Data Protection Act 2018, section 205

General interpretation

PART 7 Supplementary and final provision

(1)In this Act—

  • “biometric data” means personal data resulting from specific technical processing relating to the physical, physiological or behavioural characteristics of an individual, which allows or confirms the unique identification of that individual, such as facial images or dactyloscopic data;

  • “data concerning health” means personal data relating to the physical or mental health of an individual, including the provision of health care services, which reveals information about his or her health status;

  • “enactment” includes—

    (a)

    an enactment passed or made after this Act,

    (b)

    an enactment comprised in subordinate legislation,

    (c)

    an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, a Measure or Act of the National Assembly for Wales,

    (d)

    F819 an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament, ...

    (e)

    an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, Northern Ireland legislation; [F820and

    (f)

    any [F821 assimilated directF821] legislation;F820]

  • “genetic data” means personal data relating to the inherited or acquired genetic characteristics of an individual which gives unique information about the physiology or the health of that individual and which results, in particular, from an analysis of a biological sample from the individual in question;

  • “government department” includes the following (except in the expression “United Kingdom government department”)—

    (a)

    a part of the Scottish Administration;

    (b)

    a Northern Ireland department;

    (c)

    the Welsh Government;

    (d)

    a body or authority exercising statutory functions on behalf of the Crown;

  • “health record” means a record which—

    (a)

    consists of data concerning health, and

    (b)

    has been made by or on behalf of a health professional in connection with the diagnosis, care or treatment of the individual to whom the data relates;

  • “inaccurate”, in relation to personal data, means incorrect or misleading as to any matter of fact;

  • “international obligation of the United Kingdom” includes—

    (a)

    F822 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    (b)

    an obligation that arises under an international agreement or arrangement to which the United Kingdom is a party;

  • “international organisation” means an organisation and its subordinate bodies governed by international law, or any other body which is set up by, or on the basis of, an agreement between two or more countries;

  • “Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 ;

  • “publish” means make available to the public or a section of the public (and related expressions are to be read accordingly);

  • “subordinate legislation” has the meaning given in the Interpretation Act 1978 ;

  • “tribunal” means any tribunal in which legal proceedings may be brought;

  • “the Tribunal”, in relation to an application or appeal under this Act, means—

    (a)

    the Upper Tribunal, in any case where it is determined by or under Tribunal Procedure Rules that the Upper Tribunal is to hear the application or appeal, or

    (b)

    the First-tier Tribunal, in any other case.

[F823 (1A)In this Act, references to fundamental rights or fundamental freedoms (however expressed) are to the Convention rights within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998.F823]

(2)References in this Act to a period expressed in hours, days, weeks, months or years are to be interpreted in accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No. 1182/71 of the Council of 3 June 1971 determining the rules applicable to periods, dates and time limits, except in—

[F824 (za)section 119A(10) and (11);F824]

(a)section 125(4), (7) and (8);

(b)section 161(3), (5) and (6);

(c)section 176(2);

(d)section 178(2);

(e)F825section 182(8) ...;

(f)section 183(4);

(g)section 192(3), (5) and (6);

(h)section 197(3) and (4);

(i)paragraph 23(4) and (5) of Schedule 1;

(j)paragraphs 5(4) and 6(4) of Schedule 3;

(k)Schedule 5;

F826(l). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F827 (la)paragraph 22(6) of Schedule 12A;F827]

(m)Schedule 15;

F828(and the references in section 5 to terms used in ... Part 2 do not include references to a period expressed in hours, days, weeks, months or years).

F829(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F830 (4) In the definition of “the UK GDPR” in section 3(10)—

(a) the reference to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 as it forms part of the law of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland by virtue of section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is to be treated as a reference to that Regulation as modified by Schedule 1 to the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (“the 2019 Regulations”), but

(b)nothing in the definition or in paragraph (a) determines whether, where Regulation (EU) 2016/679 is modified on or after IP completion day by the law of England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland (other than by Schedule 1 to the 2019 Regulations), the reference to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 is then to be read as a reference to that Regulation as modified.

