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Policies : Confidentiality procedure Those who confine in the staff and volunteer workers of Hillingdon Mind
should feel assured that their confidentiality will be respected at all
times. Only in extreme circumstances in which the person concerned or those around them are believed to be at grave risk might confidentiality be broken, and even then no step will be taken without that persons knowledge. It should however be understood that confidentiality in the context of this policy may mean within the staff team if it is in the best interests of the individual to discuss matters, or, very rarely, in the best interest of this Local Association. Record Keeping Hillingdon Mind does not store large amounts of information on the majority of members or people who use our services. Any information on another individual is kept in a locked office. And information held about someone must be available to that person and when disclosing any written information about an individual, permission should be sought and obtained wherever possible. Update to 1984 D.P.A. The 1998 Data protection Act extends (with various transitional periods) the provision of the 1984 Act to all records. This includes manual as well as automated records. The 1998 Act also enhances individual rights of access to information held about them and rights to claim compensation. Definition DATA In practice virtually all tenancy records are covered by the definition of Data in the Act. Certain data is exempt from the provision of the Act, for example information relating to the prevention or detection of crime and certain health and social work records. Processing The definition of data processing in the legislation covers virtually anything that might be done in relation to data. Data Protection Principles The basic premise of data protection legislation is that data about living individuals cannot be "processed" unless it is done by a "data controller" who is registered with the Data Protection Commissioner. Rights of Data Subjects The Data Protection Act principles provide for individuals to have access to data held about them and were appropriate have the data corrected or deleted. Access The 1998 Act enhances individual rights of access to data held about them. As a general principle, anyone processing personal data is required within forty days of receiving a written request, to provide the individual to whom the data relates (the date subject) with details of:
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Registered Company No. 3009554. |