Investigate ICT Legislation

The Information Age has brought with it the need for its own set of laws to regulate, monitor and control the way in which we conduct our personal, social and working lives when using ICT. In the UK these include:

Health and Safety at Work Act (1947)
Cover employers’ responsibilities, especially where employees work with computer systems.

Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations (1992)
Cover employers’ responsibilities, especially where employees work with computer systems.


Data Protection Act (1984)
There are eight principals to this act:
1 – Data must be processed fairly and lawfully
2 – Data must be obtained only from specified purposes and must not be processed in any other way.
3 – Data must be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose.
4 – Data must be accurate and, where necessary, up-to-date.
5 – Data must not be kept longer that is necessary for the registered purpose.
6 – Data must be processed in accordance with the rights of the data subject.
7 – Measures must be taken to prevent unlawful processing or accidental damage/loss of data.
8 – Data must not be transferred to a country outside the European Economic Area unless that country has an adequate level of data protection and legislation.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)
This law makes it illegal to steal or make unauthorised copies of software, the act also covers CD-ROMs, music and books. Individuals who break this law face an unlimited fine. The law mostly get broken when using software without a proper licence, software piracy and illegally downloading material from the Internet.


Computer Misuse Act (1990)
If somebody hacks into a computer system they are able to read, copy or damage private data. Reading data is not a serious crime; however, it is an invasion of privacy. The advantage of this law is that that as computer use grew during the 70s and 80s, there was an increased in computer fraud. The disadvantage of this law is that prosecuting hackers can be very difficult. There are three levels of offences under this act:
Level 1 – unauthorised access to computer material
Level 2 – unauthorised access with intent to cause a further offence
Level 3 – unauthorised changing or deleting of files

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000)
This law allows lawful interception of postal, telecommunications and digital communications in certain circumstances.

Freedom of Information Act (2005)
This deals with access to official information. This means you can find out information on any topic from any public authority including government, health services, schools and police.