The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which defines the law on the processing of data on identifiable living people and is the main piece of legislation that governs the data protection. Although the Act itself does not mention privacy, it was enacted to bring British law into line with the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. In practice it provides a way for individuals to control information about themselves. Most of the Act does not apply to domestic use, for example keeping a personal address book. Anyone holding personal data for other purposes is legally obliged to comply with this Act, subject to some exemptions. The Act defines eight data protection principles, which apply in various contexts, to ensure that information is processed lawfully.