In message , Mike
writes



Once you use the word "business" you are changing the rules.

and changing the reason why you/they have the data stored in the first
place. The company I organise the reunions through is a business and is
registered.

A garden
club would normally be a not for profit organisation whereas a business
would not - well not intentionally!!!

:-}}

There is another aspect of the Data Protection Act which is quite
frightening. If you as the Secretary of a Gardening Club decide to
gather
the names and addresses of all of the other Gardening Clubs in the
country
and then sell that list to someone who will use it to market something,
YOU
are in line for prosecution and the person you SELL IT TO is liable. I
had a
case where someone tried to sell the names and addresses of all the
H.M.Ship's Association's Secretaries to Hotels to target them for
reunions.
The Manager of one of the hotels I use a lot contacted me and now
whenever a
likely list is printed in any of my magazines or publications, I print
the
following:-


I wouldn't regard that as "frightening" - this was one of the activities
that the act was designed to prohibit.

Yes I agree with you there that is what the DPA is for and maybe I should
not have used the word frightening, but rather 'be watchful for' because a
heatlhy Amatuer Club of or for any reason could have quite a data base of
people, as mine is.


You could still have a problem under the act. If you are not registered
then yo should not pass on personal details to third parties without the
positive consent of the data subject. Do you ask for their consent to
publication in any application form you use?

Anybody who joins an Association is joining to get in touch with his/her old
Service Pals. As soon as they contact me I send out an application form for
them to fill in and list their name, nickname, service number, address,
telephone number and their Service History in brief. They are told that this
detail will be put onto the membership list and sent to all other members.
I specifically ask if they wish their telephone number listing. About 5 - 10
% so no so that is not put on. I had one person who send for details of the
Association concerned and I sent a form to him. HE wrote back to me saying
that he would like to join the Association and to receive the membership
lists but did not wish his details to be included on the lists. DPA or not,
that was unfair to the other members and when he still insisted that it was
not included, I refused the application.


Are your magazines or publications for members only? - in which case you
may be OK. If they are for general issue available to the public then
you could be in trouble.

Members use only.


Carry on Gardening Clubs, Little Theatre Groups, Under Water Formation
Dancing Teams, etc etc. The act is not targeted at you :-))

Not strictly true - you are exempt from *registration* provided you
stick to certain conditions, BUT the Act still applies.

You have a chicken and egg situation here. The Act applies to everyone who
lists details, but registration is not always required as I hope I have
explained. The Act applies to me once I start using my listings to 'seek out
and collate a certain criteria of people' as I explained before, but as I
don't, I don't need to register.


IANAL but I took professional legal advice on behalf of a club of which
I was a member. (2 different lawyers gave the same answer - is that a
record?)
--
Yes if it was questions on the DPA, because it is so full of holes, that
interpretation is the key word.

Mike


Your procedures as described above mirror the advice I was given.
--
hugh
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