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Human Rights Act - Freedom of Information Data Protection Act and
General Data Protection
Article 8 (1998) Act (2000) Regulations (2018)
Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 Freedom of Information (FoI) was This guidance applies to researchers who are
enshrines the right to respect for private established in 2000 to increase processing personal data, i.e. information relating to
and family life: transparency in the public sector. It gives an identified or identifiable living person. Note that
people the right to request access to ‘processing’ means any operation - collecting,
• Everyone has the right to respect for recorded information held by public storing, using, transferring, disclosing or destroying -
his private and family life, his home sector organisations. This includes performed on personal data. This means that if you
and his correspondence. requests for research data from are collecting or accessing personal data, including
re-using existing data, that either identifies or could
• There shall be no interference by a universities and publicly funded research be linked to a living individual, then this guidance
public authority with the exercise of organisations. The exceptions to the FoI and GDPR applies.
this right except such as is in are as follows If you are processing truly anonymised data,
accordance with the law and is • Personal data cannot be requested then your research activity falls outside the scope of
necessary in a democratic society in these guidelines. Note that this means the data
the interests of national security, • Information that is accessible by other should be completely anonymous on receipt
public safety or the economic well- means e.g. Via a website (collection/accessing); if you have personal data but
being of the country, for the then make that personal data anonymous, that will
still be a processing operation and the and GDPR
prevention of disorder or crime, for • Information intended for future and this guidance applies.
the protection of health or morals, or publication
for the protection of the rights and • Information that is subject to a If you are a researcher processing personal
freedoms of others. Researchers are confidentiality agreement, such as in data, then you must comply with the requirements
advised to ensure that they do not a signed consent form or sensitive of the new data protection legislation, in addition to
contravene Article 8 of the Human data held under restricted access by a the common law duty of confidentiality and all
relevant ethical requirements.
Rights Act. data archive
