The 8th Principle prevents the transfer of personal data beyond
the EEA unless certain criteria are met. The simplest of these
(from the point of view of a Web maintainer) is to get the informed
consent of the data subjects. An e-mail address, even a work
address, is regarded as "Personal Data" if a living individual
can be identified from it (or from it plus other data available
to the Data Controller).
However, in his Code of Practice on Data Protection, being drafted
for JISC right now, Andrew Charlesworth is hoping to argue, and to get
the Data Protection Commissioner to agree, that disclosure of staff
names, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers (as in an on-line
directory) does not pose a great risk and that this activity therefore
ought to be regarded as a necessary and acceptable part of the
normal functioning of an HEI, not requiring the data subject's
consent. Personally I can't see the DPC accepting this argument,
as I think the law is quite clear on this point, but if he succeeds
in persuading her, it would certainly save us from an extra
administrative burden!
Best wishes,
Adrian
At 09:43 15/06/00 +0100, Timothy Campbell wrote:
>Hi,
>
>My understanding of the act is that you must obtain permission (or at
>least give people the option to 'opt out').
>
>Tim Campbell
>On Thu, 15 Jun 2000 09:32:58 GMT WEBMASTER <[log in to unmask]>
>wrote:
>
> > There are some schools of thought that say that the new Data Protection Act
> > 1998, due to come into force 1 March 2000, requires the College to obtain
> > consent from each member of staff to put their e-mail address on-line.
> >
> > I've also been advised that, as people are listed because of the
> college duties,
> > there is no need to obtain consent.
> >
> > I'd be interested to read the thoughts of my counterparts in colleges and
> > universities.
> >
> > ==================================================
> > David King
> > Dudley College Web Manager
> > 01384 363375 (direct line)
> > [log in to unmask]
> > http://www.dudleycol.ac.uk/contact/webby/
> > ==================================================
Adrian Tribe <[log in to unmask]>
Web Editor, Birkbeck College, University of London
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