In her introduction to a booklet introducing the 1998 Act, Elizabeth France
says:
"The Data Protection Act 1984 grew out of public concern about personal
privacy in the fact of rapidly developing computer technology."
This repeats the introduction to an earlier leaflet about the 1984 Act,
which goes on to say:
"The Act also enabled the UK to ratify the council of Europe Convention on
Data Protection allowing data to flow freely between the UK and other
European countries with similar laws, preventing damage to the economy and
international trade which might otherwise have occurred."
(Now I know why I kept a file called "1984 Data Protection Act" - so that I
can answer questions like this!)
My memory is a bit hazy - and it was over 20 years ago - but my recollection
is that it was actually the second of these that carried more weight. I
think the Act was a fairly cynical attempt to do the minimum necessary to
ratify the convention, for purely economic reasons, with only a nod towards
protecting the individual. I am pretty sure it had nothing whatsoever to do
with stopping junk mail, let alone addressed to dead people. The Mailing
Preference Service came into being around the same time; maybe the two are
being confused?
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: "Nick Landau" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 2:56 PM
Subject: Re: Deceased Records Access - Was Silent Calls
>I received your post but my question is about the history of the 1984 DPA.
>
> My enquiry was regarding the impetus for bringing in a 1984 DPA and I felt
> the statement on the webpage must be wrong.
>
> As has been (I think) confirmed, the DPA still wouldn't make any
> difference to people receiving material addressed to deceased relatives.-
>
> But my concern was with the _historical_ reasons for the Act - and I am
> sorry for repeating myself the reason given by the writer of the webpage
> doesn't seem correct.
>
> Nick Landau
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Broom, Doreen" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 2:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [data-protection] Deceased Records Access - Was Silent Calls
>
>
> I just thought the advice I was given about deceased persons would be
> very useful for colleagues in the public sector as we appear to be
> getting a few of these requests.
>
> Sorry if it wasn't very useful to you Nick.
>
> Doreen
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Landau
> Sent: 06 March 2007 14:36
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Deceased Records Access - Was Silent Calls
>
> My comment was about the supposed impetus for the 1984 Data Protection
> Act.
>
> I meant that the position of the deceased was cloudy (rather than the
> 1998 DPA is cloudy) which is emphasised by Simon's comment that "however
> it _may_ well be that in many cases other legislation may cover this
> access".
>
> His comments confirm the very point I was making that it seems strange
> for
>
> http://complianceandprivacy.com/News-Ofcom-silent-calls.asp
>
> to claim that:
>
> "The original Data Protection Act of 1984 was largely created to address
> the frustrations of people faced with mountains of direct mail addressed
> to a deceased loved one."
>
> http://www.agocg.ac.uk/reports/mmedia/legal/dataprot.htm confirms that
> the position in this regard was the same in the 1984 Act.
>
> " A brief overview of the Data Protection Act 1984
>
> What is personal data ?
>
> The (1984 Data Protection) Act then proceeds to define personal data as
> being data which consists of information which relates to a living
> individual (the data subject (106) ), who can be identified from that
> information by itself, or when it is coupled with other information held
> by the person holding that data(107) (the data user(108) ). Such data
> would include any expression of opinion about the individual. __This
> definition clearly excludes both individuals who are deceased__, and
> legal entities such as companies, universities and charities."
>
> I was therefore asking if someone could throw any light on the statement
> on
>
> http://complianceandprivacy.com/News-Ofcom-silent-calls.asp
>
> Maybe Chris Pounder can throw some light on the matter as he was my DPA
> supremo when I was working at the GLC at the time.
>
> Nick Landau
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Simon Howarth" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 2:13 PM
> Subject: [data-protection] Deceased Records Access - Was Silent Calls
>
>
>> Changed the title here, as this is digressing from silent calls....
>>
>> I find the text on the Mersey Gateway site interesting.
>>
>> Deceased records are not covered by the DPA (I don't find this
> position at
>> all cloudy), however it may well be that in many cases other
> legislation
>> may
>> cover this access (Access to Health Records Act for example).
>>
>> I am potentially concerned about the statement made on this site,
>> regarding
>> access to deceased records, as it gives the impression that deceased
>> records
>> may be accessible on signing a form. I would like to see reference
> made to
>> other "rules" that may govern access to deceased information. For
> example,
>> just because someone is dead does not mean that the duty of
>> confidentiality
>> ends on the management of health records.
>>
>> I think there is room for improvement there to highlight to people
> that
>> whilst the DPA may not be relevant, there may be other legislation
> that
>> is.
>>
>> Simon Howarth.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Landau
>> Sent: 06 March 2007 13:19
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [data-protection] Silent Calls
>>
>> By the way the link in the below
>> http://complianceandprivacy.com/News-Ofcom-silent-calls.asp says:
>>
>> "The original Data Protection Act of 1984 was largely created to
> address
>> the
>>
>> frustrations of people faced with mountains of direct mail addressed
> to a
>> deceased loved one."
>>
>> This doesn't make sense given that even today the position of
> information
>> about the deceased under the Data Protection Act seems to be rather
>> cloudy,
>> as is evidenced by the occasional postings on the subject to this
> group.
>>
>> Or if it was the spur, it didn't address the problem.
>>
>> See, for instance,
>>
> http://www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?show=ConNarrative.46&chapterId=
> 230
>>
>> "Data Protection Act 1998"
>>
>> "Access to data on the deceased"
>>
>> "The data subject rights of an individual end with death."
>>
>> Presumably therefore if there is no right of access, there is equally
>> still
>> no protection of the use of data about the deceased. I distinguish
> with
>> attempts that I can imagine that have been made by such companies to
> clean
>> up their databases so that hurt is not caused etc.
>>
>> Nick Landau
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Tim Trent
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 12:43 PM
>> Subject: [data-protection] Silent Calls
>>
>>
>> Not sure if anyone is following this. It's all about predictive
> diallers
>> and there being no agent present when the call is answered. This is
> now
>> unlawful.
>>
>> And good PR is being made out of it:
>>
>> http://complianceandprivacy.com/News-AMCAT-dumps-silent-calls.asp
>>
>>
>> Tim Trent - Consultant
>> Direct: +44(0)1344 392644 Mobile:+44(0)7710 126618
>> Personal blog: http://timtrent.blogspot.com/
>> See also http://complianceandprivacy.com
>> email: [log in to unmask]
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