Dear All,

 

I wanted to know if I am over analyzing the idea of consent.  Following on from my recent post about the use of social security information, it has become apparent that consent may be required for two different legal reasons. 

 

If I consent on a Council Tax or  Housing Benefit form, I am outlining what that social security information can be used for by the authority.  That use may be in line with the DPA and it may be in line with the Social Security Act of 1992 or the Housing Act of 2004.

 

Do I need a consent form that says something like the following "I, the applicant, consent to the use of this information in this way for the purposes of the SSA 1992 and HA 2004 AND the DPA 1998.  Or is it sufficient for me to say "…. purposes of sea 1992 and HA 2004" with the DPA implicit in that it is legislation that runs concurrent to the other legislation so as not to require a separate approach?  By that I mean, consent under the HA2004  or SSA 1992  is the type of consent that would be acceptable under DPA so that if consent was not needed because legislation did not cover it, like signing up for a gym membership, the DPA 1998 would still cover the situation.

 

I just wonder if Councils may be reusing Council Tax Data under a general privacy notice without having specific consent for the types of sharing that would need a particular type of consent.  In other words, if Councils access the CT based upon a privacy notice that does not mention "We will use this to chase Council Tax debtors", they may not have the informed consent necessary for this type of reuse under the SSA 1992 so that processing arguments under DPA s 2. (6 legitimate interests of data controller)  never get started because the issue is whether the consent meets the requirement of SSA 1992 before we can consider whether the rather than the DPA is satisfied in a sense because the s.1 Fair and lawful processing is not met because of the type of consent needed to satisfy ssa 1992.

 

My apologies if this is quite simple, but I have gotten myself into an analytical cul de sac on this question.  In regard to the previous question, the DWP are going to get back to me but they are hip deep or neck deep in the legal wrangling needed to change the benefits system.

 

Best,

 

Lawrence

 

 

 

Principal Information Management Officer

Durham County Council

Room 4/140

County Hall

County Durham

DH1 5UF

 

0191-372-8371