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18 October 2007 / Helen Hart
Issue: 7293 / Categories: Features , Data protection
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Defining issues

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What constitutes “personal data” in law?
Helen Hart reports

W hen the Court of Appeal adopted a highly restrictive definition of the meaning of “personal data” in Durant v Financial Services Authority [2003] EWCA Civ 1746, [2003] All ER (D) 124 (Dec), the decision was considered controversial. It led to the European Commission issuing a “letter of formal notice” to the UK government which identified five key areas of concern regarding the UK’s implementation of EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, one of which was understood to be the narrow interpretation of personal data.

DEFINITIONS
 

Section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) defines personal data as data that relate to a living individual who can be identified:
(a) from those data; or
(b) from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller; and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and any indication of the intentions of the data controller or any other person in respect of the individual.

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