Adult Social Care works under the legal obligations and conditions of both the principles of the Data Protection Act and the Articles of the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR was effective from 25 May 2018 and makes additional requirements of organisations in respect of data handling. These include increased transparency about any data sharing and requesting consent from the data subject only where there is a genuine choice for the person involved.
Article 6 of the GDPR allows Adult Social Care to process information because under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the Care Act 2014, Adult Social Care has a legal obligation to provide services. Article 9 of the GDPR allows processing of special category (sensitive) data where it is necessary for the provision of health or social care.
Article 7 of the GDPR states that consent to share information cannot be freely given by an individual if provision of a service is conditional on consent. Therefore Adult Social Care will not be asking for consent to share information, where it is necessary to provide direct care.
However, Article12 requires organisations to provide concise and transparent information to people whose data they hold about how their information may be shared with other agencies. Therefore Adult Social Care will be open about how we may share your information, but we will not necessarily ask for your consent, if it is necessary for your care.
Adult Social Care will still ask you for consent where you have a genuine choice, for example in connection with the relatives you would like us to speak to, or any that you do not wish us to speak to.