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Data Protection Act 2018

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Explanatory Notes

Explanatory Notes

Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.
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Subject to minor exceptions, the Act extends and applies to the whole of the UK. Sections 188, 189 and 190 (representation of data subjects) apply and extend to England and Wales and Northern Ireland only. Section 199 (recordable offences) extends and applies to England and Wales only.
Under Part II B2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998, the subject matter of the Data Protection Act 1998 is a reserved matter. The scope of the Act is consistent with the 1998 Act so in the Government’s view, is also a reserved matter.
The subject matter of the 1998 Act is also a reserved matter under paragraph 40 of Schedule 3 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
Data protection does not fall within the subject matters devolved to Wales. Schedule 1 to the Wales Act 2017 provides for a new Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006 which includes a specific reservation at paragraph 170 for personal data.