(1)This Act binds the Crown.
(2)For the purposes of this Act each government department shall be treated as a person separate from any other government department.
(3)Where the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, or are to be, processed are determined by any person acting on behalf of the Royal Household, the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duchy of Cornwall, the data controller in respect of those data for the purposes of this Act shall be—
(a)in relation to the Royal Household, the Keeper of the Privy Purse,
(b)in relation to the Duchy of Lancaster, such person as the Chancellor of the Duchy appoints, and
(c)in relation to the Duchy of Cornwall, such person as the Duke of Cornwall, or the possessor for the time being of the Duchy of Cornwall, appoints.
(4)Different persons may be appointed under subsection (3)(b) or (c) for different purposes.
(5)Neither a government department nor a person who is a data controller by virtue of subsection (3) shall be liable to prosecution under this Act, but section 55 and paragraph 12 of Schedule 9 shall apply to a person in the service of the Crown as they apply to any other person.
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 63 extended (2.12.1999) by S.I. 1999/3145, arts. 1, 9(3)(c); S.I. 1999/3208, art. 2
Valid from 01/01/2005
(1)Subject to the following provisions of this section and to section 35A, this Act applies to the processing of personal data by or on behalf of either House of Parliament as it applies to the processing of personal data by other persons.
(2)Where the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, or are to be, processed are determined by or on behalf of the House of Commons, the data controller in respect of those data for the purposes of this Act shall be the Corporate Officer of that House.
(3)Where the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, or are to be, processed are determined by or on behalf of the House of Lords, the data controller in respect of those data for the purposes of this Act shall be the Corporate Officer of that House.
(4)Nothing in subsection (2) or (3) is to be taken to render the Corporate Officer of the House of Commons or the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords liable to prosecution under this Act, but section 55 and paragraph 12 of Schedule 9 shall apply to a person acting on behalf of either House as they apply to any other person.]
Textual Amendments
F1S. 63A inserted (1.1.2005) by 2000 c. 36, ss. 73, 87(3), Sch. 6 para. 3 (with ss. 56, 78); S.I. 2004/1909, art. 2; S.I. 2004/3122, art. 2
(1)This section applies to—
(a)a notice or request under any provision of Part II,
(b)a notice under subsection (1) of section 24 or particulars made available under that subsection, or
(c)an application under section 41(2),
but does not apply to anything which is required to be served in accordance with rules of court.
(2)The requirement that any notice, request, particulars or application to which this section applies should be in writing is satisfied where the text of the notice, request, particulars or application—
(a)is transmitted by electronic means,
(b)is received in legible form, and
(c)is capable of being used for subsequent reference.
(3)The Secretary of State may by regulations provide that any requirement that any notice, request, particulars or application to which this section applies should be in writing is not to apply in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the regulations.
Commencement Information
I1S. 64 wholly in force at 1.3.2000; s. 64 in force for certain purposes at Royal Assent see s. 75(2)(i); s. 64 in force at 1.3.2000 insofar as not already in force by S.I. 2000/183, art. 2(1)
(1)Any notice authorised or required by this Act to be served on or given to any person by the Commissioner may—
(a)if that person is an individual, be served on him—
(i)by delivering it to him, or
(ii)by sending it to him by post addressed to him at his usual or last-known place of residence or business, or
(iii)by leaving it for him at that place;
(b)if that person is a body corporate or unincorporate, be served on that body—
(i)by sending it by post to the proper officer of the body at its principal office, or
(ii)by addressing it to the proper officer of the body and leaving it at that office;
(c)if that person is a partnership in Scotland, be served on that partnership—
(i)by sending it by post to the principal office of the partnership, or
(ii)by addressing it to that partnership and leaving it at that office.
(2)In subsection (1)(b) “principal office”, in relation to a registered company, means its registered office and “proper officer”, in relation to any body, means the secretary or other executive officer charged with the conduct of its general affairs.
(3)This section is without prejudice to any other lawful method of serving or giving a notice.
(1)Where a question falls to be determined in Scotland as to the legal capacity of a person under the age of sixteen years to exercise any right conferred by any provision of this Act, that person shall be taken to have that capacity where he has a general understanding of what it means to exercise that right.
(2)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a person of twelve years of age or more shall be presumed to be of sufficient age and maturity to have such understanding as is mentioned in that subsection.
(1)Any power conferred by this Act on the Secretary of State to make an order, regulations or rules shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.
(2)Any order, regulations or rules made by the Secretary of State under this Act may—
(a)make different provision for different cases, and
(b)make such supplemental, incidental, consequential or transitional provision or savings as the Secretary of State considers appropriate;
and nothing in section 7(11), 19(5), 26(1) or 30(4) limits the generality of paragraph (a).
(3)Before making—
(a)an order under any provision of this Act other than section 75(3),
(b)any regulations under this Act other than notification regulations (as defined by section 16(2)),
the Secretary of State shall consult the Commissioner.
