Respect for the deceased

What a lot of people do not realise is that once someone dies the law and processes do not join up and at times contradict each other. If I had my way, there would be the Data Protection Act (Living) and Data Protection Act (Deceased).

Would I be a GP DPO?

Simple answer Yes – complex answer the marketplace is artificially priced at a low level that realistically cannot survive. Each Practice should be charged at £2500+ and not the current £350 inclusive of VAT if you are lucky.

FOI – the questions that ICO staff ask

The ICO has released the questions that its staff ask when they investigate FOI complaints Key Questions for Public Authorities – Freedom of Information Act 2000 | ICO. It is not all the questions but gives a fair idea of what you need to think about and what you need to have done.

Cookies – not the biscuit type

Over the weekend the Guardian ran an article about NHS care organisations and their website cookie compliance: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/27/nhs-data-breach-trusts-shared-patient-details-with-facebook-meta-without-consent If your website is using anything like Facebook Pixel this: The Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations (PECR) is the legislation covering this. The Information Commissioner is consistently happy to fine organisations for breaches under this – the … Read more

When is a policy not a policy?

When someone does not want you to know what the policy is Secret Home Office policy to detain people with NHS debt at airport found unlawful (msn.com). It seems like there was a fundamental failure to understand FOI let alone the other legislation linked to Oversea Visitors and the right to stay – the debts … Read more

How can any pay award be bad?

When it is the NHS and they are giving staff the chance to have the backdated award over 10 months so it doesn’t impact Universal Credit payments if you receive them. It does raise a number of questions and I am sure that NHS organisations will be getting FOI questions.

Facebook is fined – do users really care?

Facebook has been fined £1b by the EU Meta: Facebook owner fined €1.2bn for mishandling data – BBC News. The question has to be asked – is it the purists that only care or do the actual users not see an issue, and unconsciously accept that by using a free service, there is a tradeoff … Read more

Your jaw drops

It is nice to be surprised by what people do when they are working – or rather you cannot believe what they have chosen to do and where they have decided to do it.