Data storage and the Data Protection Act for businesses
The Data Protection Act requires that you keep your data secure,
and making sure it is in a physically secure location is essential
if you are to comply with the act. You have several options when it
comes to where you store your data - this guide will talk you
through the options and explain what you need to do to keep your
data safe.
- Servers
- External hard drives
- The Data Protection Act
Servers
Servers are effectively large hard drives which form the basis
of your office computer network and store your data, allowing
multiple users to connect at once. With servers, you can store and
edit files, as well as control who accesses what - so if you'd
rather certain members of your team didn't have access to sensitive
files, you can protect them with a password.
- Store data centrally
- Allow multiple users to store and edit files
- Control who accesses what
External hard drives
External hard drives provide additional storage space for a
single user. Typically, they are about 200 gigabytes, although
capacities are rising all the time, and hard drives of up to two
terabytes are now available. External hard drives are useful for
backing up data, and very portable, but more susceptible to theft
than other methods of storage, so make sure you secure them, and
store a copy of your data elsewhere.
- External hard drives provide additional storage space
- Hard drives range from 200 gigabytes to about two
terabytes
- Make sure you store a copy of your data elsewhere
The Data Protection Act 1998
When you're storing data, remember to comply with the Data
Protection Act. The Act requires that you keep your clients'
personal data secure, 'with appropriate technical organisational
measures taken to protect the information'. In practice, this means
you should encrypt personal data and protect it with a password, as
well as taking physical precautions to keep it safe - lock away
computers at night and secure servers and external hard drives with
anti-theft cables.
- The Act requires that you take steps to keep personal data
secure
- Encrypt sensitive data with a password
- Take physical precautious to keep data safe
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