Doreen wrote:
One of our Departments is setting up a database which is to hold details of
staff as well as an emergency contact number should they have an accident
e.g. next-of-kin. Apparently an incident occurred and the person concerned
was admitted to hospital but they cold not notify anyone as they had no
number.
To me it would seem fairly sensible to do this but there may be
implications:
1. Should the person who is being named as the emergency contact be
notified of this and should their consent be obtained?
2. A person could be separated and the spouse is notified - could this
be wrongful disclosure?
The advice that I received from the Commissioner's office on this subject was that
in terms of fairness, the provision of a notice to the emergency contact is
contextual and is not likely to be regarded as necessary in this repect. It was
suggested that employees should be encouraged to notify the company of any changes
in emergency contact details - perhaps through a general verification process.
Krissy Welsh
Data Protection Controller
BAE SYSTEMS
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