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Using Information at the University

Using Information at the University. University Secretary’s Office Data-protection@bristol.ac.uk. Secretary’s Office. Property/Commercial Law Employment Law Contracts Student complaints/discipline Insurance Equal Opportunities/Diversity Data Protection/Freedom of Information.

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Using Information at the University

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  1. Using Information at the University University Secretary’s Office Data-protection@bristol.ac.uk

  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. Discriminatory Homophobic Excessively violent Obscene Libellous Blasphemous Seditious Inciting racial hatred Offensive Defamatory Threatening Abusive Do not access/send material that is:

  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

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