>The interesting point is whether a voluntarily written and unsolicited
letter of >this sensitive nature equates to consent to process/disclose.
If I understand correctly, the data subject (A) has provided the RCGP with
sensitive personal data about him/herself and another person (B). (A) has
not placed any restrictions on prrocessing by the RCGP
Looking at this logically:
(A) has given explicit consent to any processing of personal data in
the letter concerning him/her.
(B) has not given any consent to any processing but might if
contacted
Assuming that processing would be fair and lawful then the Principle
1 requirement is for at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 or
3 (as appropriate) to be met. Therefore, if a condition other than
consent can be met, consent is not needed.
In the particular case, that "The vital interest element is literally life
and death on the part of the data subject", it seems to me that condition 3
of Schedule 3 is met so processing would be lawful.
The overarching guidance, where the situation is not clear, which came out
of the training sessions mentioned in my post of earlier today on
Information Sharing was to answer the questions "What will happen if I do
share?" and "What will happen if I don't".
The consenus of opinion was that we won't get it right every time but that,
where an action is taken which turns out to be wrong in the long run, the
decision to take that action can be defended if backed up by evidence to
show that it was reasonable to do so - the lesser of two evils if you will.
Regards,
Graham
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