Warning for transcription project (General)
I have just been told by the National Library of Wales, because I have the full baptism details of church records that are less than 100 years old, and marriage details less than 85 years old I am in breach of the data protection act. I have been asked to take these records down from my website.
I have contacted the information commissioners office 08456 30 60 60
, who say this is correct, I will of course write to them for written clarification on this ruling.
I wonder if the Forest of Dean were aware of this ruling, and have themselves seeked guidance on data protection.
I argued the point that the information itself in its original format was available to the public anyway at the county record office, but they say they have legal requirement to so, where as individuals and other parties do not.
I am going to argue on other point, about the fact that I am only producing a transcription of the original record, wether that will hold up I dont know.
Mike John
Recent events are not on-line for privacy reasons
by admin 
, Forest of Dean, Monday, November 05, 2007, 02:35 (6298 days ago) @ monfamilies
The Forest of Dean Parish Records Transcription Project has the following
policy and as you will see we are fairly close to the dates you mention.
Baptisms: 90 years - 1916
Marriages: 70 years - 1936
Burials: 30 years - 1976
It would be interesting to know the exact wording of the act.
Would it prevent me from displaying my gedcom file on a website
which includes dates and places of events of many living people?
Are we not allowed to quote the date of birth of anybody who was
born within the past one hundred years on this Message Board?
I think not!
Recent events are not on-line for privacy reasons
I get the impression from speaking to the I.C.O that they are concerned with the internet over this issue, and there is no law in statute that says you can not produce baptism & marriage information, and make it available to the public via the internet or in any other format. There seems a contradiction in their argument over the issue of public office being lawfully justified to make these records available and any other individual doing the same thing.
Personally I dont deem baptisms & marriages as sensitive information that could be used by criminals, these events were done in public, they are usually public knowledge and in some cases events were published in local rags.
If this issue is on statute, then where do you draw the line, are we as family historians not allowed to publish our family trees for the past 100 years.
There are many records which have a time period over when you can view them, such as health & criminal records, but we are not talking about a state secret when it comes to someone being baptised or married, surely to deny public knowledge of these events, flys in the face of the very nature of being baptised and getting married, I was under the impression that these events are to be celebrated, So if we live in a christian society, is God the only being to have full knowledge of these events and who particpated in them. Until I see it writing that I am braking the law, I will leave things as they are on my website.
Recent events are not on-line for privacy reasons
by kiwiceltic 
, New Zealand, Tuesday, March 09, 2010, 03:45 (5442 days ago) @ monfamilies
lol will they next bar us from visiting cemeteries too or placing birth, marriage and death notices in the newspapers or heaven forbid recording family details in Family Bibles.
Data Protection
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Monday, November 05, 2007, 08:12 (6297 days ago) @ monfamilies
The National Archives does a good job of explaining the principles involved.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/legal/dataprotection.htm
We all need to act responsibly and respect peoples privacy - the general rule is that 100 years is regarded as a "living " persons period of privacy(!)
The DP Act differentiates between "personal" records and those kept by an organisation. Family History societies come into the grey area, but can take steps to comply. I suspect that should be seen as simply respecting privacy rather than Big Brother bearing down :-)
The Society of Genealogists also provides advice at
http://www.sog.org.uk/leaflets/dpa2.pdf
Data Protection
"We all need to act responsibly and respect peoples privacy".
If that is the case then church records should not be available for anyone to see up to 100 years.
At the end of the day church records are public records and have no date restriction on them, the information in them is neither sensitive or private. The information would never be used for identity fraud, because it is the wrong data and out of date, Identity fraudsters use more recent information to steal someones identity.
If someone wrote to me, and said that he was not happy to have details of his baptism or marriage on my website, then I would remove them, Most people in my opinion would have no problem in having their baptism or marriage details on the web for people to research their family history.
Data Protection
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Monday, November 05, 2007, 20:19 (6297 days ago) @ monfamilies
I'm not a lawyer or legally trained, so I can only offer my understanding. I'm with you, finding it hard to understand why information that is freely available ( i.e. public records )can be subject to the DP Act. However we now live in an era where the DP Act exist, as does the Freedom of Information Act, and many other pieces of law.
The best understanding I have is its not so much the information as the way you protect it, handle it, and potentially distribute it, that puts us in the scope of the DP act.
To a certain point we have to live with it :-)
"Identity fraudsters use more recent information to steal someones identity"
Long term fraud occurs when a criminal takes on the identity of a child or young person who has died in the past and who has now reached adult age.
They firstly identify this person by scouring graveyards or by searching through death records. A birth certificate is obtained and this is used to apply for a passport, driving licence and other official documentation. Over time a full identity is built up and the criminal ‘becomes’ the deceased person.
Long term fraud is normally associated with serious crime such as money laundering, drug smuggling, terrorism or people trafficking.
Data Protection - an example
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Saturday, March 06, 2010, 06:59 (5445 days ago) @ slowhands
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8551283.stm
Two men and a woman who stole the identity of a dead child as part of a multiple fraud have been jailed.
John Dempsey Hamilton's birth certificate was one of 44 obtained online and used to apply for driving licences with which to open bank accounts and defraud the money.
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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>
Data Protection - an example
by admin , Forest of Dean, Saturday, March 06, 2010, 11:56 (5445 days ago) @ slowhands
Not specifically an online issue as the certificate could also have been obtained by making contact by mail or telephone.
The governments policy of witholding census and similar information for privacy reasons certainly conflicts with how easily one can obtain a birth certificate of anybody.
Though, if they introduced stringent requirements before a person could obtain a copy of a certificate, there would be an outcry. No easy answers to all of this!
Data Protection - an example
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Saturday, March 06, 2010, 11:58 (5445 days ago) @ admin
Agreed - its about hitting the correct balance, and awareness of how information can be handled by criminals and others....
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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>
War Service Records
by rookancestrybest , United Kingdom, Saturday, March 06, 2010, 17:07 (5445 days ago) @ slowhands
Both WW I and WW II are less than 100 years ago and yet the information about war dead is all over the place including via the Government Websites as well as on War Memorials. It does not make sense for these deaths to be kept secret as it is public knowledge.
War Service Records
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Saturday, March 06, 2010, 18:18 (5445 days ago) @ rookancestrybest
the general rule is that 100 years is regarded as a "living " persons period of privacy(!)
There is a lot of information now in the public domain - it just has to be handled responsibly .
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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>