[M.Acorn]

Right i have a large customer data base,stored on a portable 1tb hard drive,my pc is password protected,but do i need to look into data encryption to secure the data on my drive ?
Or will I be ok with just a password to boot up the pc ?

[Paolo]

What data do you hold about said customers?

[M.Acorn]

Name ,address,phone number,what it was I did for them,the date,and how much I charged,if it was a good job or minging 

[Helen]

Try asking on here
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=314967&forumid=25 as there are some more in the knowledge people there

[clinton]

Mark caint you take it to a pc shop etc mate

[Neil Williams]

MarK, I wouldn't get yourself into a dwizzle over this.
You're a one man carpet cleaner and the only details you have are name, address, telephone number and what carpets they own.....hardly puts you into the same catogry as MI5  
If you want to follow the law to the letter then carry on but don't forget to contact your customers and tell them you know where they live and what their telephone number is

[Paolo]

Name ,address,phone number,what it was I did for them,the date,and how much I charged,if it was a good job or minging 

You are doing enough then.

[M.Acorn]

Mark caint you take it to a pc shop etc mate

Why ?
Nowt wrong with it,build my own pc`s up,was just a question regarding data protection,but looks like i am doing enough by having a password 

[feldon]

Mark, I used to be a mortgage advisor for my sins and my understanding is that if you keep any personal data of customers either on computer or paper you need to be registered for Data Protection, costs between £30 - £40 per year if memory serves me correctly.

[Paolo]

Mark, I used to be a mortgage advisor for my sins and my understanding is that if you keep any personal data of customers either on computer or paper you need to be registered for Data Protection, costs between £30 - £40 per year if memory serves me correctly.

But he isn't

[feldon]

Paolo,

Doesn't matter if you keep any personal details of customers for business purposes then offically you need to be registered for Data Protection regardless of what type of business you are running.

[Neil Williams]

Mark, I used to be a mortgage advisor for my sins and my understanding is that if you keep any personal data of customers either on computer or paper you need to be registered for Data Protection, costs between £30 - £40 per year if memory serves me correctly.

Think there's a bit of difference between:
name, address, phone number, type of carpet
to
name, address, phone number, employer, bank account details, income, out goings, DoB, driving license details, savings etc etc

Under your conditions everyone with a mobile phone and/or pc would need to register which is plain stupid.

[wynne jones]

This is another complete joke from the bureaucrats who can't catch real criminals but would come down hard on a one man band for a minor infringement. Not to mention national security secrets being left on trains etc. :

Make sure you have a good backup thats the main thing.