Data Protection Act (UK), 1984
to those purposes; (4) hold only information
which is adequate, relevant and not excessive for
the purposes; (5) hold only accurate information
and, where necessary, keep it up to date; (6) not
keep any information longer than is necessary;
(7) give individuals access to information about
themselves and, where appropriate, correct or
erase the information; (8) take appropriate secu-
rity measures. Persons feeling that any computer
user has broken one or more of the above
principles may complain to the Data Protection
Registrar. See privacy; secrecy.
Decency: Communications Decency Act,
1996 See communications decency act
(us).
Decisive moment French photographer Henri
Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) used this term to
describe the instant when pressing the shutter
release button produced the desired image.
Indeed, some critics believe that Cartier-
Bresson’s timing, his ability to be at the ready
when destiny appeared to be bringing highly
photogenic elements together, this instinct
for the decisive moment, qualifies him to be
considered the fi nest of all twentieth-century
photographers.
Declaration on the Mass Media (UNESCO
General Council, 1978) See media imperial-
ism.
Decode The process of interpreting, analysing
and understanding the nature of messages –
written, spoken, broadcast, etc. This requires
not just an understanding of the words, signs
or images used but also a sharing of the values
and assumptions that underpin their encoding
into a message by the transmitter. A focus for
research in communication studies is the extent
to which the receiver decodes the message in the
way the encoder or sender would prefer. Th is is
an important element in the debate on the power
and infl uence of the media.
If the message is received by an audience
which does not share the same codes or values as
the sender, it will be interpreted in an ‘aberrant’
way, that is a diff erent meaning will be assumed
to that which was intended; hence the term
aberrant decoding. In short, it is a diff erence of
‘reading’ the message derived from a diff erence
of experience, perception or evaluation. See
preferred reading. See also topic guides
under communication theory; language/
discourse/narrative.
Deconstruction Th e process of deconstruction,
as a mode of textual and intertextual analysis, is
chiefl y associated with the ideas of the French
philosopher Jacques Derrida and his method ofis to be protected. In the US, the Hellman-Diffi e
method allowed for diff erent keys for the scram-
bling and unscrambling processes.
An alternative to this is the so-called electronic
signature, which works by reversing the roles
of scrambling and unscrambling keys. Another
mode is PIN – personal identity number, where
everybody is issued with a personal key. PIN is
already in use for the authorization of electronic
funds transfers. See echelon. See also topic
guide under media: freedom, censorship.
Data Protection Act (UK), 1984 Th e purpose
of the Act is ‘to regulate the use of automatically
processed information relating to individuals
and the provision of services in respect of such
information’. From November 1987 the public
has been able to check if any organization holds
information on them; to see a copy of that infor-
mation, known as personal data; to complain
to the Data Protection Registrar about the way
data has been collected or used; to have inac-
curate computer records corrected or deleted in
certain circumstances; and to claim compensa-
tion through the courts if the ‘data subject’ has
suff ered damage by the loss or destruction of
personal data, or through an unauthorized
disclosure or because of inaccuracy.
Designed to bring Britain into line with the
Council of Europe Convention for the Protec-
tion of Individuals with regard to Automatic
Processing of Personal Data, the Act provides for
the establishment of a data watchdog, the Data
Protection Registrar, and outlines eight data
protection principles (see next entry).
Th e test of any act protecting the citizen is
the size and scope of the exceptions. Th ere are
three unconditional exemptions from registra-
tion: personal data required to be exempt for the
purpose of safeguarding national security; data
which its user is required by law to make public;
and personal data held by an individual and
‘concerned with the management of his personal,
family or household aff airs or held by him only
for recreational purposes’. Subject access is
barred on matters of prevention or detection
of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of
off enders, or the assessment or collection of any
tax or duty.
Data Protection Principles Listed in the data
protection act (uk), 1984 are the following
eight principles governing data protection
for computer users handling personal data:
computer users must (1) obtain and process the
information fairly and lawfully; (2) register the
purposes for which they hold the data; (3) not
use or disclose the information in a way contrary