It contains a name, which, while not unique, is, "with other information"
capable of identifying an individual.
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of davidwyatt
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 2:02 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Research
Tim
> It is relatively simple to see that 'shoe size' in isolation is not
> personal data, but that "Tim Trent's shoe size is X" is personal data.
How does that statement uniquely identify a single individual?
Doesn't do it for me without additional data being available or being
created by assumptions.
David
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Trent" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 2:26 PM
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Research
> The real issue is always context.
>
> "What is personal data?" or "Is 'shoe size' personal data?" are not
> questions that can be posed in isolation. Ignoring the word "Living"
> at present, the question to be posed is "Is 'shoe size' personal data
> if it is linked in some precise manner to a particular individual?"
>
> It is relatively simple to see that 'shoe size' in isolation is not
> personal data, but that "Tim Trent's shoe size is X" is personal data.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tim Turner
> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 1:46 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [data-protection] FW: [data-protection] Research
>
> I think I understand what they are saying, and I think that they have
> a point.
>
> There are people who operate less on a clear understanding of the
> legislation, and more on a fuzzy, almost incoherent set of assumptions
> and instincts. They then get annoyed with people at the Commissioner's
> office, when they stick to what the words in the Act (and associated
> regulations) actually say, rather than what these people want to hear.
> Some people seem to fix upon concepts like privacy and confidentiality
> when what they should be doing is concentrating on what the Act (and
> for example the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regs) say. If
> all else fails, people cling to the notion of the "spirit of the Act",
> which is ironic given how soulless the DPA actually is.
>
> I witnessed so-called experts in heated debate about what personal
> data is all about, but to be honest, such debates are usually more
> about instinct and assumption that hard fact. I'm not saying I'm
> necessarily any different, but I don't think that there is a clear,
> legally-sound definition of "personal data" around which everyone can
> warm their hands. If there was one, whatever it was, a significant
> minority would immediately reject it as too broad, or two narrow.
>
> Tim Turner
> Data Protection Officer
> Wigan Council
>
>> ----------
>> From: John Hughes[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>> Reply To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: 02 December 2004 12:53
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: [data-protection] FW: [data-protection] Research
>>
>> Interesting sentence on page 7 of "What are personal data":
>>
>> "Where there is a large literature on data protection, the
>> interpretation of 'personal data' is seldom addressed, and the
>> meaning of the concept tends to be assumed rather than rigorously
analysed."
>>
>> Funny, I rather had the impression that it had been analysed to death
>> and pulled to pieces in a dozen different directions. Nor am I aware
>> of anyone who is involved in the application of data protection
>> having assumptions about its meaning - very much the opposite. It
>> stikes me as a very strange comment.
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: DREW Nic [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: 02 December 2004 08:20
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: [data-protection] Research
>>
>>
>> The IC has published Research Finding's on, amongst other things,
>> "What are personal data"
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=6841
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Nic
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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