BCS Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection PDP9 Exam Questions

Answer : A

Lawfulness of processing is not a factor that should be considered when looking at security of processing under Article 32 of the GDPR. Lawfulness of processing is a separate requirement that applies to all processing of personal data, regardless of the level of security. Security of processing under Article 32 of the GDPR should be based on the following factors:

The state of the art and the costs of implementation of the security measures;

The nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing;

The risk of varying likelihood and severity for the rights and freedoms of natural persons;

Adherence to an approved code of conduct or an approved certification mechanism (as an element to demonstrate compliance).Reference:

Article 32 of the GDPR1

Guidelines 07/2020 on the concepts of controller and processor in the GDPR2, p. 36

Answer : A

The right to a private life is a fundamental human right that is protected by law in the UK. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998, states that ''Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence''. This right applies to all individuals, regardless of their status, profession, or public exposure. The right to a private life covers aspects such as personal identity, personal relationships, physical and mental well-being, personal data, and correspondence. However, this right is not absolute and can be limited or interfered with by the state or other parties in certain circumstances, such as for the protection of national security, public safety, health, morals, or the rights and freedoms of others.Reference:

Article 8 of the ECHR1

Human Rights Act 19982

ICO Guide to Data Protection3

Answer : C

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the UK's independent authority for data protection, which is responsible for upholding the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, as well as other related legislation. The ICO has various roles and tasks, such as monitoring and enforcing the application of the data protection law, promoting public awareness and understanding of the risks and rights related to processing, advising the Parliament and the government on legislative and administrative measures concerning data protection, encouraging the development of codes of conduct and certification schemes, and handling complaints and investigations. However, the ICO does not provide case by case advice on what retention period companies should use, as this is a matter for the companies themselves to determine, based on their own purposes, legal obligations, and risk assessments. The ICO only provides general guidance on the data minimisation and storage limitation principles, which require that personal data should be kept only for as long as necessary and no longer than that. The ICO also expects companies to have clear policies and procedures on how they retain and dispose of personal data, and to document their retention periods and the reasons for them.Reference:

Article 57 of the UK GDPR1

ICO guidance on the role of the ICO2

ICO guidance on data minimisation and storage limitation3

Answer : B

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) are a set of rules that regulate the use of electronic communications for marketing purposes, such as phone calls, texts, emails and faxes. One of the rules is that organisations must not make unsolicited marketing calls to individuals who have registered their numbers with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), unless they have given their prior consent to receive such calls from that organisation. The TPS is a free service that allows individuals to opt out of receiving any marketing calls. It is a legal requirement for organisations to check the TPS before making any marketing calls and to respect the preferences of the individuals registered on it. If an organisation fails to comply with this rule, it may face enforcement action from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is the UK's data protection authority and the regulator of PECR.Reference:

Telephone Preference Service

Marketing calls

Enforcement action

Answer : A

Storage limitation is one of the principles of data protection under the UK GDPR. It means that personal data should not be kept in a form that allows identification of data subjects for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data are processed. The UK GDPR does not specify any fixed time limits for different types of data, but rather requires data controllers to determine and justify the appropriate retention periods for their processing activities, taking into account factors such as the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing, the risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects, and the legal obligations and expectations of the data controller. Data controllers should also have a policy setting out standard retention periods where possible, and review the data they hold regularly to ensure that it is erased or anonymised when it is no longer needed. Data subjects have the right to request the erasure of their personal data if the data controller no longer has a lawful basis or a legitimate interest for keeping it. The UK GDPR allows for some exceptions to the storage limitation principle, such as when the personal data is processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes, or statistical purposes, subject to appropriate safeguards for the rights and freedoms of data subjects.Reference:

UK GDPR, Article 5 (1) (e) and (2)4

UK GDPR, Article 175

UK GDPR, Article 896

ICO Guide to Data Protection, Storage Limitation7

Answer : C

Data protection rights were first introduced into UK law by the Data Protection Act 1984, which was enacted to implement the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data of 1981. The Data Protection Act 1984 established a set of principles for the processing of personal data by data users, such as obtaining consent, ensuring accuracy, and limiting retention. It also created a system of registration for data users and a Data Protection Registrar (later renamed as the Information Commissioner) to oversee and enforce the law. The Data Protection Act 1984 was replaced by the Data Protection Act 1998, which transposed the EU Data Protection Directive 1995 into UK law and extended the scope of data protection to cover manual as well as automated processing of personal data. The Data Protection Act 1998 was further amended by the Data Protection Act 2018, which incorporated the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Law Enforcement Directive into UK law and made provisions for specific processing situations, such as national security, immigration, and journalism.Reference:

Data Protection Act 19844

Council of Europe Convention 1085

Data Protection Act 19986

Data Protection Act 20187

Answer : B

According to the GDPR, a transfer of personal data to a third country or an international organisation occurs when the personal data is made available to someone outside the EU and EEA, regardless of whether the data is physically sent or not. Therefore, the fact that the Chinese business accesses the platform and the databases that contain personal data of the French company's customers constitutes a transfer of personal data to China, which is a third country under the GDPR. The French company, as the controller of the personal data, must ensure that the transfer complies with the GDPR requirements and that the level of protection of the personal data is not undermined. This means that the French company must identify and implement an appropriate transfer mechanism, such as an adequacy decision, appropriate safeguards, or derogations for specific situations, as set out in Chapter V of the GDPR. A data processing agreement, although necessary to define the roles and responsibilities of the controller and the processor, is not sufficient to ensure the legality of the transfer, as it does not provide the same guarantees as the GDPR. China is not a country that has been recognised by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data, so the French company cannot rely on an adequacy decision either.Reference:

Article 44 of the GDPR1

ICO guidance on international transfers2