Legal, Ethical and Operational

Unit 4: Business Communications
By Rais Mauthoor

Legal, Ethical and Operational
Introduction
Firstly, this report will explain and analyse the legal and ethical issues in relation to the
use of business information using appropriate examples. Secondly, it will explain and
analyse the operational issues in relation to the use of business information using
appropriate examples. Finally, this report will outline electronic and non-electronic
methods for communicating business information using examples for different types of
audience.

P5 and M2 Explain and analyse the legal and ethical issues in
relation to the use of business information using appropriate
examples
Legal issues
Relevant data protection legislation
The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates how corporations including Tesco handles the
personal information of customers. The act declares that businesses must be certain
that information is:
 used fairly and lawfully
 used for limited, specifically stated purposes
 used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive
 accurate
 kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary
 handled according to people’s data protection rights
 kept safe and secure
 not transferred outside the European Economic Area without adequate protection
The act has also incorporated stronger protection for more sensitive information for
example:
 ethnic background
 political opinions
 religious beliefs
 health
 sexual health
 criminal records
The advantages for Tesco are that it keeps customers loyal since they know the
information held are safe, customers do not have to wait too long so they do not feel
delayed and customers would not feel harassed since by law Tesco cannot be too
excessive. The disadvantages for Tesco are that there is less time to process