How to exercise your rights
Making a request
For all requests, we'll need to see identification. This is for security reasons: we need to make sure we are dealing with you so that none of your personal information is accessed or interfered with by anyone falsely claiming to be you.
You must provide at least 2 forms of identification. We can accept copies of a:
- passport
- driving licence
- utility bill
- council tax bill
- bank statement bearing your full name and current postal address
When we've received your request, we'll send you a written acknowledgement. We may ask for additional information if necessary.
Access by an advocate
A friend, relative, advocate or solicitor can also access this information on your behalf. To do this, they must provide:
- written permission from you consenting to their actions
- 2 forms of identification for you, as listed above
Power of Attorney
If someone does not have the mental capacity to exercise their rights, they may appoint a person with a lasting power of attorney, or a Deputy appointed by the Court of Protection, who can exercise rights on their behalf. In this circumstance, we'll ask to see a certified copy of their power of attorney.
Children
Children have the same rights as adults over their personal data. There is no set age in England which recognises when children are automatically able to exercise data protection rights.
As a rule, a child must have sufficient understanding and maturity to exercise their own rights and we will use a common-sense approach if a child or young person submits a request.
For children aged under 13, it will generally be expected that a person with parental responsibility makes the request, usually a person the child lives with. We'll take any ‘best interest’ considerations into account.
We need to see evidence of parental authority and will accept the following evidence as proof:
- birth certificate
- court order
- adoption record
- Special Guardianship Order (SGO)
How much it will cost
In most cases, you will not be charged for making a request.
The only exception is where you make repeat requests for the same or similar information. In these cases, we can charge a reasonable fee based on the admin costs of supplying further copies. We'll let you know how much this will be when you make the request.
How long it will take
We'll try to respond to your request as soon as possible. We aim to respond within one calendar month from the first working day after we receive:
- your request
- proof of your identity
- any further information we have asked you for
Where the last day before expiry falls over a weekend or on a bank holiday, the latest due date will be treated as the first working day after that weekend or bank holiday.
If your request is complex, we may need to extend the length of time needed to respond. The law lets us extend the length of time to respond by a maximum of an extra 2 months. If this is the case, we'll let you know before the latest due date on which you would be expecting to hear back from us.