Common Law Duty of Confidence. 3.5.1.This Agreement takes into account the common law duty of confidentiality which applies where information has a necessary quality of confidence or where information is imparted in circumstances giving rise to an obligation of confidence that is either explicit or implied. Where the duty applies, disclosure is justified only by: • consent • a legal duty • a public interest or for the safeguarding of one or more people.
Common Law Duty of Confidence. Much of the police information to be shared will not have been obtained under a duty of confidence as it is legitimately assumed that data subjects will understand that police will act appropriately with regards to the information for the purposes of preventing harm to or promoting the welfare of children. However, for the police, as a safeguard before any information is passed on, it will undergo an assessment check against criteria (included in relevant Standard Operating Procedures) by the Public Protection Desk (PPD). Whilst still applying proportionality and necessity to the decision, the protection of persons at risk would clearly fulfil a public interest test when passing the information to a partner agency whose work with the police would facilitate this aim. Information held by other agencies that will be shared in the Prevent process may have been gathered where a duty of confidence is owed. Duty of confidence is not an absolute bar to disclosure as information can be shared where consent has been provided or where there is a strong enough public interest to do so. When overriding the duty of confidentiality, the parties may seek the views of the organisation who hold the duty of confidentiality and consider their views in relation to breaching confidentiality. The organisation may wish to seek legal advice if time permits.
Common Law Duty of Confidence. 9.1 The Parties agree that when introducing working practices to enable joint working, that any duty of confidence to Data subjects will continue to be respected.
Common Law Duty of Confidence. 4.8 The common law protects from disclosure information (whether personal or not) that is given in circumstances giving rise to an obligation of confidence on the part of the individual to whom the information has been given. This confidential information will have some sensitivity, will not already be in the public domain and will not be readily available from another public source.
Common Law Duty of Confidence. An obligation of confidence will exist where the individual has provided the information to another in circumstances where it is reasonable to assume that the provider of the information expected it to be kept confidential. Where there is a duty of confidence the information can only be disclosed to third parties if one of the exceptions applies, namely if there is informed consent, compulsion by law, public interest or the information is in the public domain.
Common Law Duty of Confidence. This applies when an individual provides information with the expectation that it will be kept in confidence and not disclosed. If the individual subsequently gives consent to the disclosure, it enables agencies to disclose information without further justification. If the individual does not consent, then a public interest test6 should be undertaken to assess the impact of disclosure on the suspect/offenders/victim information against the harm which might be caused to a child or a vulnerable adult if the information is not disclosed.
Common Law Duty of Confidence. Obtaining the valid consent of a data subject enables the disclosure and use of relevant information for the purposes for which that consent was given and should be obtained when ever possible. The key principle is that information confided should not be used or disclosed further, except as originally understood by the data subject, or with their subsequent permission. To give proper consent to disclosure, the data subject must be informed of the nature of the information to be revealed, to whom it will be revealed, the purpose for which the information will be used and the potential consequences. Data subjects (e.g. patients) can consent only to limited disclosure for a limited purpose (such as disclosure limited only to physical health issues and excluding mental health issues) and any limits on the consent must be respected. Care should be taken not to involuntarily identify other individuals whose consent has not been sought or obtained. If consent is not given, then agencies will need to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to share any information that they may have on an individual. In these circumstances a decision may be required as to whether an individual’s private right to confidentiality is outweighed by a public interest in, for example, a need to protect either the public or the health and safety of the individual. Where the decision to disclose is made, again depending upon individual circumstances, it may be appropriate to notify the data subject that the disclosure is going to be made. As the duty of confidentiality is not absolute, there might be circumstances where the public interest in maintaining confidentiality is outweighed by the public interest in disclosing specific information. Such circumstances may include where disclosure is necessary to avert a real risk of a danger of death or serious harm to others or for the prevention or detection of serious crime. Even then, such disclosure is permissible only if made to someone with a proper interest in receiving the information. The pubic interest test consists of one or more exceptional circumstances (see below) that justify overruling the right of an individual to confidentiality in order to serve a broader pubic interest. Decisions about the public interest are complex and must take account of both the potential harm that disclosure may cause and the interest of the public in the continued provision of for example a confidential service. The public interest test threshold for di...
Common Law Duty of Confidence. The duty of confidence falls within common law as opposed to statutory law and derives from cases considered by the courts. There are generally three categories of exception to the duty of confidence: Where there is a legal compulsion to disclose. Where there is an overriding duty to the public. Where the individual to whom the information relates consented. Both partners will consider which of these conditions are the most relevant for the purposes of this Data Sharing Agreement. The guidance from the Information Commissioner states that because such decisions to disclose ‘in the public interest’ involves the exercise of judgment, it is important that they are taken at an appropriate level and that procedures are developed for taking those decisions. APPENDIX C - Glossary of Terms Accessible Record – unstructured personal information usually in manual form relating to health, education, social work and housing..
Common Law Duty of Confidence. Anyone proposing to disclose information not publicly available and obtained in circumstances giving rise to a duty of confidence will need to establish whether there is an overriding justification for so doing. If not, it is still necessary to obtain the informed consent of the person who supplied the information. This will need to be assessed on a case by case basis and legal advice should be sought in any case of doubt.
Common Law Duty of Confidence. The common law protects from disclosure information (whether personal or not) that “is given in circumstances giving rise to an obligation of confidence on the part of the person to whom the information has been given”. This means that where information is passed in circumstances where a confidential relationship has been established, the person receiving the information is under a duty not to pass on the information to a third party. But the duty is not absolute and information can be shared without breaching the common law duty if: • the information is not confidential in nature; or • the person to whom the duty is owed has given explicit consent; or • there is an overriding public interest in disclosure; or • sharing is required by a court order or other legal obligation When considering disclosure, a judgment must be made as to where the public interest lies (the more sensitive and damaging the information, the stronger the public interest in disclosure will need to be).
