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The following is taken from the Genomics England IG Confidrentiality and Data Protection Policy which can be found in the Library and Resources section of the website.
Data Protection
The Data Protection Act 1998 (The Act) came into force in March 2000. The Act sets out standards which must be satisfied when processing data relating to living individuals. Processing includes recording, obtaining, holding, using, generating derived data, analysing, disclosing and destroying personal data. The Act covers information on any media stored on computers and also within manual records.
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- Electronic file transfer
- CD or DVD
- USB Memory Sticks
- By Post / Fax
- Telephone
Duty of confidence
A duty of confidence arises when sensitive information is obtained and/or recorded in circumstances where it is reasonable for the subject of the information to expect that the information will be held in confidence. For information to have a quality of confidence it is generally accepted that:
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However, the right to confidentiality is a qualified right. This means that Genomics England is able to override a duty of confidence when it is required by law, or if it is in the public interest to do so.
The Caldicott Report
The original Caldicott Report on the Review of Patient Identifiable Information was published in 1997. It found that the issues of patient confidentiality and the security measures in place across the NHS lacked national consistency and as a result of the Caldicott Review, seven key principles have been provided as a guide for the NHS.
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