ACCA BT Syllabus A. The Business Organisation And Its External Environment - Data Protection and Security - Notes ^{3 / 3}

Why is privacy an important issue?

There has been a growing concern that the ever-increasing amount of information about individuals held by organisations could be misused.  

The fear was that by the existence of computerised data about an individual, whether correct or incorrect, could be transferred to unauthorised third parties at high speed and little cost.

In the UK, the current legislation covering that area is the DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998
 
The Act has two main aims:

1. to protect individual privacy (and not that of organizations)

2. to harmonise data protection legislation

The Principles of the Data Protection Act 1998

Schedule 1 of the act contains the data protection principles.

1. Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless:

   a) At least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met
   b) In the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met

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

3. Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose(s) for which they are processed.

4. Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.

5. Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

6. Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this act.

7. 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.

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

There are several possible risks to data at the place of work. These include:

1. Human error

2. Technical error

3. Catastrophic error

4. Malicious damage

5. Dishonesty