Q: Can I release personal information about my customers to a third party?
Oct 01 2006
Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question
It depends on what the information is and to whom. Personal and sensitive personal information is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998. Such information is controlled due to the potential for miss-use of it for marketing and credit purposes. In fact the European Directive requires:
'Member States to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, in particular their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data.'
If you are releasing the personal information for marketing or credit purposes then you are bound by a number of principles, rules and conditions too numerous to list here. You need to take professional advice.
If you simply want to hold the data necessary to manage your staff, including allowing such information to be held by a third party such as a computer bureau/wages agency, then the rules are very much simpler, but you would still need to take advice to ensure you do not fall foul of the Act.
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