The Data Protection Act 1988, a UK Act of Parliament, defines UK law on the processing of data on identifiable living persons. It is a piece of legislation that governs the protection of personal data in the United Kingdom. The Act does not mention privacy, but it does, however provides a way in which individuals can control information about themselves. Most of the act does not apply to domestic use like keeping a personal address book, but anyone holding personal data for other purposes is legally obliged to comply with the provisions of the Act.

The Act gives you rights over your personal information, with respect to how it’s used and your access to it. It stipulates that you have the right to know what information is held about you, the right to correct or remove it and the right to object to its use for marketing purposes.

The Data Protection Act creates the following rights for those who have their data stored, and responsibilities for those who store, process or collect personal data.

The person who has their data processed has the right to:

• View the data an organization holds on them, for a small fee, known as ‘subject access fee’
• Request that incorrect information be corrected. If the company ignores the request, a court can order the data to be corrected or destroyed, and in some cases compensation can be awarded.
• Require that data is not used in a way which makes damage or distress.
• Require that their data is not used for direct marketing.

For more information go to www.ico.gov.uk.