Hello Rebecca
Is this hypothetical? If not are you going to fill us in on the salacious
details - we all like a good bit of gossip!
Seriously, though, and using my imagination. Let's call the poor data
subject B. B is off sick and would rather people didn't know what was wrong
unless unavoidable. One person B must tell is his/her manager, ie your
boss, who needs to know why B is off sick. Your boss then tells you the
gruesome details, although you have no need to know as part of your job.
(As DP Officer, alarm bells should be ringing at this point). Unaware that
B's embarrassing complaint is not public knowledge, you pass on the info to
your colleagues, who of course will spread the word (gossip knows no
boundaries). Naturally, the information will find its way outside the
organisation (eg to someone's family members at home), at which point it
moves from unfair processing to an illegal disclosure.
This all puts you in a difficult position, because when B returns to work
and everyone is nodding and winking, and making sympathetic noises, he/she
is appalled that the "secret" is so widely known. If B takes legal action,
the defence people may use is "Rebecca told me, and she's the DP Officer, so
I assumed it was ok".
Hope it IS hypothetical!
Regards
Stuart
Stuart Lynch Consulting
Training/Consultancy in
Privacy/Information Protection
Tel 01704 870365
mailto:[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Rebecca Hughes
Sent: 06 March 2002 12:25
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: repeated breaches
If my boss, in breach of the DPA, passes sensitive data to me and I
(unaware that this is not info in the public domain) then pass it on to
X, Y and Z, am I also in breach of the DPA? Or could this just be
considered 'gossip' resulting from the initial breach?
Rebecca
-------------------
Rebecca Hughes
Administrative Officer (Data protection)
Ext. 3355
[log in to unmask]
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