Data Protection Act 1998: exemptions (DPA 1998 version) | Practical Law

Data Protection Act 1998: exemptions (DPA 1998 version) | Practical Law

This note discusses exemptions under the Data Protection Act 1998. It explains the nature of the different types of exemptions and discusses commonly encountered exemptions in detail.

Data Protection Act 1998: exemptions (DPA 1998 version)

Practical Law UK Practice Note 7-624-7450 (Approx. 23 pages)

Data Protection Act 1998: exemptions (DPA 1998 version)

by Daniel Cooper, partner and Joseph Jones, solicitor, Covington & Burling LLP
Law stated as at 25 Oct 2017 • United Kingdom
This note discusses exemptions under the Data Protection Act 1998. It explains the nature of the different types of exemptions and discusses commonly encountered exemptions in detail.
Note: With effect from 25 October 2017, this resource is no longer being maintained. From 25 May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (GDPR) replaced the current regime established by the Data Protection Act 1998. It is supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2018. For legal developments between 25 October 2017 and 24 May 2018, please refer to the legal updates on the topic page for this resource: see General and Employee data and monitoring.
The European Commission is reviewing a related piece of legislation, the E-Privacy Directive (2002/58/EC), implemented in the UK by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (2003/2426) (as amended) (PECR). Their replacement, the draft E-Privacy Regulation (COM (2017) 10 final) (draft ePR), was not agreed in time to align with the GDPR on 25 May (see Legal update, Government confirms delay to draft E-Privacy Regulation). The Information Commissioner has confirmed that PECR (with GDPR standard of consent) will continue to apply until the draft ePR is finalised. We are updating our direct marketing, cookie and other related resources to reflect this. For further information see E-Privacy Regulation tracker. For further information and ICO guidance, see Practice note, Overview of GDPR: UK perspective: Direct marketing and draft E-Privacy Regulation.