The Data Protection Act 1998

 

Protection of personal data is a significant issue as many organisations hold and
process important information on their clients and customers. Loss of this data
can put the data-holder/controller at risk of non-compliance with the Data
Protection Act 1998 should they be found not to have taken appropriate
measures to protect the personal data they hold.

Save And Secure Online Backup and Restore can be a useful tool in helping
organisations to comply with certain aspects of the act.
The area of the Data Protection Act which is most appropriate to our product is
the Seventh Principle which states –
‘Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against
unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental
loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.’

Save And Secure Online Data Backup and Restore has particular relevance to the
highlighted section of this statement. When assessing compliance with the act it
is important to ask the following questions:

· Are the precautions against burglary, fire or natural disaster
adequate?

With Save And Secure - In the event of burglary, fire or natural disaster all data
held on the customer from the previous backup is secured at offsite data
centres ready for immediate restore. Our customers can demonstrate that
they have taken appropriate steps to ensure the safety and restore of
data under these circumstances.

· Is the system capable of checking that the data are valid and
initiating the production of backup copies? If so, is full use being
made of these facilities?

What are the requirements?

With Save And Secure - Customer information is backed-up daily and
automatically. Our customers can demonstrate that they are
implementing a secure system of backup and restore.

· Are backup copies of all data stored separately from the live files?
With Save And Secure - The data is backed up and held securely offsite at
mirrored data centres. Our customers can demonstrate that they have
taken appropriate measures to ensure the security of the backed-up data.

· Is there protection against corruption by viruses or other forms of
intrusion?
With Save And Secure - The backed-up data is encrypted and password
protected and therefore not accessible to unauthorised parties. In the
event of exposure to viruses the previously backed-up data is available
for immediate restore.

· Do systems keep audit trails so that access to personal data is
logged and can be attributed to a particular person?
With Save And Secure - Access to backed-up data is password protected
therefore audit trails of access are defined and individuals who have
accessed the data readily identified.

Principles

Data Controllers are, therefore, encouraged to consider the use of
privacy enhancing techniques as part of their obligation under the
Seventh Principle.
Non-compliance with the act may have serious consequences for the data
controller possibly leading to compensation claims in the event of unauthorised
access to, loss of or damage to personal data.

‘An individual who suffers damage by reason of any contravention by a
data controller of any of the requirements of this Act is entitled to
compensation from the data controller for that damage’.
A sobering thought, particularly if a data controller cannot demonstrate that
adequate precautionary measures are in place to secure any personal data they
hold.

The Data Protection Act 1998 is wide-ranging and comprehensive legislation
covering many aspects of data management. Save And Secure Online Backup and
Restore cannot in itself ensure compliance. It can however ease customers
concerns in this area and offer assistance in complying with the security
aspects of the act.

The act in full can be found at www.hmso.gov.uk
Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for
Scotland.

Additional material source: The Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF