UK Court Of Appeals Rules On Meaning Of 'Personal Data' In Data Protection Act

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

15 December 2003

The United Kingdom's Court of Appeal has ruled that the mere mention of a person's name in a document does not constitute 'personal data' under the terms of the 1988 Data Protection Act; a verdict which is likely to be welcomed by businesses, but to anger privacy groups.

The ruling stemmed from a complaint brought before the Financial Services Authority (FSA) about Barclays Bank by former customer, Michael Durant. Following an unsuccessful dispute with the bank, Mr Durant asked the financial services regulator to investigate its conduct, which the FSA duly did, but refused to tell him the result, citing reasons of confidentiality.

Mr Durant achieved partial success when he attempted to access electronically held information under the Data Protection Act, but the FSA refused to allow him access to paper documents relating to his complaint, arguing that they were not to be found in the 'relevant filing system', a criterion stipulated by the Act for access to information.

He was unsuccessful in challenging this decision in the District Court, County Court, and, more recently, in the Court of Appeals.

However, according to reports, Lord Justice Buxton, ruling in the Court of Appeals, based his verdict not on the definition of 'relevant filing system', but on the definition of 'personal data'.

He explained that in this case "the 1998 Act would only be engaged if, in the course of investigating this complaint, the FSA expressed an opinion about Mr Durant personally, as opposed to an opinion about his complaint."

He went on to add, with regard to the right to access personal information which is contained within the Data Protection Act, that:

"It is not an automatic key to any information readily accessible or not, of matters in which he may be named or involved. Nor is it to assist him, for example, to obtain discovery of documents that may assist him in litigation or complaints against third parties."

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