Charles,
Nice one. The big brother issue is one which needs constant attention.
Is the argument that because some organisations are unwilling to give honest
references which are defendable that everybody should suffer by providing
the ability for potentially damaging 'confidential for evermore' references
the accuracy of which cannot be checked.
Ian
----- Original Message -----
From: Charles Christacopoulos <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2000 7:42 PM
Subject: Re: Confidential References
> ** Reply to note from "Ian Welton" <[log in to unmask]> Fri, 24 Mar
2000 22:30:01 -0000
>
>
> > Do the basic issues in question not throw a very clear light on this:-
> >
> > Do we live in a secret society where information can be generated and
held
> > about you without your knowledge?
> >
> > Or do we live in an open society where the legislation provides rights
of
> > access to data held about you?
>
> Yo, another believer in conspiracy theories. I like that.
>
> It depends on who in this society is holding the data on you. "Big
brother"
> organisations are still free to hold (and even do) what they like. Small
> organisations have to disclose, so I guess, we live in a not so-open
> and not so-closed society (I am being diplomatic).
>
> As far as references go, the whole business of confidentiallity is
> arising because someone may rightly or wrongly give a bad reference. So
if
> you are an honest referee (ie. you intent to give an honest reference) you
> have to lie to the receipient of the reference in case you are taken to
court
> by the data subject. So you lie in the reference to save you yourself
from
> the data subject, in which case the receipient of the reference sues you
for
> passing them the dumbo of your company as diamonds.
>
> In my simple mind I can see one particular profession doing well out of
the
> above scenario.
>
> I would prefer for potential referees to be able to refuse to give a
> reference instead of giving a bad one (not alaways easy). After all, if
you
> MUST give a reference you must give one you can defend and you can always
...
> wink wink nudge nudge ... follow it up with a one-off phone call.
>
> Regards :-)
> Charles
>
>
> ==============================================
> Charles Christacopoulos, Secretary's Office, University of Dundee,
> Dundee DD1 4HN, (Scotland) United Kingdom.
> Tel: +44+(0)1382-344891. Fax: +44+(0)1382-201604.
> http://somis.ais.dundee.ac.uk/
> Scottish Search Maestro http://somis2.ais.dundee.ac.uk/
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