In confidence means very little today, as you say the recipient could
be requested for the reference however, it does not mean you have to
disclose that you have a confidential reference.
If you refer back to my question about the OIC's reply to my query about
whether the data Subject must be advised that confidential data is held
on them (not the contents) , they replied you do not have to advise the
data Subject you have withheld personal data. The Data Subject could
however ask specifically whether you are holding any confidential
references and then you cannot say no without a legal exemption.
Funnily enough I have just issued a caution to all staff regarding
giving references.
The decision is yours.
Arthur
Bath & North East Somerset Council
-----Original Message-----
From: Watson, Patrick [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 19 August 2004 15:05
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Employment references
Employment references provided by the data controller are exempt from
SAR. Employment references received by us are not subject to the
exemption and I have always dreaded getting an SAR from an aggrieved
applicant who suspects that his references scuppered his chances of a
new job. We have just received a SAR from a disgruntled applicant. The
references were very frank and could lead to future litigation between
the applicant and his current employer. The written reference led us to
telephone the employer for clarification and the notes of the telephone
discussion are the more explosive element. My concern is that we will
get caught up in the middle of this argument and it could lead to
employers thinking twice before they give us frank references. I know
that we must protect the third party rights of the author but do we have
any obligations if authors were of the opinion that they were giving the
reference in confidence? Does writing "In confidence" at the top of the
reference mean anything at all? I would be glad to hear your views.
Patrick Watson
Email has been scanned by www.emf-systems.com for viruses and SPAM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
**********************************************************************
The views and comments expressed in this email are confidential to the recipients
and should not be passed on to others without permission. This email message does
not necessarily express the views of Bath & North East Somerset Council and should
be considered personal unless there is a specific statement to the contrary.
This footnote also confirms that this email message has been checked for all
known viruses by the MessageLabs Virus Scanning Service.
Making Bath & North East Somerset a better place to Live, Work and Visit.
**********************************************************************
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|