GRG blog

Gambling and data protection

ICO backs new data sharing schemes to protect gamblers from harm | ICO – really not sure that if you have an addiction that this type of check will work and may have adverse consequences in the long term if someone turns their life around.

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Is 15 days a good response time?

Not if the answer you have to resolve requires you to find it in 2 days. The ICO has set up a service linked to finding answers to data sharing – pre-pandemic that timescale would have been ok. Post-pandemic expectations are higher with a need to work far faster.

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There are a lot of wasted resources at the moment

That is mainly because organisations do not listen to the advice they have paid their staff to provide. With IG, we have to be at the top of our game because of the speed of change and the need for the public sector to save money. Organisations will not save money if they do not

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Data quality

That basically means that the data we use is accurate, and when it is not accurate, we can put it right. There seems to be a fire-and-forget approach by a lot of organisations that seem to be if something is entered on the system and it is wrong, then no one has the responsibility to

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FOI – do organisations prioritise the function?

Not really based on this “They are failing their residents.” – ICO takes action against Croydon Council for failing to respond to Freedom of Information requests | ICO linked to Croydon Council and the fact that they actually got worse. It is a hidden cost burden for any public sector organisation (same with SAR’s) where

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GP Practices – when someone hits 15

They should ask the teenager to come in for a chat about what happens next if they use the NHS for anything. We do not educate service users on how to take responsibility for their own health or what that means about how to access NHS services. GP’s will say they are not funded for

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Call recordings

A really simple rule of thumb – if you keep call recordings expect a data subject to want to have a copy. If you don’t want them to have a copy – destroy the recording at the appropriate time. Of course, never destroy the recording when someone asked for it – that might force the

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COVID hid a lot of things

There had to be a lot of leeway on the ground for staff that physically had to be there all the time and the job could be done no other way. That meant we took a blind-eye to some things recognising that some rules would be a hindrance if they were strictly enforced. That was

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What I believe…

is not the same as what the law says or was meant to say. I still make use of some advice which said “if it did not say it you cannot imply it” or as Judge Judy said “If it is not in the four corners of this piece of paper it does not exist”.

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About our blog

Our blog is designed to promote discussion and to allow the reader to come to their own conclusion. That means some statements will be confrontational and challenging.

Ultimately IG is challenging and the easy answers are not always the best answers. We look forward to your feedback and comments.

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