Data Protection

The Data Protection Act works in two ways.

It sets out rules that organisations must follow when they process your personal information (personal data), and secondly it gives individuals who are the subject of this information certain rights, for example to access this information.

• View Hertsmere's Data Protection Policy Statement 

The Data Protection Act relates to personal information about a living individual and includes information contained on computer and paper records.

Anyone processing personal information must comply with the data protection principles, or the rules of good information handling.

These say that personal data collected must be:

1. fairly and lawfully processed
2. processed for a specified and limited purpose
3. adequate, relevant and not excessive for the purpose it has been collected for
4. accurate and up-to-date
5. not kept longer than necessary
6. processed in accordance with data subject’s rights (the person who is the subject of the information)
7. kept secure
8. not transferred to other countries without adequate protection

The Information Commissioner is responsible for the promotion and enforcement of the Data Protection Act.  Hertsmere Borough Council must notify the Information Commissioner of the personal information that it holds, who it shares this information with and for what purposes it uses the personal information it collects.

It is very useful and advisableto know  your rights under the Data Protection Act and how to exercise them.

• Next [page 2]