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Originally Posted by Chrysalis
The banks are still breaking the law then by (a) not complying and (b) pretending the law is something different.
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Actually, its not as insiduous as that. Mostly the instances that Mr Angry is referring to are cases when so-and-so doesn't know the law was changed. In 1998-2000, the DPA was very quietly revised. In fact so quietly, not many businesses I know, know it was revised at all.
Under the old (1984) DPA, data stored manually was exempt. That included microfiches and good old paper. Only electronically stored data was covered. That was the reason for the DPA in the first place. For centuries we've been able to store paper happily without needing a DPA. It was brought in as technology grew, with things like remote access via networks, and things like the ability to make identical duplicates without the author's knowlege.
In 2000 it was updated, amongst other things, to close a loop-hole they spotted. It was updated to include any manually stored data that was part of an electronic system. I.e. a word processed document that was printed out and stored in a locked filing cabinet, but not saved.
The trouble is it was so quietly done, most are completely oblivious that the goal posts moved a couple of miles over night. I certainly didn't recall any news or fanfare about it. Many are still unaware it changed... I spoke to a guy, who owned a small building company (only one employee) about upgrading and he turned me down saying he wanted to bypass the act by sticking with paper storage.
So its not always a case of the eeeevil baby-eating companies trying to trample over the citizen.