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> My feeling is that as the forms/information are 
> confidential and as it is University policy not to 
> copy/return assessed forms to students (made clear to 
> students) it could be argued that the Unviersity would not 
> need to disclose the information to a student upon request.

It is my understanding that confidentiality, per se, is not a valid reason to 
withhold information.  It is only referred to in s7(6)(a) in relation to third 
parties.  In this example, if the assessor's contribution could be 
successfully anonymised, I doubt that you would be able to justify non-
disclosure on that ground.

As to the question of relevant filing systems, the ODPR has said all along 
that the legislation is unlikely to be construed as encouraging sloppy 
information management as a means of circumventing the Act.  If a piece 
of information is readily retrievable and is filed by reference to an 
individual, it will be caught.  The following test was suggested at a recent 
conference: if your boss strides into the room and demands a piece of 
information about someone NOW, and you can put your hands on it in 
time to save your job, then you are operating a relevant filing system!

Anne Kipling
Information Security Officer
Oxford Brookes University


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