The Data Protection Act (UK)
How does it apply to us?
There is a common misconception that Clubs are in some way exempt from the provisions
of the Data Protection Act. This is not the case. Other people believe that if they
keep only paper records, then they are in some way exempt. This is also incorrect.
The only exemption made for clubs is that, if they comply with the rules of the
Act, they are not required to register themselves with the Data Commissioner as
an organisation that stores personal information.
What does the law require us to do?
There are many requirements to the Act and it is strongly recommended that any club
familiarise themselves with the contents. Full information may be obtained on the
web at: www.ico.gov.uk
The Act has eight requirements, one of them being the security of data.
"Are the precautions against burglary, fire or natural
disaster adequate?
Is the system capable of checking that the data is
valid and initiating the production of back-up copies?
If so, is full use made of these facilities?
Are back-up copies of all the data stored separately
from the live files?"
ClubSec is password protected with five levels of data access depending on the tasks
that any user will be required to undertake.User accounts may be created by an Administrator
who will allocate a temporary Username and Password in order that the user may log
on for the first time. When they do log on, the user is forced to change these and
the administrator will not be able to access users' passwords.
ClubSec provides for the fast and simple back-up of ALL your data
on to, for example,
a USB memory stick, which is ideal for the task. This task can be performed from
within ClubSec or done by traditional file copying techniques as the database is
located in a convenient place for users to make a copy.
This back-up copy can then be removed to a place of safety. Compare this process
(perhaps 30 seconds in total) to manually copying thousands of files
and finding somewhere to store them!
Also, this distinction between program and data means that you can easily take ALL
your member data (on a USB stick) and use this in another PC, maybe a laptop, so
that your valuable member data can be used for other purposes such as raffle ticket
sales or for use on the door.
Other club management solutions are available. Please, do a web search and view the results to see
if any come close to what ClubSec has to offer in terms of features or price. Also,
consider one VERY important question - would you want to store all you confidential
member information on a web based service run by persons unknown, in these days
of identity theft? ClubSec requires no internet connection to function, except of
course if you wish to e-mail some or all your members. ALL your data is stored exclusively
on your machine, for your eyes only.
Database security:
Should you accidentally lose a copy of your database, it is not possible for someone
to simply double-click it and gain access. Even another ClubSec user would not be
able to access the data (or merge the data with their own) unless they had a valid
Username/Password combination for your database.
If you also employ a Windows Logon password on your PC then the security of your
data is extremely good and certainly better than that provided by a locked filing
cabinet.