> If the referee has given the reference in an official capacity and it is
not
> a personal reference (assuming the majority of it purports to be fact) the
> employee should be shown the reference.
[snip]
> The purpose of the exemption (it is not a blanket exemption) is to protect
> identity where it is not already known and it is unreasonable in the
> circumstances to disclose it, not to protect individuals who want to make
> unsubstantiated claims.
Far be it from me to disagree with Ian (and I'm not necessarily doing so
here!). However I would point out that:
a) The law relies on what the law says, and in some cases also on
precedent - not on the supposed purpose of the exemption, which is surely
irrelevant.
b) Even if a reference is supplied by a person in their official
capacity (eg The Lord High Executioner), if that person is readily
identifiable then the data *is* personal, and Pooh-Ba has a right to their
privacy just like anyone else. That's to say, I consider that the exemption
probably does apply.
c) The fact that a data subject is already familiar with who wrote a
reference does not in my view give grounds to avoid the exemption. In much
the same way I would expect my bank to respond to a subject access request
by giving me details of (amongst other things) my transactions - even though
they would expect me to know about them already from my monthly statements.
Tim
--
Tim M. Wright
Director - Technology Audit
Charles Schwab Europe
Tel: +44 190 852 7793
Mobile: +44 7932 669 074
Fax: +44 190 852 7593
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