Data Protection Act 1984

The Data Protection Act 1984 is a British Act of Parliament that provides a legal basis for the privacy and protection of data of UK citizens and businesses. Data disclosed by a party to another party may only be used for the specific purposes it was disclosed for. The data can only be kept for an appropriate length of time and must not be disclosed to other parties (without consent of data owner). The Act provided for a regulatory authority, the Data Protection Registrar, to oversee implementation of and adherence to the Act.

It was followed up by the Data Protection Act 1998, actually an implementation of European Union Directive 95/46/EC which, amongst other measures, expanded the remit of the DPR and renamed the position to the Data Protection Commissioner.

Most recently, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 further expanded the rôle to include freedom of information and the job title was changed to Information Commissioner.

The UK DPA has a reputation for being a badly written act that is several inches thick. While the basic principles are lauded for protecting privacy, interpreting the act is not simple.

External links

• The Data Protection Explained