A Pleasant Change
Sounds very fair and reasonable when all Spooked and Spooking Parties are Fully Informed.
Organisations should not hand over employees' personal details to private investigators except in very limited circumstances, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has warned. The handing over of personal information is likely to be a breach of the Data Protection Act (DPA) in most cases but if some strict conditions are …
"...disclosure can still take place provided that there is no overriding duty of confidence in the particular circumstances, the purpose that the information will be used for is in the legitimate interests of the individual and will not prejudice them in any way and the organisation subsequently informs them of the unexpected disclosure"
The problem is with "subsequently" and with who decides what's "in the legitimate interests of the individual". It doesn't sound like the "individual" gets to express an opinion on what's in their interest before it's too late to do anything about it (which neatly avoids the inconvenience of their trying to do anything about it to those who gain from handling the information).
The word "legitimate" appears to have been included only to obscure the blunt message that someone else is deciding what's best. What other purpose can that word serve?
If, for example, someone decides to leave home at age 16 and prefers that their family not contact them again, who is fit to decide that it's in that person's interest that they be thwarted? Up to age 16, you have no choice. You destiny is decided also, if you're too old to look after yourself. It sounds like what's best will now be decided for us also for all the years in between.