The Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Data Protection Act 1998, Freedom of Information Act 2000, Health and Social Care Act 2008, and Human Rights Act 1998

Data Protection Act 1998 – gives individuals the right to know what information is held about them, and those that processes personal information must comply with eight principles, which makes sure that personal information is fairly and lawfully processed; processed for limited purposes; adequate, relevant and not excessive; accurate and up to date; not kept for longer than is necessary; processed in line with your rights; secure; not transferred to other countries without adequate protection;

THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998 – The Data Protection Act 1998 is a piece of legislation which defines the law on processing data of people living within the United Kingdom. The Data Protection Act 1998 is set out in eight principles:

2 The Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) is the law that explains the professional, ethical obligations related to privacy and confidentiality,

Another piece of legislation that can affect the management of confidential information is the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Anyone is allowed to request information that has been recorded by any public-sector organisation, for example:

For the home country England there are many policies and procedures within the legislation that relate to safeguarding human rights, data protection and confidentiality. These have been refined into every school policy and procedures such as the human rights act 1998/2004, children act 1989/2004 and the data protection act 1998.

The data protection act- the data protection act is legislation put in place to keep personal data confidential. It can promote anti-discriminatory practice as it can stop people finding out information about individuals that the individual wants to stay private. E.g. phone numbers and addresses. These would need to stay private so people don’t find out where you live or what is wrong with you.

The Data Protection Act 1998 is a piece of legislation which defines the law on processing data of people living within the United Kingdom.

Personal Information comes under the Data Protection Act 1998. We have to make sure personal Information is confidential. We have to know how to handle the personal Information, agreed ways of working, policies and procedures are all legislation frameworks. The Information should be processed fairly and lawfully. The Personal Data should be processed for limited purposes. The information should be adequate, relevant and the information should be for the purpose of whom the information is processed for. The information should be kept up to date and accurate. The information should not be kept longer than intended for. The Persona Data will be processed in accordance with the rights of data subject under the Act. Measures are in place to avoid the information being lost or unauthorised and unlawfully processed or damaged to. The Personal Information shall not be transferred to another country outside the European Economic Area unless that country ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data. Personal Information may be shared with others, consent is needed to do this at all times from the Individual or in the case of an emergency, abuse, or if neglect is suspected. If the Individual is mentally

When information is stored, if it about a person then it isn’t covered by the same act it then becomes data protection act. The information to the public is free to learn and access but it’s not free when requested for physical copy. If information is requested and cannot be accessed public bodies will give reasons why they cannot release the information and have a valid reason. If the information individual wishes to accessed is fully denied, then they have the right to appeal and have the outcome

The Data Protection Act states that you must only collect information that you need for a specific purpose and keep it secure, ensure that it is relevant and up to date to guarantee that no changes in medication or health status goes unnoticed or unaccounted

Information Commissioner’s Office (2012) Introduction to The Data Protection Act 1998. [Online] Available from: http://www.ico.org.uk/~/media/documents/library/Corporate/Research_and_reports/ico_presentation_EVOC_20120528.ashx [Accessed: 11th October 2013]

Write down the 8 principles of practice covering confidentiality from the Data Protection Act 1998.

The Data Protection Act requires all staff in an organisation to keep their data safe. Including personal data and work data, this needs to be saved in protected storage files.

b) Freedom of Information Act (2000) – FOI ‘provides public access to information held by public authorities. It does this in two ways: public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.’ (https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-freedom-of-information/what-is-the-foi-act/)