New SARN rulesfrom October

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I understand that from OCtober new rules come in for SARNs that mean in addition to computer records we are going to be entitled to all documents whether on paper or whatever.

If this is correct does that mean that I should get all letters that have been written regarding the case - including those not sent to me but written in connection with the case?

If it is those sent to the person being chased this cou;ld be very good new. In my case letters were went to my parents address, we were not in contact at the time, but the chasers have not provided me with copies of these as they prove that the letters they say show 'contact' was made DID NOT make contact as they had started again from square one.

Also, if I were able to get letters sent from the chasers to the principal client when they returned the file I am sure the reasons they gave for no success would be very very interesting.

-- Matt (mattyc@ntlworld.com), May 09, 2001

Answers

Yes, the DPA law regarding paper based documents comes into force in October. I was under the impression that all paper documents were included, but I heard elsewhere that this was not the case. So I wrote to the Data Protection Office for their advice and this is what they said:

"The Data Protection Act 1998 as of the 24th October 2001 extends to cover the processing of manual data. Organisations that process only manual personal data may still not be required to Notify the Commissioner of their processing, they will however, have to comply with the data protection principles and comply with the legal obligations that the Act places on them in relation to the processing of personal data.

Information on the transitional provisions that delayed the implementation of the Act in relation to manual data can be found on our website at www.dataprotection.gov.uk via the guidance section, in legal guidance in an introduction to the Act in chapter 6.

When considering what information an organisation must provide in relation to a subject access request they have to take into account the rights of third parties whose personal data may be contained in the records they hold on you. These third party rights are explained in a guidance note that can be found in the compliance section of our website under the title subject access, third party rights."

-- pendle (pendle@amun-ra.demon.co.uk), June 12, 2001.


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