The Data Protection Act 1998 gives certain legal rights to individuals regarding personal data and information held about them and processed by South Wales Fire Authority.

There are seven rights for individuals under the Data Protection Act:

• The right to subject access
  This allows people to find out what information is held about them on computer and within some manual records.
  
• The right to prevent processing
  Anyone can ask a data controller not to process information relating to him or her that causes substantial unwarranted damage or distress to them or anyone else.
  
• The right to prevent processing for direct marketing
  Anyone can ask a data controller not to process information relating to him or her for direct marketing purposes.
  
• Rights in relation to automated decision-taking
  Individuals have a right to object to decisions made only by automatic means e.g. there is no human involvement.
  
• The right to compensation
  An individual can claim compensation from a data controller for damage and distress caused by a breach of the Act. Compensation for distress alone can only be claimed in limited circumstances.
  
• The right to rectification, blocking, erasure and destruction
  Individuals can apply to the court to order a data controller to rectify, block or destroy personal details if they are inaccurate or contain expressions of opinion based on inaccurate information.
  
• The right to act the Information Commissioner to assess whether the Act has been contravened
  If someone believes their personal information has not been processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act, they can ask the Information Commissioner to make an assessment. If the Act is found to have been breached and the matter cannot be settled informally, then an enforcement notice may be served on the data controller in question.

Further information about the Data Protection Act is available from the Information Commissioner’s Officer at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.

They also have a telephone helpline: 01625 454 745