Legislation & ICT

By Savannah Inkster

By Savannah

Computer Laws

1. Data Protection Act

2. Computer Misuse Act

3. Copyright, Design & Patents

Act

By Savannah

Data Protection Act

Why is it needed?

• To protect personal information held on computers & paper.

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Data Protection Act Terminology

Information Commissioner is the person who enforces the Data

Protection Act and has permission to collect and store personal data.

Data subject is the person that the data is being

collected from or stored about. Data Controller decides what

data the organisation needs to collect and what it will be used for and is the

person who must apply for permission to collect and store data

in the first place.

Data User is any person who needs to access or use

the data as part of their job e.g. doctor or

secretary.

Personal Data is any data about a person e.g.

name or details of driving offences.

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8 Principles of the DPA

1. Personal data should be obtained and processed fairly and lawfully

2. Personal data can be held only for specified and lawful purposes

3. Personal data should be adequate, relevant and not excessive for the required purpose

4. Personal data should be accurate and kept up-to-date

5. Personal data should not be kept for longer than is necessary

6. Data must be processed in accordance with the rights of the data subject

7. Appropriate security measures must be taken against unauthorised access

8. Personal data cannot be transferred to countries outside the E.U. unless the country has similar legislation to the D.P.A.

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Rights of Data Subject

• See data held on themselves, but must pay small fee

• Have any errors corrected

• Claim compensation for any distress caused if the Act has been broken

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Exemptions

1. National Security - If required for the purpose of safeguarding national security, data controllers do not have to disclose the data held to data subjects.

2. Crime - Data which is being held in order to prevent or detect a crime does not have to be disclosed.

3. Taxation - any data collected for taxation purposes is exempt

4. Heath, Education and Social Work - personal data about the physical or mental health of the data subject. You have no automatic right to view your medical records.

5. Schools and examinations - personal data relating to the present or past pupils of a school. Examination scripts and examination marks held by examination authorities.

Not everyone is entitled to see the data which is held on them. Exemptions are:

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Computer Misuse Act

Why is it needed?

• To stop people hacking into other peoples computer systems

• To stop people creating and spreading viruses.

This applies to anybody.

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Offence 1

Unauthorised access to computer material e.g looking or changing somebody's files without

their permission.

This offence carries the risk of being sentenced to six months in prison and/or a

hefty fine.

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Offence 2

Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime

e.g guessing or stealing a password in order to get into someone's user area or their bank account.

Anyone caught doing this risks up to a five year prison sentence

and/or a hefty fine.

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Offence 3

Unauthorised modification of computer materialThis offence covers purposely introducing viruses to other

peoples' systems.

e.g deletion or changes made to files with the intent to cause damage to an individual or company.

This offence carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and/or a fine.

Writing a virus technically isn't a crime; but if you knowingly transmit a virus to others, you are guilty under this section of the Computer Misuse

Act.

By Savannah

Copyright, Design & Patents Act

Why is it needed?

• To ensure people are rewarded for their endeavours e.g music

• To give protection to the copyright holder if someone tries to copy or steal their work.

This applies to anybody trying to steal or copy other peoples work.

By Savannah

Copyright, Design & Patents Act

Copyright & ICT protect from:• Copying software • Copying or downloading music • Copying images or photographs from the web • Copying text from web pages and using it in

your work or posting it onto your website and pretending it is your own work.

The penalties for these "copyright infringement" offences depend on the seriousness of the offences:

are an unlimited fine and/or up to 10 years imprisonment.