Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2003

Journalism, literature and art.

21.—The following section is inserted into the Principal Act after section 22:

“22A.—(1) Personal data that are processed only for journalistic, artistic or literary purposes shall be exempt from compliance with any provision of this Act specified in subsection (2) of this section if—

(a)  the processing is undertaken solely with a view to the publication of any journalistic, literary or artistic material,

(b)  the data controller reasonably believes that, having regard in particular to the special importance of the public interest in freedom of expression, such publication would be in the public interest, and

(c)  the data controller reasonably believes that, in all the circumstances, compliance with that provision would be incompatible with journalistic, artistic or literary purposes.

(2) The provisions referred to in subsection (1) of this section are—

(a)  section 2 (as amended by the Act of 2003), other than subsection (1)(d),

(b)  sections 2A, 2B and 2D (which sections were inserted by the Act of 2003),

(c)  section 3,

(d)  sections 4 and 6 (which sections were amended by the Act of 2003), and

(e)  sections 6A and 6B (which sections were inserted by the Act of 2003).

(3) In considering for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) of this section whether publication of the material concerned would be in the public interest, regard may be had to any code of practice approved under subsections (1) or (2) of section 13 (as amended by the Act of 2003) of this Act.

(4) In this section ‘publication’, in relation to journalistic, artistic or literary material, means the act of making the material available to the public or any section of the public in any form or by any means.”.