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Data Protection Act

What is the Data Protection Act?

The Data Protection Act (DPA) is a piece of legislation that regulates how personal data is collected, used, and stored. The DPA was first introduced in the UK in 1998 and was replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018. The DPA sets out principles for the handling of personal data, which must be followed by organizations that process personal data.

The main principles of the DPA include:

  • Fair and lawful processing: Personal data must be collected and used in a fair and lawful manner, and with the individual's consent.
  • Purpose limitation: Personal data must be collected for a specific, explicit, and legitimate purpose, and not further processed in a way incompatible with that purpose.
  • Data minimization: Personal data must be adequate, relevant, and not excessive for the purpose for which it is collected.
  • Accuracy: Personal data must be accurate and kept up to date.
  • Storage limitation: Personal data must not be kept for longer than is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.
  • Integrity and confidentiality: Personal data must be kept secure, and measures must be in place to prevent unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction.

The DPA also gave individuals certain rights in relation to their personal data, including the right to access their personal data, the right to have their personal data rectified if it is inaccurate, and the right to have their personal data erased in certain circumstances.

Organizations that process personal data are also required to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure compliance with the DPA and to be accountable for data protection within the organization.

The DPA was replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018, which introduced more stringent requirements for data protection and expanded the rights of individuals. However, the UK still applies the GDPR and the DPA continues to apply to certain processing activities that fall outside the scope of the GDPR.


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