ACCA censured over data delay
Information Commissioner’s Office raps ACCA over the knuckles for slow release of information under the Data Protection Act
ACCA has received a rap over the knuckles from the Information Commissioner’s
Office for its failure to provide information under the Data Protection Act in a
timely manner.
The institute was criticised following a complaint by a member, after ACCA
took a total of 10 months to deal with a request for information. Bodies holding
personal data are required to respond to information requests within 40 days.
The ICO judged that for some of this period, ACCA was within its rights to
delay, in order to determine what could be disclosed but there was still a
further period of five months before anything was provided. This was attributed
to the ‘individual dealing with the request not being available for significant
periods of time’.
The ICO said the delay highlighted a ‘weakness in ACCA’s subject access
procedures’, which has forced the body to undertake a ‘comprehensive review’.
Responding to the complaint, ACCA said that the issue ‘was examined fully by
the Information Commissioner’s Office, and found no further case for ACCA to
answer’.
‘ACCA is working closely with the Information Commissioner’s Office to ensure
that our practices are approved and in accordance with Information Law,’
continued the statement.
For more information on data protection see
www.ico.gov.uk