The Gazette 1987

SEPTEMBER 1987

GAZETTE

lation include sanctions, and the UK Data Protection Act (1984) makes it clear that compensation may be awarded by a court for loss or damage resulting from passing on incorrect personal data. We are fortunate in having a decade of experience in over ten countries when it comes to drawing up Ireland's data pro- tection legislation. Whether it comes from the business com- munity or the civil liberties lobby, it seems that laws to prevent personal data abuses — intentional or otherwise — are firmly on the legislators' agenda. We await the early re-introduction of a Freedom of Information Bill. •

Also, the Bill did not provide for the establishment of a regulatory authority, or for any system of registration or licensing of personal data holders. The Swedish Data Privacy Act 1973, which was the first legislation in this area in Europe, is administered by a 'Data Inspection Board'. This employs about 30 people and handles com- plaints as well as licensing users. The Act was amended in 1979 so that licences were only required for holders of sensitive information, such as medical or criminal records. The Freedom of Information Bill (1985) sought to make breaches of its requirements a criminal offence. All the comparable European legis-

Commissioners or pursuant to a court order, the Central Statistics Office, or for anonymous statistical purposes; or between public bodies in certain cases. The Bill broadly followed the principles of the European Convention for the Protection of the Individual with regard to Automatic Processing of Data. The exception is that the Bill did not require strong security measures against outside access or alteration of files, or their accidental or un- authorised destruction. This features in all the existing European data protection legislation, and is one of the factors in the push for new laws here.

Law Society Family Law Seminar — 10 October, 1987

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