Development of the legislation
Consumer confidence, particularly in the areas of confidentiality and security, is an important aspect of any business and is essential to the development of E-business. Consumer confidence is enhanced by the existence of adequate data protection laws that require businesses to take certain steps to safeguard a person’s privacy and provide remedies including compensation if breaches occur.
 | On the 1st April 2003, the Data Protection Act 2002 came into operation and replaced and repealed the Data Protection Act 1986. |
The Act is based upon the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998 and gives effect in the Island to Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24th October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. | |
On the 28th April 2004, the European Commission formally recognised that the Isle of Man has adequate (in terms of the directive) data protection legislation. | |
Unlike the 1986 Act, which applied only to data processed automatically, the Act also applies to structured manual records and health, education and housing records, irrespective of how they are held. The Act applies to all personal data processed in the Isle of Man regardless of a person's nationality or place of residence.
A list of frequently asked questions can be found here.
For a print version of this page, please click hereTo download these documents you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is available free of charge from Adobe by using the following link:
| Title | File Size | Format | Document Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview of the Data Protection Act 2002 | (124 kb) | Acrobat PDF File | Overview of the Data Protection Act 2002 |
| EU Data Protection Directive 95/46 EC | (114 kb) | Acrobat PDF File | EU Data Protection Directive 95/46 EC |
| Article 29 Working Party Opinion 6/2003 on the level of protection of personal data in the Isle of Man | (107 kb) | Acrobat PDF File | Article 29 Working Party Opinion 6/2003 on the level of protection of personal data in the Isle of Man |
| Convention 108 | (120 kb) | Acrobat PDF File | Convention 108 |
| Adequacy Decision | (1376 kb) | Acrobat PDF File | Adequacy Decision |
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