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Colin
Publishing the register on the intranet I would suggest is not legal. The
Robertson case has opened up the discussion on this matter further.
However, at present, if you were to use the information in other council
departments, you would be doing it without the voters' consent. Strictly
speaking, the register should only be used for electoral purposes (the fact
that this is not the case was the basis for Robertson's case). I would
personally be extremely wary of publishing the register on the intranet - it
is not then being accessed under the watchful eye of your ERO and could
potentially be used for many other purposes.
Regulations regarding access to the register are due to be produced this
spring by the DTLR, which should help to resolve the difficulties that EROs
find themselves in at present.
I wish you a long and happy retirement.
Regards
Nicola Wood
People Information Programme Manager
Local Government Information House
Tel: 020 7296 6601
Fax: 020 7296 6860
Visit our website at: www.idea-infoage.gov.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Welton [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 29 January 2002 19:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Council use of Electoral Roll
One of the actions taken to prepare for the two tier register was to arrange
user access identification and audit trails, including the reason a check
was conducted on the 'voters register' material. Not too many gripes :-) and
it has now been working for some months.
Having that security in place, then matching the business case for access,
against the legal basis of the processing, answers the question you raise.
The processes become much the same as for access to any other personal data,
so should fit in with the normal way business is done. (Well in the perfect
world)
Ian W.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Colin Chinery
> Sent: 29 January 2002 11:27
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Council use of Electoral Roll
>
>
> Can the Council put the Electoral Roll on its Intranet site
> and make it
> available to departments?
>
> I have been looking through the archives and it seems that
> the following
> situations were considered.
>
> 1 In the days before the Robertson case a council that sold printed
> copies of the Register might distribute spare copies to
> Audit, Council Tax
> etc.
>
>
> 2 Although the Register is in the public domain, its legal
> owner is the
> ERO, not the Council. Disclosure to and use by Council
> departments that do
> not have a legal right to use it is not fair obtaining.
>
>
> Our ERO wants to publish on Solihull's Intranet to save producing hard
> copies.
>
> My first was that it should only be made available on a "need to know"
> basis - there is a copy in the Library for casual inspection.
>
> However since the Robertson case I have recommended a "wait and see"
> policy - but as I'm retiring next week I would like to try to
> settle this
> matter for my successor (who will be well known to regular readers!)
>
> Three questions therefore:
>
> Are any Councils already publishing on their Intranet sites
> and if so have
> you set out any rules governing the use of the Register?
>
> Which parts of the council can quote statute as grounds for using the
> Register?
>
> If in the interests of fair obtaining it is necessary to
> inform electors of
> these other uses, can this information be put on the
> cavassing form or are
> the contents decided by central government? (Isn't this why
> the opt-out
> wording is still missing from the forms?)
>
> Sorry for the length of this message, but it's probably my
> swan-song, so
> thanks to you all for your help in the past.
>
> Colin Chinery
>
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