Data Protection

The Data Protection Act 1998 came into force on 1 March 2000. Under this Act, anyone processing personal information must comply with eight principles of good information handling.

The eight principles are summarised below

The First Principle of the Act states

“Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless” certain conditions are met.

The Second Principle of the Act states

“Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes”.

The Third Principle of the Act states

“Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed”.

The Fourth Principle of the Act states

“Personal data must not be incorrect or misleading on any factual matter”.

Therefore, a company’s duty under the Act is to take reasonable steps to ensure that data is accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.

The Fifth Principle of the Act states:

“Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for the purpose or those purposes”.

The Sixth Principle of the Act

Requires that personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects (i.e. individuals) under this Act.

The Seventh Principle of Act

Requires that appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.

The Eighth Principle of Act

Requires that personal data shall not be transferred to a country outside the European Economic Area, unless that country ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

As members of the DMA this company confirms its agreement to the above. This can be checked by viewing the Data Protection Register and entering our registration number Z9504951 or enter our company name.