Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Certification Practice Test

What does the 1998 Data Protection Act primarily protect?

1. Corporate data

2. Personal data about individuals

3. Public financial statements

4. Government databases

The correct answer is: Personal data about individuals

The 1998 Data Protection Act primarily focuses on the protection of personal data about individuals. This legislation was enacted to ensure that personal information is handled with care, providing individuals with rights regarding their data, such as the right to access their data, have it corrected, and control how it is processed. The Act establishes principles for the processing of personal data, which include requirements for data to be processed fairly and lawfully, to be obtained for specified and legitimate purposes, and to be kept accurate and up to date. This legal framework aims to balance the individual's right to privacy with the need for organizations to collect and use personal data for legitimate purposes. The other options do not align with the primary intent of the 1998 Data Protection Act. Corporate data and government databases, while they may involve data handling, are not the primary focus of this legislation. Public financial statements are generally subject to different regulations and are more related to transparency and accounting standards rather than individual data protection. Thus, the emphasis of the Act is explicitly on personal data related to individuals.