The 1998 Act give rights to individuals in respect of personal data held about them by others.
This applies to all individuals whether they are an employee, elected member or a member of the public. Each individual has the right to access personal data, prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress and prevent processing for the purposes of direct marketing.
They also have rights in relation to automated decision taking, to take action for compensation if they suffer damage by any contravention of the Act by the data controller, to rectify, block, erase or destroy inaccurate data and to make a request to the Data Protection Commissioner for an assessment to be made of the data controller if they feel that the Act has been contravened.
If you wish to access personal data for any of the reasons outlined above you must submit a Subject Access application form to the Data Protection Officer and pay a fee of £10 to the data controller. The Subject Access application form can be obtained in one of the following ways:
· By e-mail to dataprotection@darlington.gov.uk
· In writing to the Data Protection Officer, Town Hall, Darlington, DL1 5QT
Once a completed Subject Access application, supporting documents and fee have been received the request will be dealt with within forty days.
If you require further information regarding The Data Protection Act 1998 please e-mail dataprotection@darlington.gov.uk