The Common Law

In many respects, common law principles provide the underlying foundations of the Data Protection Act. The Data Protection Act requires that all information is obtained, held and processed lawfully, which means that except where there is a clear statutory provision, which permits the disclosure of information for a specific purpose, common law requirements must be fulfilled.

In terms of sharing information any disclosure of personal information without the consent of the individual concerned must always be lawful. Personal information provided to an agency for a specific purpose will normally be subject to a duty of confidence, especially where the individual concerned has not explicitly consented to it’s disclosure to another agency.

Information held or disclosed to other agencies must also be accurate to avoid any risk of legal action for defamation and to comply with requirements of the Data Protection Act.

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