using information at the university university secretarys office [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
2 Secretary’s Office
• Property/Commercial Law• Employment Law• Contracts • Student complaints/discipline• Insurance• Equal Opportunities/Diversity• Data Protection/Freedom of
Information
3 Relevant Acts
• Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (monitoring use of computers)
• Data Protection Act 1998 (protecting information about people)
• Freedom of Information Act 2000 (revealing information about everything else)
4 Use of Computers
• Regulations for the use of computer facilities
• All UoB computers
• All computers connected to the UoB network
5 Users must not:
• Use computers to break the law:– e.g. accessing information without
authorisation– giving others access to the network – disclosing passwords – illegally copying or downloading
software– Accessing criminal material
6 Do not access/send material that is:
• Discriminatory• Homophobic• Excessively
violent• Obscene• Libellous• Blasphemous
• Seditious• Inciting racial
hatred• Offensive • Defamatory• Threatening• Abusive
7 Monitoring Computer Use
• UoB legally monitors/logs computer use
• Policy for the Investigation of Computers
• UoB reports criminal activity to the police
8
Data Protection
9 Why have a Data Protection Act?
• Personal data collected in UK– e.g. loyalty cards– mobile phones– CCTV
• Personal data collected by UoB– e.g. medical/sickness records– staff/student disciplinary records– confidential research– personnel files
10 The Data Protection Act
• Personal Privacy
• Individuals in an organisation
• The organisation itself
• Damage or distress
11 The Act obliges the University to:
• Collect information about people only with their permission, unless there is a legal reason to do so
• Show individuals the information it holds about them if they request it
• Be very careful when giving this information to anyone else
12 Personal Data
• Any information that identifies a living person– e.g. name and/or address– NI number– postcode– ethnic origin– religion– photograph
13 The Act
• Applies to all records and documents
• Covers anything you do with those documents, including reading
14 Rights under the Act
• Access to information, including references and emails
• To prevent damage or distress, including objecting to direct marketing
• Compensation• Rectification of inaccurate data
15 Security
• Keep paper records under lock and key
• Use passwords• Use confidential waste• No personal data on home
computers• Don’t give personal data to people
outside UoB, even the police• Seek advice
16
Freedom of Information
17 The Act
• public authorities • legal ‘right to know’• more open and accountable • encourages publishing in advance• fully retrospective• some exemptions• personal data still protected
18 Requirements of the Act
• to adopt a Publication Scheme (a guide to publicly available information) by 2004
• to deal with individual requests for information from 2005
19 Individual Rights
• to know whether UoB holds information
• to be given the information within 20 working days
• if information is refused, to be told reasons why
20 ‘Right to Know’
• anyone, anywhere in the world
• journalists, campaigning groups, MPs
• any request from the public is an FOI request
21
Summing Up
22 Summing up
• Use computers responsibly• Use professional language• Write emails as if they were memos• Write open references• Remember that everything you
write could be made public to somebody (or everybody!)
• Get some training
23
Any Questions?
Thank you