5 years ago... UK firms could be caught napping over data protection

07.10.1999: IT services group, NCC, is warning that changes to the UK's Data Protection Act could catch companies unawares.

After the Act is amended, users will have the right to demand to see what information is being held about them, but a survey of UK companies by NCC showed very few are prepared to comply with the letter of the law. The new legislation, expected to come into force by 1 March, will make company directors personally responsible for the secure of customer data.

David Smith, UK assistant data protection registrar, said the survey suggested that much preparation still needed to be done: "We would urge businesses to be looking at what they need to do. Plans ought to be on the drawing-board by now, as the new legislation will bring in some significant changes."

07.10.2004: The Data Protection Act has stood up better than some other legislation intended to tackle the technology industry.

However, in the last few years, a new spate of challenges have arisen to put the legislation to the test. The emergence of RFID technology, for one, has seen fears raised that the legislation may not adequately protect the consumer and warnings again given that data protection should be an issue at the head of everyone's agenda.

Outsourcing and offshoring have also given the Act a workout. A report published just this week shows the majority of bosses aren't keeping track of whether their outsourcing partners are keeping in line with regulation.

While some have been claiming that offshoring to India could put UK businesses on the wrong side of the Data Protection Act, the UK's data protection watchdog dismissed the idea, saying a breach had "never happened". Indian IT trade association Nasscom is also separately pushing for tighter security practices in the country.

Perhaps more telling of a UK plc's desire to be take the Act seriously is the fact it's attracted a scam of its very own, luring people in by claiming they don't comply with the legislation.