This could be key - taken from the original question to the list...
"Looking at records supplied with the request, the emails appear to describe an individual but not clearly the requester or by name and are purely of a non-corporate nature and very obviously personal from a health and wellbeing perspective."
When faced with this, are we even sure that we're dealing with personal data? That is, are the mails actually discussing the requestor, or are they discussing someone quite different, known only to the sender and recipient? If, for example, the mails discuss a relative with prostate issues and the requestor is female, it seems unlikely they are one and the same person. If the requestor is male however, they could be one and the same, but we cannot be sure without further data.
If either the sender or recipient had 'fessed up and identified the person they were discussing by name to the company, then the mails might (depending on the name confessed - i.e. is it the same name as the requestor?) become personal data.
Of course, if you don't ask the employees for names, then the company (as DC) doesn't hold any other information that would identify the subject of the conversation - and so it remains non-personal data in the hands of the company.
Regards,
Owen
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
Any queries about sending or receiving messages please send to the list owner
[log in to unmask]
Full help Desk - please email [log in to unmask] describing your needs
To receive these emails in HTML format send the command:
SET data-protection HTML to [log in to unmask]
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
