Hi Sara

 

We check to see – if the person is/has been a student - whether disclosure of such information is a condition of any sponsorship by their government.  Some countries pay fees under an agreement that they will be informed about attendance and final results (usually).

If not, then unless there was information already in the public domain as Ray suggests, we would bat the query back to them.  We always ask third parties to quote the specific piece of legislation which applies to their request AND then check out any citation provided.  In case it helps, this is the standard (legal officer approved) wording we use to start unpicking the request:

Where information subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act is sought by a third party, it is the policy of this University that the party seeking it should provide either

• evidence of its entitlement/authority to ask for this information, (e.g. a certificate of authority citing the applicable legislation under which such a disclosure may be made), OR
• written authorisation from the data subject

before such information is released. 

Without such authority or authorisation we are not even at liberty to confirm or deny whether the person named is a student at this institution.  The University takes seriously its obligations under Data Protection and Human Rights legislation but understands the need for other agencies to conduct their legitimate business or to combat fraudulent activity. Consequently, the request I have made is intended to ensure that your organisation can justify any request for, and the University can justify any subsequent release of, information.

Hope this helps

 

Sarah

M Sarah Wickham, MA, MA, Registered Practitioner
University Archivist & Records Manager
University of Huddersfield

+44 (0)1484 473 935
Web: http://www.hud.ac.uk/cls/archives

http://www.hud.ac.uk/cls/recordsmanagement/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/msarahwickham
Twitter @msarahwickham

Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

 

 

It's a request for information, so FOI and it looks like S40 (2) (a) by virtue of S40 (3) (a) (i) needs to be the exemption considered (3rd party personal data) - legitimate interests v unwarranted for the individual for principle one, and principle 8 might be a concern.

One way round it might be whether there is any publicly available information as to an award that was made.  If this is published info it wouldn't be unwarranted for the individual and is likely to be okay re principle 8 since the individual would have been notified about the publication of the award and presumably consented. 

I had a similar request from a lawyer outside EEA recently and this was the approach I took, which our legal folk seemed happy with when I raised it with them.

Ray Cooke
Information Compliance Officer
Oxford Brookes University
Computer Services
Directorate of Learning Resources
Headington Campus
Gipsy Lane
Oxford, OX3 0BP

tel: +44 (0)1865 484354
fax: +44 (0)1865 483330

www.brookes.ac.uk

 

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