“Fair processing” under the Data Protection Act
Pupils, as data subjects, have certain rights under the Data Protection Act, including a general right to be given access to personal data held about them by any data controller.
Data controllers have to provide “data subjects” with details of who they (the data controllers) are, the purposes for which they process the personal data, and any other information that is necessary to make the processing of the personal data fair, including any third parties to whom the data may be passed on. This is normally done by what is referred to as a “fair processing notice”.
The Fair Processing Notice has been broken down into three layers. Layer One is a brief one/two page notice, outlining simply the core fair processing information,. Layer Two is an amplification giving more information about the organisations who have access to information and the uses they make of it. Layer Three is the full Fair Processing Notice.
Further information about fair processing requirements, and guidance on the Data Protection Act generally, can be obtained from the Information Commissioner’s website (http://www.ico.gov.uk).