(5)Subsection (4) is not to be read as implying anything about how other references to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or references to other [F831 assimilatedF831] law are to be interpreted.F830]

Definitions used in section 205 1

health professional

(1) In this Act, “health professional” means any of the following—

(a)a registered medical practitioner;

(b)a registered nurse or midwife;

(c)a registered dentist within the meaning of the Dentists Act 1984 (see section 53 of that Act);

(d)a registered dispensing optician or a registered optometrist within the meaning of the Opticians Act 1989 (see section 36 of that Act);

(e)a registered osteopath with the meaning of the Osteopaths Act 1993 (see section 41 of that Act);

(f)a registered chiropractor within the meaning of the Chiropractors Act 1994 (see section 43 of that Act);

(g)a person registered as a member of a profession to which the Health ... Professions Order 2001 (S.I. 2002/254) for the time being extends; ...

(h)a registered pharmacist or a registered pharmacy technician within the meaning of the Pharmacy Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/231) (see article 3 of that Order);

(i)a registered person within the meaning of the Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (S.I. 1976/1213 (N.I. 22)) (see Article 2 of that Order);

(j)a child psychotherapist;

(k)a scientist employed by a health service body as head of a department.

(l)a person registered under the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024.

Defined in s.204(1) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 205 8

Lee McLoughlin v Chief Constable Of Kent Police

[2024] EWHC 990 (KB) · 1 May 2024Defines

Section 205(1) defines inaccurate personal data as data that is incorrect or misleading as to any matter of fact. The court accepted that the statement arguably conveyed simultaneous Facebook use and searches or downloads, so the claimant had a reasonable prospect of proving inaccuracy at trial, although the claim was ultimately barred as abusive re-litigation (see paras [51]-[60]).

Anthony Dixon v North Bristol NHS Trust

[2022] EWHC 3127 (KB) · 7 December 2022Defines

The judgment applies the statutory concept of inaccurate data as data incorrect or misleading as to a matter of fact. It holds that the claimant was unlikely to use that concept to require amendment of investigative findings and opinions (see para [106]).

AB v Chief Constable of British Transport Police

[2022] EWHC 2749 (KB) · 7 November 2022Defines

Defines data as inaccurate where it is incorrect or misleading as to any matter of fact. The judgment uses this definition in the accuracy analysis. (see para [26])

What each judgment says about section 205 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.

Amendments and notes

15 notes from legislation.gov.uk

Amendments

  1. F819Word in s. 205(1) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 85(2)(a) (with reg. 5); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
  2. F820Words in s. 205(1) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 85(2)(b) (with reg. 5); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
  3. F821Words in s. 205(1) substituted (1.1.2024) by The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1424), reg. 1(2), Sch. para. 87(a)
  4. F822Words in s. 205(1) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 85(3) (with reg. 5); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
  5. F823S. 205(1A) substituted (31.12.2023 immediately before the end of 2023) by The Data Protection (Fundamental Rights and Freedoms) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1417), regs. 1(2), 3(3)
  6. F824S. 205(2)(za) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 85(5)(a) (with reg. 5); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
  7. F825Words in s. 205(2)(e) omitted (5.2.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), s. 142(1), Sch. 9 para. 23 (with Sch. 9 Pt. 2); S.I. 2026/82, reg. 2(z11)
  8. F826S. 205(2)(l) omitted (30.9.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 117(4)(a), 142(1); S.I. 2026/1015, reg. 2(a) (with reg. 3)
  9. F827S. 205(2)(la) inserted (20.8.2025) by Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 117(4)(b), 142(1); S.I. 2025/904, reg. 2(r)
  10. F828Words in s. 205(2) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 85(5)(b) (with reg. 5); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
  11. F829S. 205(3) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 85(6) (with reg. 5); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
  12. F830S. 205(4)(5) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 85(7) (with reg. 5) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1586, regs. 1(2), 5(2)); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
  13. F831Word in s. 205(5) substituted (1.1.2024) by The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1424), reg. 1(2), Sch. para. 87(b)

Modifications

  1. C18S. 205: power to amend conferred (19.6.2025 for specified purposes, 20.8.2025 in so far as not already in force) by Regulation (EU) 679/2016, Art. 11A(3) (as inserted by Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 74(1), 142(1)(2)(h); S.I. 2025/904, reg. 2(c))

Commencement

  1. I217S. 205 in force at Royal Assent, see s. 212(2)(c)