Data Protection Act by www.securityconsole.co.uk

In the United Kingdom personal data is protected by the Data Protection Act of 1988. The Act covers all personal data which an organization may hold, including names, birthday and anniversary dates, addresses, telephone numbers, etc.
Under English (which extends to Wales but not necessarily to Northern Ireland or Scotland), the deception offences under the Theft Act of 1968 increasingly contend with identity theft situations. In R v Seward (2005) EWCA Crim 1941 the defendant was acting as the "front man" in the use of stolen credit cards and other documents to obtain goods. He obtained goods to the value of £10,000 for others who are unlikely ever to be identified. The Court of Appeal considered sentencing policy for deception offenses involving "identity theft" and concluded that a prison sentence was required. Henriques J. said at para 14:"Identity fraud is a particularly pernicious and prevalent form of dishonesty calling for, in our judgment, deterrent sentences."
Increasingly, organizations, including Government bodies will be forced to take steps to better protect their users' data.
Stats released by CIFAS on the 2nd of February 2010, show that in 2009 in the UK that there were 85,000 victims of impersonation and 24,000 victims of bank account takeovers. this represents a 35% and 15% increase respectively from 2008 levels. This is the understanding of www.securityconsole.co.uk and should not be construed as legal advice