Changes to penalties for DP offences

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act has now received royal assent. It introduces changes to the Data Protection Act 1998 by setting out new powers to punish offenders.

Managing the risks inherent in processing personal data

This is the outline of a seminar delivered on 29 April 2008 in Manchester for SBK: Healthcare on managing the risks inherent in hanlding personal data.

The session focused on the risks and how they arise, considering the potential impact on the organisation, its directors and employees and the data subjects affected by the mismanagement of personal data.

Many of the themes echo the Financial Services Authority's report into Data Security in Financial Services published in April 2008. This report has a wider applicability than its title suggests, highlighting shortcomings in data management common to all industries and consistent with the author's findings in audits carried out on behalf of clients in various sectors.

Document retention

The Fifth Data Protection Principle requires personal data processed for any purpose not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose. Data protection law does not prescribe how long data should be retained. The responsibility is with the organisation to identify how long it needs to keep data and, by implication, the documents of which the data forms part. This article looks at some of the issues involved.

Data protection registrations

The Data Protection Act 1998 requires businesses to register for data protection and to keep their registration entry up to date. All businesses would be well advised to check that their registrations are still current as there are trends and developments in best practice.

How to write an information security policy

Anyone wanting the key elements of an information security policy need look no further than ...

New standard for laptop security

There is a new standard for securing personal information held on laptops.

Changes to the CCTV Code of Practice

Over the past 12 months or so the Information Commissioner’s Office has been working on a revised Code of Practice for CCTV. The existing Code was issued in 2000 and it was recognised that technology has moved on placing greater functionality at the disposal of CCTV operators.

Data Protection Consulting

Changes to penalties for DP offences

Managing the risks inherent in processing personal data

Document retention

Data protection registrations

How to write an information security policy

New standard for laptop security

Changes to the CCTV Code of Practice