Data Protection
The laws and guidelines covering the collectionp and use of personal data changed significantly with the introduction of the 1998 Data Protection Act.
The purpose of Act
- To safeguard the public from abuse in the collection, storage and distribution of personal information.
- It relates only to information relating to identifiable, living individuals, not organisations.
- The data can be held on a computer or in a "relevant filing system" e.g. a card index.
There are 8 Principles that must be adhered to:
- Personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully.
- Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.
- Personal Data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
- Personal data shall be accurate and where necessary kept up to date.
- Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
- Personal data shall be processed in accordance with rights of data subjects under this Act.
- 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.
- Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the EU unless an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects is ensured.
The burden of ensuring that your database complies with the new Act rests entirely upon you. Consumers have more rights than ever regarding the gathering and use of their details. It can be difficult to make sure that you are covering all the areas necessary.
We are always happy to check through your proposed mailing for any obvious errors or omissions. This will usually take about an hour, and the charge is £100 plus VAT. For complicated mailings with a lot of Data Protection implications, we will provide you with an individual quotation.
The final responsiblity for implementation of Data Protection compliance measures still rests with you, but we are happy to share our knowledge with you and point you in the right direction for more detailed information, if required.
There are two levels of assistance available:
Level I Data Protection Assessment
He will visit your premises and talk you through the Data Protection Act 1998 and explain the 8 Principles fully. You will have the chance to discuss how this impacts upon your own database and methods of data gathering. He will give you advice on how you can best make adjustments to your work methods to become compliant.Approx 2-3 hours. £250.00 plus VAT
Level II Data Protection Assessment
As Level I above, plus assessment of current and past mailing pieces to check for their compliance. Assistance with wording on your response mechanisms to ensure that your data is squeaky clean! In addition, he will talk through what you should say to donors who contact you by phone, to ensure that you are correctly using opt-in/opt-out mechanisms.Approx 4 hours. £375.00 plus VAT
Obviously, we cannot guarantee that the above assistance and assessments will mean that you are fully compliant. The responsibility for implementation of Data Protection compliance measures still rests with you. But we can help you to make sure that at least you understand the implications and have the best knowledge possible to comply.
[Tax and accountancy matters would be dealt with by individual quotation]
