Lucinda
Re: responding to requests to confirm student registration.
If a confirmation is given that the student is registered with you then you
are making a disclosure of personal data. If you say they are not and make a
mistake, you might be causing them financial or other harm.
Whether such a disclosure is illegal depends upon whether the requester is a
registered disclosure. Whether the disclosure is authorised depends upon
what your job description or written instruction says.
I concur with the response from Charles Christacopoulos, University of
Dundee, but would go further and say that even if they put it in writing it
does not mean necessarily that the disclosure would be lawful or authorised.
One way round it is to ask the enquirer to put their request in writing and
say that if you find that the person they are seeking IS registered with you,
you will pass the request onto them. If you find no-one on your books with
that name, you will destroy the requester's letter.
Ian Buckland
MD
Keep IT Legal Ltd
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