Fellow thinkers –
I have a question for you and would appreciate your views. I am
preparing a short paper for the Data Protection sub group of the Fraud Advisory
Panel (FAP) www.fraudadvisorypanel.org.
The paper will address the question. Can you use information
gathered using the exemptions provided by Section 29 DPA in a civil
action. The scenario is along the lines of a criminal investigation having
taken place either by the police or the company against whom the offence was
perpetrated. For whatever reasons, the criminal action did not take
place. The company is in possession of valuable information obtained by
use of the section 29 exemptions and now wishes to use that information to
pursue a civil action. My own thoughts are that if this was possible,
then an insurance company, for example, investigating a questionable insurance
claim could proceed initially as a criminal investigation under the Fraud Act
and then decide not to pursue the matter. They could depending on the
information gathered refuse to pay the claim and then use the information gathered
under the section 29 exemptions to rebut any claim against them.
Your views please?
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