Data Protection Act in force

A detailed roundup by Judge Tromans appears in the Law Society Gazette, 2 March 2000

The strengthened 1998 Data Protection Act came into force on 1 March 2000. Including ‘conditions which must be satisfied if personal data are to be processed’, the new act also applies to structural manual records as well as computerised data. The rights of individuals to know processor and purpose, and to prevent data use for direct marketing, are also a feature.