Data Protection Act in relation to private societies
Discussion
I wish to join a club/society.
They issue a club magazine, that will give my name and address in it to advise existing members that i have joined
Now this magazine can and does find its way onto Ebay where non members can purchase it
When i register my interest to join,must the society give me an option to have my details kept off of this list, and if they do, and do not advise me of my options,are they in breach of the DPA by publishing it?
They issue a club magazine, that will give my name and address in it to advise existing members that i have joined
Now this magazine can and does find its way onto Ebay where non members can purchase it
When i register my interest to join,must the society give me an option to have my details kept off of this list, and if they do, and do not advise me of my options,are they in breach of the DPA by publishing it?
The Committee of a Society which I used to belong to had a very long discussion of just this issue more than 25 years ago when the DPA 1984 was superseded by the 1988 Act. I was the lead on this issue and I clearly recall the legal advice that we received was that we MUST afford new members the option to have their address, telephone number, and e-mail contact details suppressed. In fact we decided to adopted that as the default position to avoid mistakes being made.
As it happened we never published such a level of detail in the Society magazine, only their name and region (which covered a lot of ground), but we also circulated an annual membership list with the full monty which each member could opt IN to if they wished by simply ticking a prominent box on their application form. The vast majority did so (there wouldn't have been much point in publishing the list otherwise). For those that didn't, and wished to remain a 'secret squirrel', the entry read: Contact information available by application in writing to the Membership Secretary.
It was made clear that the latter was one of the Society's conditions of Membership: you couldn't remain totally under the radar. Anyone who was completely paranoid on the issue would have had their application declined! We never had to face that eventuality during my time though.
If the one you are contemplating joining does not provide an opt out option, and inform you of it, I would suggest that their Data Controller could be sailing in pretty dangerous waters.
As it happened we never published such a level of detail in the Society magazine, only their name and region (which covered a lot of ground), but we also circulated an annual membership list with the full monty which each member could opt IN to if they wished by simply ticking a prominent box on their application form. The vast majority did so (there wouldn't have been much point in publishing the list otherwise). For those that didn't, and wished to remain a 'secret squirrel', the entry read: Contact information available by application in writing to the Membership Secretary.
It was made clear that the latter was one of the Society's conditions of Membership: you couldn't remain totally under the radar. Anyone who was completely paranoid on the issue would have had their application declined! We never had to face that eventuality during my time though.
If the one you are contemplating joining does not provide an opt out option, and inform you of it, I would suggest that their Data Controller could be sailing in pretty dangerous waters.
Chrisgr31 said:
As a matter of interest if they don't keep the records on a computer in the first place are they even subject to the DPA?
As regards the OPs question I would be surprised if they did not have an opt out option.
Yes physical records are also covered. For example I have a fireproof lockable cabinet.As regards the OPs question I would be surprised if they did not have an opt out option.
However, I also found this
http://www.devon.gov.uk/29_dpa_compliance.pdf
silverfoxcc said:
I wish to join a club/society.
They issue a club magazine, that will give my name and address in it to advise existing members that i have joined
Now this magazine can and does find its way onto Ebay where non members can purchase it
When i register my interest to join,must the society give me an option to have my details kept off of this list, and if they do, and do not advise me of my options,are they in breach of the DPA by publishing it?
If they are totally upfront about it and it is on your consent I don't see the problem.They issue a club magazine, that will give my name and address in it to advise existing members that i have joined
Now this magazine can and does find its way onto Ebay where non members can purchase it
When i register my interest to join,must the society give me an option to have my details kept off of this list, and if they do, and do not advise me of my options,are they in breach of the DPA by publishing it?
Jasandjules said:
Chrisgr31 said:
As a matter of interest if they don't keep the records on a computer in the first place are they even subject to the DPA?
As regards the OPs question I would be surprised if they did not have an opt out option.
Yes physical records are also covered. For example I have a fireproof lockable cabinet.As regards the OPs question I would be surprised if they did not have an opt out option.
However, I also found this
http://www.devon.gov.uk/29_dpa_compliance.pdf
Either way, in the OPs case I can't imagine they're not help on computer
Breadvan72 said:
OP, are you aware that the postman knows your name and address? It's not a State secret. Are you one of those weirdos who blanks the numberplate of his car when he puts a picture of it online?
Then you won't mind posting your full name and address on here then will you?silverfoxcc said:
They issue a club magazine, that will give my name and address in it to advise existing members that i have joined
When i register my interest to join,must the society give me an option to have my details kept off of this list..
I think I see what you're getting at because this issue was in the news a while back.When i register my interest to join,must the society give me an option to have my details kept off of this list..
Is your point that your address is not the 'secret' per se, but you do not wish to be publicly and permanently seen to be attached to the society and wish to find what your legal options are for being a member without that?
Edited by JustinP1 on Sunday 20th September 08:41
silverfoxcc said:
I wish to join a club/society.
They issue a club magazine, that will give my name and address in it to advise existing members that i have joined
Now this magazine can and does find its way onto Ebay where non members can purchase it
When i register my interest to join,must the society give me an option to have my details kept off of this list, and if they do, and do not advise me of my options,are they in breach of the DPA by publishing it?
They have disclosed what they will be using the data for and the extent to which it will be disclosed. That fulfils their responsibilities in that matter. You options are simply, you join or you do not. There is no specifics in the DPA that guarantees your personal data will always be private, only that it will only be used for the purposes disclosed and in this case the purpose of the data appears to be a membership list disclosed to members.They issue a club magazine, that will give my name and address in it to advise existing members that i have joined
Now this magazine can and does find its way onto Ebay where non members can purchase it
When i register my interest to join,must the society give me an option to have my details kept off of this list, and if they do, and do not advise me of my options,are they in breach of the DPA by publishing it?
The DPA includes paper records, it infact covers any personal private data that is stored or processed (by manual, automatic or digital means). There is no limitation in the DPA that a computer must be used to gain the protection.
There is a huge amount of ignorance about what the DPA actually says and means.
The amount of times I hear somebody blame DPA for their own lazyness or stupidity is unreal.
The classic example, which I can have a lot fun with when I;m in the mood, is callers say that because of data protection I must disclose all sorts of personal private data such are name, address, phone number, dob, mother maiden name etc.
Edited by Martin4x4 on Sunday 20th September 09:08
Martin4x4 said:
The classic example, which I can have a lot fun with when I;m in the mood, is callers say that because of data protection I must disclose all sorts of personal private data such are name, address, phone number, dob, mother maiden name etc.
What is far more fun is when you start asking them stuff and they say they can't under "Data Protection" - such as their name, employee number etc...Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff