Data Protection Act Legislation

Data Protection Act, legislation is an act, which protects your privacy. The Data Protection Act is enforced to protect your personal data from those who wish to abuse it. Personal data may be used for many different things. Not all of these are good for the individual. There are rules and regulations that must be followed by the business that is handling your personal data to protect the consumer. In this legislation, it states eight principles that must be followed.

*Fairly and lawfully processed *Processed for limited purposes *Adequate, relevant and not excessive *Not kept for longer than is necessary *Processed in line with your rights *Secure *Not transferred to countries without adequate protection

These rules help protect personal data such as names, addresses, previous address, phone number, etc. There are more personal data that falls under a slightly different section of legislation. This data is called sensitive personal data. This information includes political affiliations, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, ethnic group and any physical or mental health conditions. Also if an individual belongs to any trade unions.

Data Protection Act legislation granted certain rights to individuals regarding their data. They have the right to access any of their own personal data. They may also object to any direct marketing and they also have the right to object to any automated decision taking. Also, they are allowed to object to certain processing of personal data that would cause them damage or distress in any way.

Individuals may also obtain their personal data from a company. The company may ask for a written request or to verify the identity of the individual before being allowed to obtain the personal data. They may even ask for a small fee for the individual to see what personal data the company may have on file. Legislation also says the data must be kept accurate and up to date. Also stating that all the personal information must be obtained by the company legally and lawfully.

The Data Protection Act was put into effect March, 2000. There were some companies that were allowed to wait until October of that year. Legislation was put into effect to protect the consumer. Our personal information can be used for so many things these days. From simple credit theft to identity theft. Watching where our personal information ends up is extremely important. There are companies that try to get away with as many violations of this legislation as possible. But they are rules that must be followed. With such laws as the Data Protection Act in place to help us, our personal data has a chance to stay personal.