(4)A statutory instrument containing (whether alone or with other provisions) an order under—
section 10(2)(b),
section 12(5)(b),
section 22(1),
section 30,
section 32(3),
section 38,
section 56(8),
paragraph 10 of Schedule 3, or
paragraph 4 of Schedule 7,
shall not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
(5)A statutory instrument which contains (whether alone or with other provisions)—
(a)an order under—
section 22(7),
section 23,
section 51(3),
section 54(2), (3) or (4),
paragraph 3, 4 or 14 of Part II of Schedule 1,
paragraph 6 of Schedule 2,
paragraph 2, 7 or 9 of Schedule 3,
paragraph 4 of Schedule 4,
paragraph 6 of Schedule 7,
(b)regulations under section 7 which—
(i)prescribe cases for the purposes of subsection (2)(b),
(ii)are made by virtue of subsection (7), or
(iii)relate to the definition of “the prescribed period”,
(c)regulations under section 8(1) or 9(3),
(d)regulations under section 64,
(e)notification regulations (as defined by section 16(2)), or
(f)rules under paragraph 7 of Schedule 6,
and which is not subject to the requirement in subsection (4) that a draft of the instrument be laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament, shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(6)A statutory instrument which contains only—
(a)regulations prescribing fees for the purposes of any provision of this Act, or
(b)regulations under section 7 prescribing fees for the purposes of any other enactment,
shall be laid before Parliament after being made.
(1)In this Act “accessible record” means—
(a)a health record as defined by subsection (2),
(b)an educational record as defined by Schedule 11, or
(c)an accessible public record as defined by Schedule 12.
(2)In subsection (1)(a) “health record” means any record which—
(a)consists of information relating to the physical or mental health or condition of an individual, and
(b)has been made by or on behalf of a health professional in connection with the care of that individual.
(1)In this Act “health professional” means any of the following—
(a)a registered medical practitioner,
(b)a registered dentist as defined by section 53(1) of the M1Dentists Act 1984,
(c)a registered optician as defined by section 36(1) of the M2Opticians Act 1989,
(d)a registered pharmaceutical chemist as defined by section 24(1) of the M3Pharmacy Act 1954 or a registered person as defined by Article 2(2) of the M4Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order 1976,
(e)a registered nurse, midwife or health visitor,
(f)a registered osteopath as defined by section 41 of the M5Osteopaths Act 1993,
(g)a registered chiropractor as defined by section 43 of the M6Chiropractors Act 1994,
(h)any person who is registered as a member of a profession to which the M7Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act 1960 for the time being extends,
(i)a clinical psychologist, child psychotherapist or speech therapist,
(j)a music therapist employed by a health service body, and
(k)a scientist employed by such a body as head of a department.
(2)In subsection (1)(a) “registered medical practitioner” includes any person who is provisionally registered under section 15 or 21 of the M8Medical Act 1983 and is engaged in such employment as is mentioned in subsection (3) of that section.
(3)In subsection (1) “health service body” means—
(a)a Health Authority established under section 8 of the M9National Health Service Act 1977,
(b)a Special Health Authority established under section 11 of that Act,
[F2(bb)a Primary Care Trust established under section 16A of that Act,]
(c)a Health Board within the meaning of the M10National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978,
(d)a Special Health Board within the meaning of that Act,
(e)the managers of a State Hospital provided under section 102 of that Act,
(f)a National Health Service trust first established under section 5 of the M11National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 or section 12A of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978,
(g)a Health and Social Services Board established under Article 16 of the M12Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972,
(h)a special health and social services agency established under the M13Health and Personal Social Services (Special Agencies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990, or
(i)a Health and Social Services trust established under Article 10 of the M14Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.
Textual Amendments
F2S. 69(3)(bb) inserted (8.2.2000) by S.I. 2000/90, art. 3(1), Sch. 1 para. 33
Marginal Citations
(1)In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“business” includes any trade or profession;
“the Commissioner” means the Data Protection Commissioner;
“credit reference agency” has the same meaning as in the M15 Consumer Credit Act 1974;
“the Data Protection Directive” means Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data;
“EEA State” means a State which is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993;
“enactment” includes an enactment passed after this Act [F3and any enactment comprised in, or in any instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament];
“government department” includes a Northern Ireland department and any body or authority exercising statutory functions on behalf of the Crown;
“Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the M16Crown Act 1975;
“public register” means any register which pursuant to a requirement imposed—
by or under any enactment, or
in pursuance of any international agreement,
is open to public inspection or open to inspection by any person having a legitimate interest;
“pupil”—
in relation to a school in England and Wales, means a registered pupil within the meaning of the M17Education Act 1996,
in relation to a school in Scotland, means a pupil within the meaning of the M18Education (Scotland) Act 1980, and
in relation to a school in Northern Ireland, means a registered pupil within the meaning of the M19Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;
“recipient”, in relation to any personal data, means any person to whom the data are disclosed, including any person (such as an employee or agent of the data controller, a data processor or an employee or agent of a data processor) to whom they are disclosed in the course of processing the data for the data controller, but does not include any person to whom disclosure is or may be made as a result of, or with a view to, a particular inquiry by or on behalf of that person made in the exercise of any power conferred by law;
“registered company” means a company registered under the enactments relating to companies for the time being in force in the United Kingdom;
“school”—
in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as in the Education Act 1996,
in relation to Scotland, has the same meaning as in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, and
in relation to Northern Ireland, has the same meaning as in the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;
“teacher” includes—
in Great Britain, head teacher, and
in Northern Ireland, the principal of a school;
“third party”, in relation to personal data, means any person other than—
the data subject,
the data controller, or
any data processor or other person authorised to process data for the data controller or processor;
“the Tribunal” means the Data Protection Tribunal.
