and that is not what you want. And imagine what can happen if your social security number was in the hands of the wrong person. This can mean huge problems for you. But there are many ways that are being practiced that prevents this from happening. They must have good security for the computers that contain your information, and there is actually going to be a news set of laws that will contain stricter guidelines that must be followed to further protect this valuable information. These are the reasons that the data protection act was introduced to protect your information from entering into the hands of someone that will do the wrong things with it. And every company must comply with these laws or they will risk losing their business and face many charges.
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