The biggest theoretical problem that I had to deal with was where a request
is sent by email and the absent member of staff has not set up an auto-reply
and/or forwarded the email to another member of staff.
Presumably the only way to deal with this is for the Auto-reply to include
the rider that if this is an FoI request send your request to foi@ .
Unless someone is in a senior position, most people's emails are not dealt
with until they return.
Indeed how many times have you heard a manager boast of the number of emails
that they haven't yet looked at.
Well, clearly this is totally unacceptable. Emails are much easier to skim
than paper letters on the desk so how many times does one hear that as a
virility statement by managers - to see how who has got the biggest number
of unread emails.
Nick Landau
----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Howarth (RGC) Interim Information Governance Manager"
<[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 12:42 PM
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Mis-directed DPA/FoIA requests (was RE: "Pl
ease may I speak to your Privacy Officer?")
> It's not really that simple.
>
> If you have an e-mail address on a web site and that is used, then great.
> If you have a letter addressed "The FOI Manager" that's fine.
> If you have a caller who says "I want access to my personal information",
> superb.
>
> However, that's the easy part.
>
> What happens when the caller asks for a specific department and then
> requests information in a way that it is not clear to the staff what they
> are asking for?
> What happens when a letter comes in to the "Customer Services Manager" and
> does not actually state that it is a request under FOI or DPA?
> What happens when someone does not use the foi@.... address and instead
> uses
> simon@....
>
> It's easy to judge how many "correctly" labelled requests might go astray,
> however I think it is not very helpful. It's not just about putting the
> right label on things, it's about educating staff to identify a request
> without it actually being obvious, or at least escalating correspondence
> if
> they are unsure and knowing what that escalation procedure is and who is
> the
> responsible person.
>
> As I tell staff, I would much rather deal with 10 letters you send me that
> are not actually requests, than one irate person who has not got the
> information to which they are entitled.
>
> Simon.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Cormack [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 16 February 2006 12:17
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [data-protection] Mis-directed DPA/FoIA requests (was RE:
> "Please may I speak to your Privacy Officer?")
>
>
> Can I seize the opportunity to do a quick straw poll? The fear of
> DPA/FoIA requests getting lost as a result of being sent to the wrong
> place seems to be a big concern for quite a lot of people, but once you
> put the correct address on your website/switchboard/postroom, how often
> does it actually happen?
>
> Feel free to reply to me off-list and I'll anonymise and summarise any
> war stories.
>
> Thanks
> Andrew
>
> --------------------
> Andrew Cormack
> Chief Security Advisor
> UKERNA, Atlas Centre, Chilton, Didcot, Ox11 0QS, UK
>
> Phone: +44 (0)1235 822302
> Fax: +44 (0)1235 822399
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection
>> issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Yuill, Allan
>> Sent: Thursday 16 February 2006 10:16
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: "Please may I speak to your Privacy Officer?"
>>
>>
>> Ekin,
>>
>> "it is even worse for FOI (as requests can come in to ANY member of
>> staff)"
>>
>> Being pedantic, DP is exactly the same. Any request for information
>> about yourself in permanent form ( email, writing and potentially
>> voicemail) is a valid request under both DPA and FoI and can
>> come in to
>> any member of staff. Even if they are handled informally, they still
>> have to meet the 20 or 40 day time limits. Also being
>> pedantic, every DP
>> request should also get a refusal notice under FOI, even the informal
>> ones.
>>
>> As I may have said ... being pedantic B-)
>>
>> Allan
>>
>>
>>
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection
>> > issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> > Ekin Caglar
>> > Sent: 16 February 2006 09:59
>> > To: [log in to unmask]
>> > Subject: Re: "Please may I speak to your Privacy Officer?"
>> >
>> > After the BT hassle, we thought about starting a campaign to
>> > help all of us with information requests: Any request for
>> > information under DPA or FOIA could have some sort of an
>> > identifier, e.g. the message "FOI Request" on the
>> > envelope/email subject/etc, and the staff trained to send
>> > anything with that message straight to the Information
>> > Governance Manager or somebody in an equivalent position.
>> >
>> > No call centre I have ever been in touch with knew anything
>> > about DPA, and it is even worse for FOI (as requests can come
>> > in to ANY member of staff).
>> >
>> > Ekin
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection
>> > issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Tim Trent
>> > Sent: 15 February 2006 16:56
>> > To: [log in to unmask]
>> > Subject: [data-protection] "Please may I speak to your
>> > Privacy Officer?"
>> >
>> > Over the past couple of days I and a co-researcher have been
>> > sampling FTSE100 corporations and the ability of their
>> > switchboards to handle a very simple enquiry from a member of
>> > the public.
>> >
>> > We asked: "Please may I speak to your Privacy Officer - the
>> > person who looks after Data Protection?" At that point,
>> > though we were friendly, we watched as we were put through to
>> > strange places in the organisations. One organisation put us
>> > through to Profit Protection (the anti shoplifting squad!).
>> >
>> > While we will be featuring the report in a newsletter shortly
>> > I wanted to share it with all of you first. I have placed it
>> > on our website at a parlously long link, so I am using "tiny"
>> > to shorten it for ease of downloading
>> > <http://tinyurl.com/a9c3d> http://tinyurl.com/a9c3d It's
>> > about a 200KB pdf file
>> >
>> > As is our usual practice the report is free of charge in the
>> > membership area of our site. You will be asked to enter your
>> > email address, and to register if you are not already a
>> > member. As you would expect you are also free to unsubscribe
>> > at any time.
>> >
>> > I hope you find it useful. If you pass it on, please pass
>> > the link rather than the document. But that is up to you entirely.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Tim Trent - Consultant
>> > Direct: +44(0)1344 392644 Mobile:+44(0)7710 126618
>> > email: [log in to unmask]
>> > <blocked::mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> > Marketing Improvement Limited, Abbey House, Grenville Place,
>> > Bracknell, United Kingdom, RG12 1BP
>> > <blocked::http://www.marketingimprovement.com/>
>> > http://www.marketingimprovement.com
>> >
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