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I'm posting this on both the FOI and DP lists because it crosses over the two. Many will get two copies and I hope you'll delete one and not both.
I think this is more an example of bad proof-reading than a breach of the DPA, but it's nevertheless evidence that if the Commissioner criticises mistakes of others, he should be aware that his office isn't immune. The Commissioner's practice is to remove the names of applicants in FOI decisions when he publishes them. I think this is unnecessary in most cases - I wouldn't mind if they left my name on the decision notices where I was the applicant. Nevertheless, that's his practice - but if you look at one of the most recent decisions involving the Department of Constitutional Affairs, you'll find the name of the applicant left in on 3 or 4 occasions. Presumably, somebody proof-reads all of the decision notices, but to be honest, there are often typos and mistakes which are clearly the result of an edit or change that affects the rest of the sentence. Everybody does these kinds of things, but official notices ought to be subject to a higher standard of checking - especially if personal data might be disclosed.
Now, the thing that concerns me is that if another organisation made the mistake of publishing a person's name without their consent and when they had not been informed that this would happen, the ICO would probably have stern words for them. Do they tell themselves off in a case like this?
Tim Turner
Data Protection / FOI Officer
Legal and Property Services
Wigan Council
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