Data Protection

[choppy]

Sorry if this becomes garbled.....

At present we have sufferd with damp for 2 and a half years. We made the letting agents aware and they lent us a dehumidifier. This however was not enough and the house continued to be damp. The letting agents tried to blame us and told us to e.g keep windows open when showering. We live on the ground floor so this was not possible. Other unreasonable advice was offered.

Recently we discovered a leak under the sink. The letting agent was very woried about it but mended it himself. He promised that a plumber would check the work. I also saw a rat and told the agents.

When we later asked about the plumbers visit the agent was evasive saying it went fine. We had recieved no notice of a visit and knew nothing about one. I continued to press him on this until one day I came home and found material evidence that someone had entered our house and been unde the sink. I still have the evidence.

I now want to get copies of EVERYTHING under the data protection act so they can not invent phantom letters from themselves when confronted by the police. They say that only contracts and credit checks come under data protection.

The Information Commissioners Office said I can make a complaint. I am hoping to see a housing lawyer.

Ideally I would do things in this order.

Get Data
Get Environmental Health
See Lawyer
Tell Police.

Can anyone give me ANY advice on this?

[Glenn UK]

If you want to see data they hold about you send them a subject access request, there is a template in the library which you will need to amend to get the data they hold on you.

Depending on how they hold the data may influence how they deal with it.

It was generally held up until recently that manual systems were not relevant filing systems. Through discussions with the Information Commissioners Office this view has changed and its likely that almost any filing system would be relevant if it holds personal data as defined within the act.

When you say you want everything the Data Protection Act is clear about what constitutes data within the act and this is what you're entitled to, paraphrasing its stuff from which you could be identified.

you need to send them a written request along with the fee, it can be a max of £10 so unless they tell you otherwise send them a cheque for a tenner.

make sure you send this all recorded, they then have 40 days from receipt within which to comply.

If they fail they have breached the Data Protection Act and you can complain to the Information Commissioners Office or take them to court, i would prefer the latter route myself.

As much as it probably sounds daft under the circumstances, they are entitled to make sure you are who you say you are and they may ask for proof of id. If they do the act doesn't make any provision for this to be outside of the 40 day period although i haven't looked for any case law to check whether there has been any judgements on this issue.

To prevent them using this as an excuse you can if you wish send them a recent utility bill or similar.

HTH

Glenn

PS sorry not sure about the other questions.

[choppy]

Thanks Glenn.


I did the full data subject access request in Feb.

Where can I find exactly what info. I have rights to within the Data Protection Act?
I suppose I can read the whole act but I would rather read a condensed version if poss.


Also, you mention reporting them to the Information Commissioners Office or taking them to court. I know about the former. Would the latter involve forcing them to release the info? How can I prove they have it? Or would I sue them for damages?

thanks again...

[Glenn UK]

Choppy

There is a link to the Act in the library, its not that long with definitions up front and Section 7 is the one you want initially.

The Information Commissioners Office also produce some guides so have a scan over their site too.

In respect of taking them to court, you have to have a reason and this would depend on what response you got from them, since they say only contracts and credit cheques come under the act then this implies at least that they hold more on you than that. if you know for example that you have signed a rental agreement with them this would be covered since it would identify you personally, then this would be evidence that they have relevant data on you.

The basic premise is that anything they hold on you from which you could be identified is data within the meaning of the act (you would be wise to check the exact language they use). It is quite clear from my reading that a letter or report which is about you and from which you could be identified (e.g. it has your name and address on it) would be within the scope of the act.

I took the Co-op to court and basically asked the court to order them to provide the data or to enter into court a sworn statement as to why they couldn't provide my data. (See Glenn Vs Co-op).

Re damages i think its section 13 and 14 of the act you want and you can sue for damages under certain cicustances.

HTH

Glenn

[choppy]

Brilliant Glenn.

Thank you. I really appreciate that.