BT Retail registration as Data Controller for Purpose of Advertising and Marketing for Others

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14 April 2009

Case Reference Number IRQ0243656

Dear Mr John

Thank you for your e-mail of 9 April 2009, in which you have made an
information request.

Your request is being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 under the reference number shown above.  We
will therefore respond to your request by 12 May 2009 which is 20 working
days from the day after we received your request.

Yours sincerely

Adam Stevens

Assistant Internal Compliance Manager.

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http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

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6th May 2009

Case Reference Number IRQ0243656

Dear Mr John

I write further to our acknowledgement letter dated 14 April 2009 and with
reference to your request for information.

Your request asked:

1. The date on which BT Retail first registered as a data controller

BT Retail is a trading name of British Telecommunications Plc. The
current register entry for British Telecommunications Plc is Z5164594.
The date of receipt was 7 December 2000. The Data Protection Act 1998
came into force on 1 March 2000 and transitional arrangements were in
place in that any registration submitted under the previous Data
Protection Act 1984 would remain until the register entry expired.
However, in accordance with the ICO's retention policy, that record is no
longer held. Therefore we are unable to provide you with details of any
previous registrations prior to 7 December 2000 as we do not hold that
information.

 

2. The date on which BT Retail first registered as a data controller
handling information for the purpose of "Advertising Marketing &
Public Relations For Others"

The date on which British Telecommunications Plc first registered as a
data controller handling information for the purpose of "Advertising
Marketing & Public Relations for Others" was 13 February 2002.

3. Copies of all the registration documents supplied to you by BT
Retail since 1 January 2005 (including any which was in effect at
that date)

In accordance with our retention policy, new notification
paperwork is held for three years, and paperwork for renewals and changes
are held for one year. We received a renewal request and change request
on 4 December 2008 a redacted copy of which is attached.  We have
redacted the name and signature of the contact provide to us as this
information comprises their ‘personal data’.  For clarity these
details do not form part of the public register but are used by this
office as a contact name for any enquiries that we may have concerning
their registration or compliance with the Act.

Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) allows a
public authority to withhold information from a response to a request
under the FOIA when the information requested is personal data relating to
someone other than the requestor, and its disclosure would contravene one
of the Data Protection principles.

We consider that when individuals submit their details as contact details
to the ICO they do not anticipate or expect their details to be disclosed
to anyone else.  Therefore, we consider that such a disclosure would be
unfair and in breach of the first Data Protection principle which states
that – “Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully …”

All other paper records that have been supplied from British
Telecommunications Plc regarding notification have been destroyed again in
line with our retention policy.

4. Any enforcement notices which have therefore been issued as a
consequence of processing personal information without
registration, and/or operating a profiling system without the
knowledge or consent of the people concerned?

It may be helpful in the first instance to explain that as non
registration is an offence under the Data Protection Act we would not
issue an enforcement notice but look at whether prosecution was for the
offence was appropriate.  Therefore we do not hold any recorded
information concerning enforcement notices issued for non notification.

We do not hold any information relating to enforcement notices issued for
‘operating a profiling system without the knowledge or consent of the
people concerned as none have been issued.

I hope this information is helpful, however, if you are dissatisfied with
the response you have received and wish to request a review of our
decision or make a complaint about how your request has been handled you
should write to the Internal Compliance Team at the address below or
e-mail [2][email address]

Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40
working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request
received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the
Commissioner.

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right
of appeal to this office in our capacity as the statutory complaint
handler under the legislation.  To make such an application, please write
to the Case Reception Team, at the address below or visit the
‘Complaints’ section of our website to make a Freedom of Information
Act or Environmental Information Regulations complaint online.

 

A copy of our review procedure is attached.

Yours sincerely

Charlotte Powell

Internal Compliance Manager

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http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

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2. mailto:[email address]

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8th May 2009

Case Reference Number RCC0247267

Dear Mr John

 Thank you for your correspondence dated 6 May 2009.

This correspondence will now be treated as a request for review of your
recent request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will respond by 4 June 2009 which is 20 working days from the day after
we received your recent correspondence.  This is in accordance with our
internal review procedures.

Yours sincerely

Charlotte Powell

Internal Compliance Manager

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http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

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15th July 2009

Case Reference Number RCC0247267

Dear Mr John

My name is Simon Entwisle I am the Chief Operating Officer at the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).  Your request for a review of
the way in which we responded to your recent FOI request has been passed
to me.

I have looked carefully at what you requested and the further comments
that you made in your request for a review.  I am now in a position to
respond.  I apologise for the delay in replying.

In your initial request to the ICO dated 9 April 2009 you asked for the
date on which BT Retail first registered as a data controller.  In our
response to the request we indicated that we did not have the precise date
and explained the fact that this was as a result of their initial register
entry having been submitted under the Data Protection Act 1984.  I have
confirmed that our response was accurate.  We no longer hold the
information requested.

Your second request concerns the date on which BT Retail changed the
purpose for which they registered to include ‘advertising, marketing and
public relations for others’.  In your request for a review you asked
in particular that the ICO should explain why we were able to provide you
with the date on which the additional purpose had been added, but were
unable to provide any documentation.

I can confirm that the specific request for a change of purpose has been
destroyed in line with our records management policy.  However, our
database still retains the date on which the specific change was made. 
In order to further confirm the position, we are able to supply you with a
copy of British Telecom’s entry prior to 13 February 2002 and with a
copy of the entry after that date.  You will see that the latter entry
includes the additional purpose.

Your next request was for copies of all registration documents supplied by
BT since January 2005.   Again, I have reviewed our response and I can
confirm that the information that we sent to you and the explanation that
we gave to you in our letter to you of 6 May 2009 contains everything that
the ICO holds that is relevant to this particular request. 

You also asked for any enforcement notices.  Our response was that we did
not hold any information relating to enforcement notices.  I can confirm
that having re-checked this response, we do not hold any recorded
information concerning enforcement notices issued for non-notification
against British Telecom.

I hope the additional information that I have supplied assists you
further.

If you are not content that your review has been dealt with correctly, you
have a further right of appeal to this office in our capacity as the
statutory complaint handler under the legislation. To make such an
application, please write to the Case Reception Team, at the address below
or visit the ‘Complaints’ section of our website to make a Freedom of
Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations complaint online.

Yours sincerely

Simon D C Entwisle

Chief Operating Officer

Enclosures x3

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http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

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