Data Protection
Introduction
In this modern time, a lot have been said about and done in data protection. No longer can a man safeguard his precious documents through stashing it away into the most secluded vaults. In this modern time, documents are either hard copies or electronically made. And while hard copies are hard to preserve yet easy to safeguard, e-documents are the other way around.
’s best-selling fictional novel surprised as to the astounding effects of what could be the scenario when our precious data being hacked. Although the novel is but fictional, we could ask ourselves, is our data that safe? Are there laws promulgating to the support of data protection?
Data protection Legislation has been or is being introduced all over the world to protect personal data handled in computers. The aim of the legislation is to control the immense potential for misuse of information that arises when personal data is stored in computers. Once the data has been transcribed from paper files into a form that is easily readable and accessible by computers, it is an inexpensive and easy task for the data to be extracted from one record and correlated with personal data concerning the same person from another file ( (2004)).
To ward off the fear of data’s misuse, governments have introduced legislation that, among other things, makes the following requirements of organizations that maintain personal records on computers ( (2004)).
The UK’s new Data Protection Act 1998, which implements the EU Data Protection Directive in the UK, finally came into force on 1 March 2000. It will strengthen the individual’s rights as it includes a new right to claim compensation for damage or distress caused by a data controller’s failure to comply with the Act; it also raises problems of data flow to non-EC countries. Whilst Belgium, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Sweden had implemented legislation to cover the requirements of the Directive by February 1999, other member states, including the UK, have been slower to complete their legislation.
Scenario
Supposing I were the one safeguarding the data protection in my school, I would, with all due considerations, abide all the laws stated therein the UK Data Protection Act 1998. Because I know the astonishing effects on this should the data being breached upon by unscrupulous people.
One of the major problems confronting the Data protection task force are those disposed of computers. Earlier this year a study done by University showed that of the 111 supposedly clean hard drives that they bought from eBay and car boot sales, over half still contained personal information including national insurance numbers, biographical information about children, a template for issuing degrees and evidence of a married woman’s affair. The drives that were found out came from organizations such as universities, schools, and large multinational companies. Another study by mobile security specialists Pointsec showed an average of seven out of ten hard drives still contained data. These data protection breaches include the discovery of clients’ bank details ( ) in 2002 and a register of sex offenders found in a skip from Lincolnshire County Council in 2003.
As such, supposing a safeguard to my school I will vigilantly impose this procedure to make sure that data be well protected, and that no unscrupulous thing being done.
Conclusion
In this modern time, while things get to be more complicated, and things like data stored in the drive get to be more exposed to unscrupulous people, a well-established law is needed. But such is not enough when people themselves do not do their part. So, more than vigilance, the need to make it a habit that security well imparted to day-to-day routine is needed.
References:
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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