A list left on a bus
A worker at a made-up gym leaves a printed list of members on a bus. It has names, phone numbers and health notes. A stranger picks it up.
Is that only a mistake, or is it against the law? The answer matters. There are laws about how data about people is kept, and laws about using computers without permission.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can say what two UK laws are for and how they change what an organisation must do.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Personal data | facts about a living person who can be identified |
| Data subject | the person the data is about |
| Data controller | the organisation that decides how personal data is used |
| UK GDPR | the UK rules on personal data, used with the Data Protection Act 2018 |
| Encryption | scrambling data so only the right people can read it |
| Malware | software made to cause harm |
| Law | a rule that everyone in a country must follow |
| Unauthorised access | getting into a system without permission |
| Regulator | an official body that checks that a law is followed |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
The law on personal data
In the UK, the main rules on personal data are the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR. They work together. They cover personal data: facts about a living person who can be identified, such as a name, an address or a photo.
The person is the data subject. The organisation that decides how the data is used is the data controller. The rules say how it must treat that data. Laws can be updated, so always check the current rules.
The main rules in plain words
| Rule | What an organisation must do |
|---|---|
| Fair, lawful and open | Have a lawful reason, and tell people what is done with their data |
| A clear purpose | Use data only for the reason it was collected |
| Only what is needed | Do not collect more than the job requires |
| Accurate | Keep it correct and up to date |
| Not kept for ever | Delete it when it is no longer needed |
| Kept secure | Protect it from loss, theft and misuse |
| Able to prove it | Show that the organisation follows the rules |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
Have a go
Check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.