A rock and a hard place? Ministry of Defence | Defence News | MOD confirms loss of recruitment data

[M J D Brown]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Adrian Midgley" <amidgley2@defoam.net>
To: <ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 10:22 PM
Subject: Re: A rock and a hard place? Ministry of Defence | Defence News 
| MOD confirms loss of recruitment data


> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Jul Kornbluth wrote:
>> Mike
>>
>> The process of opting out is easy.  Just ask your GP.
>
> Please don't.  We like doing medicine and have plenty of it to do.

Pedantically, if the GP is releasing our data for the NHS to sell 
commercially to drug and insurance companies for 'research', then its 
Principal is at least partly accountable, for any privacy breaches that 
may occur.  In practice, I think Jul Kornbluth's intent was perfectly 
clear in using the term 'GP' as shorthand for the collective 'General 
Practice' entity comprising one or more physicians, practice nurses, 
health visitors, receptionists, and records clerks, etc.  Not all these 
categories of personnel are necessarily present in all practices, of 
course.  I think most readers of this list would expect to address their 
questions about data release to the duty receptionist in the first 
instance.

> If you want a code recording in your notes to indicate you don't want 
> an
> as yet undefined portion of your notes uploaded to an as yet unwritten
> IT system open to a tiny handful* of entirely trustworthy people all 
> of
> whom would only access it if they had decided that it was in your best
> interests, or those of the nation, or in line with national or local
> policy, don't go asking us.

I do understand from the footnote that 'trustworthy' is an irony!  I do 
trust my GP physician, but you only have to take a look at the Data 
Protection statements of most government agencies to see how they 
reserve the right to release any information to other agencies and even 
commercial entities.

Mike.