Legislation and Acts

Data Protection Act (DPA)
1. Protects us against misuse of our personal data.
  1. Personal data may be held by organisations, for example; shops, schools and businesses.
2. These organisations must ensure that our personal data is;
  1. Processed fairly and lawfully
  2. Obtained for specified purposes
  3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive
  4. Accurate and up to date
  5. Not kept longer than necessary
  6. Processed respecting the rights of people
  7. Kept secure
  8. Not transferred outside Europe
Computer Misuse Act
1. Covers the misuse of computer equipment and illegal access to files.
2. This means that the following are illegal and punishable by fines or imprisonment;
  1. Software piracy (copying and distributing software illegally)
  2. Planting viruses
  3. Hacking
  4. Fraud
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1. Makes it a criminal offence to copy or steal media or other people's work or ideas.
2. It is illegal to:
  1. Copy or distribute media without a proper licence or the copyright owner's permission
  2. Use purchased media on more computers than you have licences for
Digital Economy Act
1. Stops people illegally downloading media.
2. Service Providers (ISPs) can collect data about repeated offenders
  1. If offenders continue downloading then their internet access can be slowed or suspended

Resource summary

	Created by lraynes over 9 years ago