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| International co-operation. |
53. - (1) The Commissioner-
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(a) shall continue to be the designated authority in the United Kingdom for the purposes of Article 13 of the Convention, and |
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(b) shall be the supervisory authority in the United Kingdom for the purposes of the Data Protection Directive. |
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(2) The Secretary of State may by order make provision as to the functions to be discharged by the Commissioner as the designated authority in the United Kingdom for the purposes of Article 13 of the Convention.
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(3) The Secretary of State may by order make provision as to co-operation by the Commissioner with the European Commission and with supervisory authorities in other EEA States in connection with the performance of their respective duties and, in particular, as to-
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(a) the exchange of information with supervisory authorities in other EEA States or with the European Commission, and |
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(b) the exercise within the United Kingdom at the request of a supervisory authority in another EEA State, in cases excluded by section 5 from the application of the other provisions of this Act, of functions of the Commissioner specified in the order. |
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(4) The Commissioner shall also carry out any data protection functions which the Secretary of State may by order direct him to carry out for the purpose of enabling Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom to give effect to any international obligations of the United Kingdom.
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(5) The Commissioner shall, if so directed by the Secretary of State, provide any authority exercising data protection functions under the law of a colony specified in the direction with such assistance in connection with the discharge of those functions as the Secretary of State may direct or approve, on such terms (including terms as to payment) as the Secretary of State may direct or approve.
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(6) Where the European Commission makes a decision for the purposes of Article 26(3) or (4) of the Data Protection Directive under the procedure provided for in Article 31(2) of the Directive, the Commissioner shall comply with that decision in exercising his functions under paragraph 9 of Schedule 4 or, as the case may be, paragraph 8 of that Schedule.
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(7) The Commissioner shall inform the European Commission and the supervisory authorities in other EEA States-
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(a) of any approvals granted for the purposes of paragraph 8 of Schedule 4, and |
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(b) of any authorisations granted for the purposes of paragraph 9 of that Schedule. |
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(8) In this section-
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"the Convention" means the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data which was opened for signature on 28th January 1981; |
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"data protection functions" means functions relating to the protection of individuals with respect to the processing of personal information. |
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Unlawful obtaining etc. of personal data |
| Unlawful obtaining etc. of personal data. |
54. - (1) A person must not knowingly or recklessly, without the consent of the data controller-
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(a) obtain or disclose personal data or the information contained in personal data, or |
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(b) procure the disclosure to another person of the information contained in personal data. |
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(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who shows-
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(a) that the obtaining, disclosing or procuring- |
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(i) was necessary for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime, or
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(ii) was required or authorised by or under any enactment, by any rule of law or by the order of a court,
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(b) that he acted in the reasonable belief that he had in law the right to obtain or disclose the data or information or, as the case may be, to procure the disclosure of the information to the other person, |
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(c) that he acted in the reasonable belief that he would have had the consent of the data controller if the data controller had known of the obtaining, disclosing or procuring and the circumstances of it, or |
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(d) that in the particular circumstances the obtaining, disclosing or procuring was justified as being in the public interest. |
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(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.
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(4) A person who sells personal data is guilty of an offence if he has obtained the data in contravention of subsection (1).
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(5) A person who offers to sell personal data is guilty of an offence if-
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(a) he has obtained the data in contravention of subsection (1), or |
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(b) he subsequently obtains the data in contravention of that subsection. |
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(6) For the purposes of subsection (5), an advertisement indicating that personal data are or may be for sale is an offer to sell the data.
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(7) Section 1(2) does not apply for the purposes of this section; and for the purposes of subsections (4) to (6), "personal data" includes information extracted from personal data.
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(8) References in this section to personal data do not include references to personal data which by virtue of section 27 are exempt from this section.
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Information provided to Commissioner or Tribunal |
| Disclosure of information. |
55. No enactment or rule of law prohibiting or restricting the disclosure of information shall preclude a person from furnishing the Commissioner or the Tribunal with any information necessary for the discharge of their functions under this Act.
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| Confidentiality of information. |
56. - (1) No person who is or has been the Commissioner, a member of the Commissioner's staff or an agent of the Commissioner shall disclose any information which-
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(a) has been obtained by, or furnished to, the Commissioner under or for the purposes of this Act, |
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(b) relates to an identified or identifiable individual or business, and |
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(c) is not at the time of the disclosure, and has not previously been, available to the public from other sources, |
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unless the disclosure is made with lawful authority.
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(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) a disclosure of information is made with lawful authority only if, and to the extent that-
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(a) the disclosure is made with the consent of the individual or of the person for the time being carrying on the business, |
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(b) the information was provided for the purpose of its being made available to the public (in whatever manner) under any provision of this Act, |
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(c) the disclosure is made for the purposes of, and is necessary for, the discharge of- |
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(i) any functions under this Act, or
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(ii) any Community obligation,
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(d) the disclosure is made for the purposes of any proceedings, whether criminal or civil and whether arising under, or by virtue of, this Act or otherwise, or |
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(e) having regard to the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of any person, the disclosure is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest. |
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(3) Any person who knowingly or recklessly discloses information in contravention of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.
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