Data protection principles
How organisations in the UK collect, process, store and disclose information about people are governed by two policies:
- The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- the Data Protection Act 2018
They also give individuals (data subjects) the right of access to information held about themselves.
Core principles
The legislation has core principles which must be adopted when handling personal data.
Personal data must be:
- processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject. This is known as ‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’
- collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes. It must not be further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes. This is known as ‘purpose limitation’
- adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed. This is known as ‘data minimisation’
- accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. Every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that is inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay. This is known as ‘accuracy’
- kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed. This is known as ‘storage limitation’
- processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data. This means protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction, damage, and the need to use appropriate technical or organisational measures. This is known as 'integrity and confidentiality'.
These principles lie at the heart of our approach to processing personal data.