SAR on sons school/OTT editing

[miliitant]

after my son broke his arm in school i decided to do a subject access request on the school.

other half has just phoned stating it has arrived but with a hell of a lot of black marker pen lines. its like reading a heavily censored war time document.

now i understand they can do this if certain data is linked to another child for example and not party to the data subject, but are there any guidelines on a data processor to do this and the guidelines do they have to work to.

will the school colate this data first before sending it out and who has the responsibility of censorship

ill see it when i get home but i think the school are trying to cover there buts.

[CYNthesys]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

Sorry, not up to date with DPA stuff, I'm sure someone more knowledgable will soon answer your queries.

On a side note, it used to be the case (probably still is) that a parent is entitled free of charge to the info a school holds on their child under the provisions of the Education Pupil Information Regulations 2000

[miliitant]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

thanks for the reply

from what other half has stated it is almost impossible to read in parts due to the over zealous censorship, but ill see it when i get home

[charitynjw]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

Hi militant,

If you are considering any kind of legal action (or prospective legal action), section 35 of the DPA may be of interest. :wink:

http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/guidanc...fPersonalData/

[labman]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

It depends what has been crossed out. A school will have an accident book, so there could potentially be a page where your son's accident was recorded, which contained the names of lots of other children whose names obviously had to be deleted.

If the deletions are in a piece written in prose, then it may be more suspicious.

The context, in the nature of a school, could be critical. If the incident was fairly major, there should also have been a risk assessment carried out after it, and appropriate revisions, if needed, to the Heath and Safety Policy of the school.

Obviously an incident / accident form should also have been completed where a significant injury has been sustained.

[charitynjw]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

s35 exempts the Data Controller from the usual 'no third party disclosure' rule, & puts an obligation on them to consider revealing the information where necessary.

[CleverClogs]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

The context, in the nature of a school, could be critical. If the incident was fairly major, there should also have been a risk assessment carried out after it, and appropriate revisions, if needed, to the Heath and Safety Policy of the school.

Obviously an incident / accident form should also have been completed where a significant injury has been sustained.

Indeed.

And at least he didn't suffer the fate of young Tommy Perkins:

[labman]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

Excellent!

[bluebottle]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

The DPA is one of the most frequently-abused pieces of legislation in English Law.

If the incident relates to an accident, Section 35, Data Protection Act 1998 is very useful in overcoming this sort of behaviour by data controllers.

If the incident relates to a criminal assault, it is normal for the police to obtain the necessary information from the school, who would be warned any sort of behaviour of the type you have experienced would amount to Obstructing Police in the Execution of Their Duty, under the Police Act 1964

[labman]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

Section 35 would only be relevant if the OP were definitely seeking disclosure in relation to legal proceedings though, rather than trying to find out if there are grounds for legal proceedings?

That was my understanding.

[CleverClogs]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

Section 35 would only be relevant if the OP were definitely seeking disclosure in relation to legal proceedings though, rather than trying to find out if there are grounds for legal proceedings?

That was my misunderstanding.

IFYPFY.

Section 35:

Disclosures required by law or made in connection with legal proceedings etc.

(1) Personal data are exempt from the non-disclosure provisions where the disclosure is required by or under any enactment, by any rule of law or by the order of a court.

(2) Personal data are exempt from the non-disclosure provisions where the disclosure is necessary—

(a) for the purpose of, or in connection with, any legal proceedings (including prospective legal proceedings), or

(b) for the purpose of obtaining legal advice,

or is otherwise necessary for the purposes of establishing, exercising or defending legal rights.

[CleverClogs]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

If the incident relates to a criminal assault, it is normal for the police to obtain the necessary information from the school, who would be warned any sort of behaviour of the type you have experienced would amount to Obstructing Police in the Execution of Their Duty, under section 89(2) of the Police Act 1996 - link

IFYPFY. :tinysmile_grin_t:

Mind you, the penalty is relatively trivial.

[labman]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

I stand corrected. Thank you.

[miliitant]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

evening people

going through the SAR, it seems a bit on the lite side

before we go into the lack of reports on the accident

take any pupil and any SAR

what info would you expect to be in the SAR reference a pupil from when they started at a secondary school

its a sort of check/tick list on basic data that should be included

many thanks

[labman]

Re: SAR on sons school/OTT editing

There would be loads of data - absolutely loads, assuming your request did not try to limit the SAR to events surrounding the accident.