1. Why the Data Protection Act was brought in  The 1998 Data Protection Act was passed by Parliament to control the way information is handled and to give legal rights to people who have information stored about them  This act was an updated version of the original act in 1984.  But why was there a need for this updated act?

2. The power of the computer Computers have become much more powerful storing large amounts of information about people Personal data on computer Computers are being used to keep personal data about people : e.g.names, addresses, financial information, medical records, criminal records, employment history Ease of access to the information A computer can be used to quickly search for someone ’ s records and pull up the information. Communications networks These allow information to be passed between an organisation ’ s different sites or even between countries, which is a security issue Concerns and Misuse of information With more and more computer systems, ease of access and networking of information, misuse is an issue

3. . What is actually involved? The Data Protection Act 1998 covers: - Information or data - stored on a computer or an organised paper filing system - about living people How the Act works: - By setting up rules that people have to follow - Having an Information Commissioner to enforce the rules - It does not stop companies storing information about people - It just makes them follow rules. Who's involved? The Information Commissioner is the person who enforce the Act. A data controller collects and stores data A data subject is someone who has data about them stored

4. It must be collected and used fairly and inside the law It must be accurate and be kept up to date. It must only be held and used for the reasons given to the Information Commissioner It can only be used for the registered purposes The information must be kept safe and secure The files may not be transferred outside of the European Economic Area The information held must be adequate, relevant and not excessive All data controllers must keep to the Eight Principles of Data Protection It must not be kept longer than is necessary for the registered purpose

5. A right of correction A right of subject access A right to compensation A right to prevent direct marketing A right to prevent automatic decisions A right of complaint to the Information Commissioner The rights of data subjects A right to prevent distress

6. Exemptions! Data held for national security Personal data for domestic purposes No rights to see information on your health Criminals cannot see their police files Research can be exempt if it is in the public interest A school pupil has no right to see exam results before their publication date

7. My bank has my address and phone number, which I gave them just for use by the bank. They have passed the details to an insurance company. Can they do this, explain the reasons for your answer. The personal information given to the bank was clearly just for their internal use. For example to send me bank statements or call if there are any problems with the account. They do not have the right to pass this information on to somebody else as by doing this it is “not being used for the registered purpose” which breaks one of the eight Data Protection Principles

8. I am applying for a Credit Card. As part of the application, they are asking for the following: name, address, occupation, details of any loans with my bank, and any criminal convictions. Do I have to supply all of this information, or just certain bits? This question concerns the following Data Protection Principle “The information held must be adequate, relevant and not excessive” In this situation, name, address and details of any loans would be relevant in terms of communicating with me and understanding my financial situation. However, occupation and criminal convictions are not relevant as these details do not affect my financial status

9. Patent : is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time Copyright : provides its holder the right to restrict unauthorized copying and reproduction of an original expression (i.e. literary work, movie, music, painting, software etc.) TrademarkTrademark : A trademark is a distinctive name, phrase, symbol, design, picture, or style used by a business to identify itself and its products to consumers Copyrights and Patents

10. The copyright, design and patents act controls illegal copying This law was introduced in 1989, and makes it illegal to copy a file without permission from the owner or copyright holder. Individuals or organisations who break the law risk an unlimited fine.

11. There are three ways the law is often broken Using software without the proper licence. Downloading text / images from the internet, or using information from a publications and using them without saying where you got them (acknowledging the source). Copying a computer program to use elsewhere without permission.

12. The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) was founded in 1984 by the software industry and is now supported by over 1,200 companies. It is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to prevent software piracy and has a policy of prosecuting anyone found to be breaching copyright law FAST!

13. If I find a book in a library and use some of the content in a report, do I have to say which book I got the information from? This concerns the Copyright Law. If you use information from someone’s book, the information is theirs and you must ‘acknowledge’ the source. For example : Bourdillon, H. and Storey, A. (2002). Aspects of Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools: Perspectives on Practice. London: Routledge and The Open University, pp.128-129.

14. I am going to use the some information on Apple products (iPhone and iPad) from the Apple website in a school presentation. Can I copy and use the information in school? If so, do I need to get in touch with the Apple company? The following link might help : Apple - terms and conditionsApple - terms and conditions The information is the property of Apple and so you would normally need to contact the company or at least ‘acknowledge the source of the information”. However, the link to their website contains the following text “You may use information on Apple products and services purposely made available by Apple for downloading from the Site, provided that you use such information only for your personal, non-commercial informational purpose” …..which would give you permission to use it