(2)For the purposes of this Act data are inaccurate if they are incorrect or misleading as to any matter of fact.
Textual Amendments
F3Words inserted (1.7.1999) in definition of “enactment” in s. 70(1) by S.I. 1999/1820, arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 133; S.I. 1999/3178, art. 3
Marginal Citations
The following Table shows provisions defining or otherwise explaining expressions used in this Act (other than provisions defining or explaining an expression only used in the same section or Schedule)—
| accessible record | section 68 |
| address (in Part III) | section 16(3) |
| business | section 70(1) |
| the Commissioner | section 70(1) |
| credit reference agency | section 70(1) |
| data | section 1(1) |
| data controller | sections 1(1) and (4) and 63(3) |
| data processor | section 1(1) |
| the Data Protection Directive | section 70(1) |
| data protection principles | section 4 and Schedule 1 |
| data subject | section 1(1) |
| disclosing (of personal data) | section 1(2)(b) |
| EEA State | section 70(1) |
| enactment | section 70(1) |
| enforcement notice | section 40(1) |
| fees regulations (in Part III) | section 16(2) |
| government department | section 70(1) |
| health professional | section 69 |
| inaccurate (in relation to data) | section 70(2) |
| information notice | section 43(1) |
| Minister of the Crown | section 70(1) |
| the non-disclosure provisions (in Part IV) | section 27(3) |
| notification regulations (in Part III) | section 16(2) |
| obtaining (of personal data) | section 1(2)(a) |
| personal data | section 1(1) |
| prescribed (in Part III) | section 16(2) |
| processing (of information or data) | section 1(1) and paragraph 5 of Schedule 8 |
| public register | section 70(1) |
| publish (in relation to journalistic, literary or artistic material) | section 32(6) |
| pupil (in relation to a school) | section 70(1) |
| recipient (in relation to personal data) | section 70(1) |
| recording (of personal data) | section 1(2)(a) |
| registered company | section 70(1) |
| registrable particulars (in Part III) | section 16(1) |
| relevant filing system | section 1(1) |
| school | section 70(1) |
| sensitive personal data | section 2 |
| special information notice | section 44(1) |
| the special purposes | section 3 |
| the subject information provisions (in Part IV) | section 27(2) |
| teacher | section 70(1) |
| third party (in relation to processing of personal data) | section 70(1) |
| the Tribunal | section 70(1) |
| using (of personal data) | section 1(2)(b). |
During the period beginning with the commencement of this section and ending with 23rd October 2007, the provisions of this Act shall have effect subject to the modifications set out in Schedule 13.
Schedule 14 (which contains transitional provisions and savings) has effect.
(1)Schedule 15 (which contains minor and consequential amendments) has effect.
(2)The enactments and instruments specified in Schedule 16 are repealed or revoked to the extent specified.
(1)This Act may be cited as the Data Protection Act 1998.
(2)The following provisions of this Act—
(a)sections 1 to 3,
(b)section 25(1) and (4),
(c)section 26,
(d)sections 67 to 71,
(e)this section,
(f)paragraph 17 of Schedule 5,
(g)Schedule 11,
(h)Schedule 12, and
(i)so much of any other provision of this Act as confers any power to make subordinate legislation,
shall come into force on the day on which this Act is passed.
(3)The remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint; and different days may be appointed for different purposes.
(4)The day appointed under subsection (3) for the coming into force of section 56 must not be earlier than the first day on which sections 112, 113 and 115 of the M20Police Act 1997 (which provide for the issue by the Secretary of State of criminal conviction certificates, criminal record certificates and enhanced criminal record certificates) are all in force.
(5)Subject to subsection (6), this Act extends to Northern Ireland.
(6)Any amendment, repeal or revocation made by Schedule 15 or 16 has the same extent as that of the enactment or instrument to which it relates.
Subordinate Legislation Made
P1S. 75(3) power partly exercised: 1.3.2000 appointed by S.I. 2000/183, art. 2(1) (with art. 2(2))
Marginal Citations