How do I find out what information is held on me?
Matthew Stanfield
How do I find out what information is held on me?
Many organisations (banks, etc) hold information on clients. By law (I
forget the name of the act) I can demand to see their records. How do I go
about this and how fast must those organisations respond to my request? Is
there any way of finding out who has records on me other than the ones I
know about? (I think not).
CC replies by email too if possible.
Regards,
Matthew
---------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew Stanfield
Email: matthew....@dial.pipex.com
Phone: UK (+44) 01865 510424
---------------------------------------------------------------
Gavin Whittaker
Matthew Stanfield (matthew....@dial.pipex.com) wrote:
: How do I find out what information is held on me?
: Many organisations (banks, etc) hold information on clients. By law (I
: forget the name of the act) I can demand to see their records. How do I go
: about this and how fast must those organisations respond to my request? Is
: there any way of finding out who has records on me other than the ones I
: know about? (I think not).
If I'm not mistaken, I think this month's copy of 'Which?' (Consumer's
Association magazine) has an article on information stored by companies
and how to go about getting it corrected. You may want to get a copy
through the library.
Gavin
Alison Wheeler
Timothy Sinkins wrote:
> I think that is all part of the Data Protection Act. If you write to
> the organisation and quote the relevant act they are obliged to send
> you
> all information, on yourself, that is coverd by their registration for
> the princely sum of one pound. If you don't quote the correct phrase
> they can (and probably will) ignore your request (so you'll now have
> to wait for someone to tell you what to quote). I don't think you have
> any right to see information on third parties or information that is
> excluded from the registration requirements (the DPA only covers
> information held on computers, so written info is not covered - though
> you may have other rights to see this).
A couple of points here ...
Firstly, the fee is "up to £10" ... check with the organisation holding
the data first, and is apyable for the _search_ not the results. ie. if
they hold no data on you you still have to pay.
Secondly, the DPA _does_ now (or rather about to) apply to paper-based
records ('Not a lot of people kow that ... ,g.') is some cases.
Thirdly (and speaking as someone who is registered under the act as a
bureau and user) you only have rights to see the information that is
_personal_ to you, and you must state in your request what files you
wish to have searched. This information can be found from the DP
registrar's list. in my own case I have five registration and therefore
require a fee for each registration's search (wanna pay me £50.- ?)
Alison
Paul A. Loseby
In article <33CFF772...@creative.prestel.co.uk>, Alison Wheeler
<ali...@creative.prestel.co.uk> writes
>Timothy Sinkins wrote:
>> I think that is all part of the Data Protection Act. If you write to
>> the organisation and quote the relevant act they are obliged to send
>> you
>> all information, on yourself, that is coverd by their registration for
>> the princely sum of one pound. If you don't quote the correct phrase
>> they can (and probably will) ignore your request (so you'll now have
>> to wait for someone to tell you what to quote). I don't think you have
>> any right to see information on third parties or information that is
>> excluded from the registration requirements (the DPA only covers
>> information held on computers, so written info is not covered - though
>> you may have other rights to see this).
>
>A couple of points here ...
>
>the data first, and is apyable for the _search_ not the results. ie. if
>they hold no data on you you still have to pay.
>
>Secondly, the DPA _does_ now (or rather about to) apply to paper-based
>records ('Not a lot of people kow that ... ,g.') is some cases.
>
>Thirdly (and speaking as someone who is registered under the act as a
>bureau and user) you only have rights to see the information that is
>_personal_ to you, and you must state in your request what files you
>wish to have searched. This information can be found from the DP
>registrar's list. in my own case I have five registration and therefore
>
>Alison
>
If you want to know what the police hold on you, then you have to write
to the Data Protection Supervisor at the local constabulary
headquarters. They will then send you a form that itemises what
categories they hold on you e.g. Police National Computer - Criminal
Records - whether you've been a witness - whether you've made a
complaint - if you've been in the police, the personnel information
etc. If you've been the subject of a major enquiry, they will want you
to name the database that has been used (how they expect you to know, I
don't know).
If letters have been written about you, they will tell you that the
computer was only used for text preparation and they have not kept a
copy.
The police, if they can, will try to find ways of avoiding giving you
the information you require. When you persist, it will cost you (in
Leicestershire anyway), 10ukp for each category.
Hope it helps.
Paul
--=20
n...@ancillary-legal.demon.co.uk
3, Farm Close, Littlethorpe, Leicester. LE9 5JD
Tel: 0116-2861244
Paul A. Loseby
In article <33CFF772...@creative.prestel.co.uk>, Alison Wheeler
<ali...@creative.prestel.co.uk> writes
>Timothy Sinkins wrote:
>> I think that is all part of the Data Protection Act. If you write to
>> the organisation and quote the relevant act they are obliged to send
>> you
>> all information, on yourself, that is coverd by their registration for
>> the princely sum of one pound. If you don't quote the correct phrase
>> they can (and probably will) ignore your request (so you'll now have
>> to wait for someone to tell you what to quote). I don't think you have
>> any right to see information on third parties or information that is
>> excluded from the registration requirements (the DPA only covers
>> information held on computers, so written info is not covered - though
>> you may have other rights to see this).
>
>A couple of points here ...
>
>the data first, and is apyable for the _search_ not the results. ie. if
>they hold no data on you you still have to pay.
>
>Secondly, the DPA _does_ now (or rather about to) apply to paper-based
>records ('Not a lot of people kow that ... ,g.') is some cases.
>
>Thirdly (and speaking as someone who is registered under the act as a
>bureau and user) you only have rights to see the information that is
>_personal_ to you, and you must state in your request what files you
>wish to have searched. This information can be found from the DP
>registrar's list. in my own case I have five registration and therefore
>
>Alison
>
I hate to tell you, but the fee could be considerably more than Ł10.
I have just applied to the police to see what they hold on me. They
charge Ł10 for each category checked and could be as much as Ł80. They
also try to avoid telling you what is held, by phrases such as "The
computer upon which the letters were written are purely used for the
preparation of text and as such, do not come under the Data Protection
Act 1984.
Paul
--
pa...@ancillary-legal.demon.co.uk