It's probably only personal data if it's intended to be put onto computer or
into a relevant filing system.  So a staff signing in book which got linked
to their personnel record would be more likely to be personal data than a
sheet showing who is in the building in case of fire which gets destroyed at
the end of the day.

I always tell people that an open sheet or book could be a breach of
confidentiality, so they should think of a better way to do it.  Also, that
if they have one, they must be clear about its purpose and ensure that it is
used in a way which meets the purpose.  Many organisations make you sign in,
but don't check that you sign out.  Such a record would be useless in case
of fire, and might actually put firefighters' lives at risk unnecessarily.
If the signing in is part of a security system, it tends to be more
rigorously enforced in my experience, often with visitor passes that get
torn out, leaving a record which is not visible to the next person.

So good data protection principles can be used to help people think through
what they are doing and why, even if it is not actually a data protection
matter.


Paul Ticher
0116 273 8191
22 Stoughton Drive North, Leicester LE5 5UB

I hereby require any recipient of this message not to use my personal data
for direct marketing purposes.


----- Original Message -----
From: "C.Oppenheim" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 9:44 AM
Subject: Visitors' signing in books


> Yesterday I visited an organisation and was asked to sign in at reception,
> including my name and organisation.  When doing so, I was intrigued to see
> that two people who I knew were visiting the same organisation that day.
> This gave me interesting insight into their employer's business
activities.
>
> Are such signing in books where you can read who else is visiting a breach
> of the seventh principle?  Perhaps such a completed signing in book is not
a
> relevant filing system?
>
> Charles
>
> Professor Charles Oppenheim
> Department of Information Science
> Loughborough University
> Loughborough
> Leics LE11 3TU
>
> Tel 01509-223065
> Fax 01509-223053
> e mail [log in to unmask]
>
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