Data protection

This case, although not involving an employment relationship, is the first where the Court of Appeal has looked at what information falls within the category of personal data which must not be passed on.

The ruling

The court ruled that personal data is data that is biographical in a significant sense. This means that, just because a person's name appears on a document, it does not mean that the Data Protection Act prevents its disclosure.

However, any data (whether held on computer or manually) descriptive of an individual is covered by the Act.

Durant v Financial Services Authority, Court of Appeal