At the risk of this becoming an entirely separate debate about the nature of
PR, I accept that local government has its own share of scandals, many of
which have been covered up. Those of us who subscribe to Private Eye have
few illusions about what can happen.
Nevertheless, I start from the presumption that because I work for an
organisation which I believe to be on the level, I think it's legitimate to
see what the impact of the DPA really has to be. I know some DP officers see
themselves as champions of privacy. I see myself as being here to balance
the interests of staff and members of the public, and to head off conflicts
between the two. We have to work within the parameters of the law, but
there's no harm in testing out where those parameters lie.
Tim Turner
Data Protection Officer
Wigan Council
----------
From: Donald Henderson [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 11 March 2004 08:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Special Purposes exemption
Tim,
I think what you say may be true in terms of the scale and impact,
but,
sadly, not necessarily so in terms of the political wish to
manipulate
the media. I think there have been too many scandals in local
government
over the years for us to forget that councillors are still elected
politicians who have their own agendas both at political and
personal
levels (the same could also be said of senior officers).
Donald Henderson
Perth & Kinross Council
PS The above should not be taken as a reflection of this Council
!!!!!!
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Turner [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 11 March 2004 08:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Special Purposes exemption
I guess I would draw a distinction between local and central
government,
a line between PR and spin doctoring. To me, they aren't the same
thing.
Someone who works in a local authority PR department doesn't have
the
ability (and in my experience, the intention) to manage the news
agenda
to the extent that a Central Government spokesman would. I don't
believe
that the people involved in the Kelly affair could be described as
simple PR staff. The difference between what we do and what Central
Government does is, to me, so marked that the comparison becomes
meaningless.
Tim Turner
Data Protection Officer
Wigan Council
> ----------
> From: Maurice Frankel[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To: Maurice Frankel
> Sent: 10 March 2004 16:47
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [data-protection] Special Purposes exemption
>
> On 10 Mar 2004, at 12:04, Tim Turner wrote:
> >
> > [...]
> > No PR department would ever want to abuse people's rights,
because
> > that would be entirely counterproductive. On the other hand, it
> > might sometimes be useful to know that they can use
> > information more freely than might be the case at the moment.
I'm
> > interested
> > in this because I doubt PR people would get into the territory
of
> > damaging
> > people's interests (which would be, as I say, entirely
> > counterproductive),
> >
>
>
> So it would be inconceivable for a public authority PR person to
> describe an employee who had criticised the authority as a "Walter
> Mitty character"...?
>
> Maurice Frankel
> Campaign for Freedom of Information
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
> available to the world wide web community at large at
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
> If you wish to leave this list please send the command
> leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
> All user commands can be found at : -
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
> (all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
**********************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please
notify
the system manager.
This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept
by
MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses using Sophos
anti-virus software.
www.mimesweeper.com
www.sophos.com
**********************************************************************
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The information in this email is confidential and is meant solely
for
the intended recipients. The information contained in this email may
not be the views of Perth & Kinross Council. It is possible for
email
to be falsified and the sender cannot be held responsible for the
integrity of the information contained in it.
If you have received this email in error, any disclosure, copying,
or
distribution of the information contained in it is strictly
prohibited.
If you are not the intended recipient, please advise the sender
immediately and delete this email.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
