ABSTRACT
In 1981 the Council of Europe came forward with its Data Protection Convention. The purpose of the Directive is to establish common rules for member states' data protection laws at a high level, so as to permit the free flow of personal data within the single market. In 1990 the UK Government completed a review of the 1984 Act. Coincidentally, just at that time the European Commission brought forward a draft Data Protection Directive. The purpose was to provide a level of data protection which could be shared among all the member states in the interests of promoting free trade. Article 7 of the Directive sets criteria for the processing of personal data. This is one of the ways in which the Directive elaborates on the UK's Data Protection principles. The Data Protection principles require, among other things, that data should be processed fairly and lawfully.
