Hi. I'm pondering a question in relation to an individual's subject access request to a medical practice which specifically includes a request for the audit logs showing who has accessed their records. The question is; to what extent are those audit log entries likely to be within the scope of the SAR and will exemptions apply?
As I see it, any audit logs which show the username of the system user accessing the data will be the personal data of the system user, at least while in the hands of the Data Controller. Will whether this is personal data when passed on depend on how "identifiable" the username is (eg, 1stname.lastname of an unusual name is more likely to be PID than "js12345" for example)?
Although the audit log entries are linked to the individual's records (which contain personal data), if the logs themselves do not contribute any identifying or descriptive information, are they to be considered "personal data" on their own? What about if the logs show a pattern of access from which the patient's appointment history can be determined? And if the pattern of access by certain specialists indicates certain health issues, are the logs then *sensitive* personal data? If the patient is the Data Controller (albeit exempted from all obligations for domestic purposes) then will the audit trails therefore be their personal data only in their hands and the hands of the Data Controller whose system generated the logs?
I know that NHS and ICO guidance both support making access history available to patients but I think that is 'good practice' guidance erring on the side of a wide interpretation of DPA. However, I am not sure how this can be reconciled with the exemption for 3rd party data from subject access rights - although the patient will know who the medical staff looking after their care are; they may not know which of them have accessed their records and when - would that access history be the personal data of the medical staff also?!
I'm just confusing myself now.....any advice welcome!
Rowenna
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