1. Computer Legislation The need for computer laws Go to Contents

2. Contents Why do we need computer laws? Who do the laws affect? What protection do the laws offer? What protection do the laws offer? What aspect of using ICT is affected? EU regulations on the use of computers. Internet code of practice. Internet code of practice.

3. Why do we need computer laws? In the 1960s it was realised that data processing on computers could affect people’s liberties and privacy. It was also realised that with different laws in different countries, international trade and business could be affected.

4. Who do the laws affect? The data protection laws are designed to protect all people who have personal data about them stored on computer. The computer misuse laws are designed to prevent ‘hackers’ breaking into other people’s computers, and to prosecute those who try to damage data on other computers. The computer safety laws are designed to prevent workers suffering from computer related illnesses. The copyright laws protect the intellectual work of people. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) was designed to prevent criminals and terrorists communicating electronically.

5. What protection do the laws offer? The data protection act, the safety laws and the copyright laws are designed to protect individual people. The computer misuse laws and the RIPA are designed to protect individual people, organisations and the state as a whole.

6. What aspect of using ICT is affected? These laws are mainly concerned with the safety, storage and movement of computer data. The main idea of these laws is to protect the data from unauthorised users. The exception is the RIPA which allows government to view data to make sure that it is not being used for criminal purposes.

7. EU regulations on the use of computers. Most of the computer laws have come out of the EU Data Protection Directive (1995), which was designed to make all the European EU countries have computer laws that were more or less the same. More on the Data Protection Directive Go to the Anti-Spam Directive

8. Internet code of practice. This is a set of rules that students should follow in their place of study. You should not:- Receive, send or display offensive messages or pictures on any computer Access undesirable material Violate copyright laws Use other people’s passwords Gamble online Carry out a commercial business

9. EU Data Protection Directive (1995) There are two basic statements in this directive: All organisations that collect, store and use personal data (data users) must be registered with their country’s data protection registrar. The data must follow these guidelines: – The data must be collected fairly and lawfully. – The data must be used for the purpose that it was collected for. – The data must be kept secure. – The data must not be kept any longer than necessary. – Only the data needed must be collected.

10. EU anti-spam directive (2003) This directive tells member countries to make: sending spam from inside the EU illegal. using Spyware illegal. using unauthorized digital tracking illegal.