<P> The Data Protection Act 1998 ( c 29 ) is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament designed to protect personal data stored on computers or in an organised paper filing system . It follows the EU Data Protection Directive 1995 protection , processing and movement of data . Individuals have legal rights to control information about themselves . Most of the Act does not apply to domestic use , for example keeping a personal address book . Anyone holding personal data for other purposes is legally obliged to comply with this Act , subject to some exemptions . The Act defines eight data protection principles to ensure that information is processed lawfully . </P>
the data protection act regulates the collection storage and processing of personal data relating to
data stored on computers or in an organised paper filing system