What rights do I have to get access to data held about me, including personnel records?
The Data Protection Act 1998, which covers both the public and the private sector throughout the United Kingdom, gives individuals a right to find out what information, including personnel information, is held about them on computer and in some manual records.* This is known as the right of subject access. There is also a right to have inaccurate data corrected, blocked, erased or destroyed, and to seek compensation through the courts for damage and distress caused by such inaccuracy, or by any other contravention of the Act
*(The Act applies to records held in manual filing systems if these are structured by reference to individuals or criteria relating to individuals, and allow easy access to the personal data they contain. The Act provides an exemption until 24 October 2001 from all its provisions, and a further six year exemption from some of its provisions, for those manual filing systems where data processing was already under way immediately before 24 October 1998. This is to allow organisations time to bring their systems progressively into compliance with the regime created by the Act.)
The Data Protection Act 1998, which covers both the public and the private sector throughout the United Kingdom, gives individuals a right to find out what information, including personnel information, is held about them on computer and in some manual records.* This is known as the right of subject access. There is also a right to have inaccurate data corrected, blocked, erased or destroyed, and to seek compensation through the courts for damage and distress caused by such inaccuracy, or by any other contravention of the Act
*(The Act applies to records held in manual filing systems if these are structured by reference to individuals or criteria relating to individuals, and allow easy access to the personal data they contain. The Act provides an exemption until 24 October 2001 from all its provisions, and a further six year exemption from some of its provisions, for those manual filing systems where data processing was already under way immediately before 24 October 1998. This is to allow organisations time to bring their systems progressively into compliance with the regime created by the Act.)