Data Protection

Summary

Version 4 - Draft Update to bring in line with GDPR

The Data Protection Act 1998, and subsequent legislation such as the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes responsibilities on organisations such as GENUKI for the protection of data that could identify a living person and which is stored by the organisation.

The GDPR forms part of the data protection regime in the UK, together with the new Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). The main provisions of this apply, like the GDPR, from 25 May 2018.

Under GDPR, the most likely lawful basis for GENUKI's acquisition, storage, processing and usage of such data is likely to be Legitimate Interest.

Where we use previously acquired personal data where the Consent of each data subject was sought and obtained before any information, including photographs, relating to them is stored in the system, it is desirable to ensure a link is provided to GENUKI's Privacy Statement o that it's accessible to anybody who wants to read it.

You should adhere to the principles set out in the relevant Acts when publishing any personal data (email addresses, telephone numbers and photographs of a living individual are all personal data). It is generally recommended that you do not include photographs of people. If you gather details of an individual with a view to holding that data, for instance to publish an email address, you should include a statement indicating for what purpose the information is going to be used, from where it was acquired and to whom it may be disclosed. For example, "The email address you supply will be retained and published by GENUKI and used for the purposes of allowing others to contact you".

Many GENUKI pages contain legacy personal information in the form of postal address information, often with telephone numbers.  Items relating to living individuals, as opposed to organisations, should be removed (the assumption should be that they are still alive) .

Surname interest lists associated with GENUKI, e.g., stored on genuki.org.uk, are separate enough that they are not covered by GENUKI's policy. However, any personal information published by GENUKI will be removed from our pages on request. (The status of such lists is unclear, perhaps best for now to "unpublish" the information to remove it from view.)

Additional information is available from the Society of Genealogists within their "education" section. (Their page on this, http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/education-sub-page-for-testing-navigation/guide-nine/ seems to be of little help regarding current legality of conventional Surnames Lists.)

There is a formal GENUKI Privacy notice.