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Data Protection 
Your obligations under the Data Protection Act
The amount of information about customers that you hold will vary between individuals, but at the very least, to comply with your Income Tax record keeping obligations, you should retain copies of all your sales invoices. These will probably record the customer's name and address (and possibly email address and telephone number).
The Data Protection Act requires that any data you hold must be:
- processed for specific purposes,
- relevant and not excessive,
- accurate and up to date,
- not kept for longer than is necessary, and
- kept secure.
(This list has been shortened so that it is wholly relevant to Artists working as a sole trader).
Individuals’ rights under the Data Protection Act
Individuals have a right to see the personal data that is held on them, and the right to have it corrected if it is wrong.
Although highly unlikely, you could be asked to show an individual what personal data you hold on them. If you do receive such a request, you are obliged to:
- respond to it within 40 days,
- provide a copy of the data you hold on them,
- advise who the source of the data was,
- give information on how the data is used,
- give information on about other people or organisations it may have been disclosed to.
You can charge a fee of up to £10 for handling a request if you choose to do so.
Registering with the Information Commissioner
The Data Protection Act requires a nominated person to be responsible for data protection, and that person to register with the Information Commissioner's Office. Registration currently cost £35 annually.
Happily, you can be exempt form the registration process if personal information is retained for core business purposes, such as your own marketing, or invoicing.
Resources
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Further information can be found on the Information Commissioner's web site. |
the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000.
Article date: 20 September 2009 ¦ Suggest an amendment
