Watch out all ‘data controllers’ - they’re after us

Now that the “Bah, humbug!” season is over, there is no more pleasurable way to embrace the New Year than with a good rant.

Without claiming sainthood, by and large, I have been a good and upright human being over the last six decades. I have not committed adultery or coveted my neighbour’s ass, and I do try to honour the Sabbath Day (easier now that I have dropped off the on-call rota). I have managed to avoid difficult dealings with the GMC and have never yet troubled my defence body. I now have a licence to practice and my CRB status is unblemished.

So, how is it that last week I was confronted with an official letter stating that I was liable to prosecution and, if convicted, I could be fined up to £5,000 in the Magistrates’ Court or receive an unlimited fine in the Crown Court!

The reason is because I had failed to respond to an earlier letter informing me that, as a doctor who sees private patients, I was required to register under the Data Protection Act with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). I was deemed by the Commissioner to be, de facto, a ‘Data Controller’ under the terms of the Act and that failure to register was a criminal offence. Ignorance was not an excuse!

I rarely go the Golden Nugget these days. Consequently the reason I did not receive the earlier letter is that it was addressed to the local BMI Hospital, which I had not visited for weeks. I asked the ICO why they had not written to me at my GMC-registered address and was told, rather lamely, that they had found my name on a website listing doctors who did private practice and they were picking us off one by one (my interpretation).

The annual registration fee is not huge, currently £35, but the whole episode still leaves me hopping mad. The only electronic patient data I ‘control’ is the reporting module on a PACS system, and I naively assumed that this would be covered by the registration of the hospital, NHS or otherwise.

Apparently not! So despite the fact that I remain completely unclear as to the purpose or benefits of registration I have bitten the bullet, retracted my testicles and paid up (also the wife was not too keen on marriage with a convicted criminal).

What will be the next assault? Since I work with children, it will be registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority to prove that I am not and never have been a paedophile. I wonder how much that will cost me?

Tags: Data protection, ISA