Justin Langer, the veteran Australian batsmen, in a farewell interview published in the Sunday Times yesterday mentioned the fact that “Our assistant coach gives us a thick dossier on every opposition side.... This happens every day in county cricket nowadays, let alone international cricket”. Justin Langer also told the paper that he himself had added to one Aussie dossier, referring to James Anderson, England’s opening bowler as “pussy” (whatever that means).
Of course private dossiers of personal information held by a data controller in the UK can be subject to the Data Protection Act and hence the right of access. So I see no objection for James Anderson to exercise the right of access to personal data to see what kind of “pussy” he really is.
Of course, as a football fan with an expansive knowledge of the game (Barnsley FC are giving the rest of the teams in the Championship a 5 game start first before we get going), I am eager to ensure that my excellent team are not put at a disadvantage by the likes of a Newcastle or an Arsenal. So I have advised the club to take advantage of the Government’s approach to manual files held by private sector bodies as specified in its Data Protection Act.
I have suggested that they keep their dossiers in manual form in a folder marked with the club’s name (e.g. Manchester United) where division of the folder into details of individual footballers of the opposing team are not in any particular order. In this way the dossiers do not form a Relevant Filing System but are easily accessible. This means the personal information is not “data” as defined in the Act, and therefore cannot be “personal data”.
It follows that the right of access does not apply, thus allowing all pussies to purr in private.
Up to your typical amusing standards Chris. Keep up the good work - we need some light relief brought into our days!
Posted by: Andy Holyoake | 25/09/2009 at 01:19 PM