Data Protection Act 1998

Computers allow employers to store vast amounts of information about individual employees. Indeed, employers are under a legal obligation to keep information such as records relating to wages and hours of work. But the need for employers to keep records must be balanced against the right of individuals to be aware of, and have some control over, the data held on them. The Data Protection Act 1998 (which came into force on 1 March 2000 but does not become fully effective until 23 October 2007) aims to achieve this balance.

The provisions of the 1988 Act are examined in this IDS Employment Law Supplement, Data Protection Act 1998. The supplement looks at:

• the scope of the Data Protection Act 1998
• the data protection principles contained in the Act
• the rights that employees have under the Act in relation to data held by their employers
• the various methods by which the Act can be enforced
• the notification provisions contained in the Act, and
• the transitional arrangements set out in the Act.

The Supplement also examines the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, which grants rights to employees in relation to medical records obtained for employment purposes.

This supplement was published in April 2000.