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Guidance for business on handling data requests
Businesses are collecting and using more data than ever before – about their customers and employees
And with this growth in data collection, organisations are increasingly facing requests from people wanting to know exactly what information is being held about them and how that information is being used.
According to Dorothy Agnew (right), senior solicitor at Moore Blatch, many businesses remain unsure about how to deal with these requests (commonly referred to as subject access requests), which can often prove difficult and very time consuming.
She explained: “When they receive a subject access request, many businesses do not know how much data they have to provide and whether they can refuse to supply certain personal information. They may also be unsure how fast they need to act and
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 anyone who makes a request in writing, and pays the appropriate fee, has the right to find out what personal data an organisation holds about them and to see that data.
“In most cases an organisation must respond promptly and within 40 calendar days of receiving the request. There are also some types of personal data that are exempt from these disclosure obligations, for example confidential employment references given about the individual do not have to be disclosed by the organisation that gave the reference.“
As part of the new guidance, the ICO has published 10 simple steps which organisations need to consider when responding to subject access requests.
what their options are if a request is repeated or unreasonable.
“New guidance has recently been issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) which aims to help with this, but it is always worth seeking the advice of a professional adviser if you are unsure.“
University switches on powerful supercomputer
The University of Southampton has flicked the “on“ switch for the most powerful university- based supercomputer in England and the third- largest academic supercomputing facility in the UK. ’Iridis4’ will also enter the top 10 of the UK’s elite supercomputers.
Dr Oz Parchment, director of research computing at the University, commented: “Southampton is a leader in High Performance Computing (HPC) and Iridis4 allows us to take another leap forward to keep pace with the needs of our world-class researchers.
“There is an ever-increasing demand for the use of supercomputing power for research and this new machine will provide the opportunity for even more academics to work on a greater number of projects, at faster speeds.“
In a deal worth £3.2 million, Southampton’s new supercomputer is powered by IBM Intelligent Cluster solutions and designed, integrated and supported by HPC, data management, storage and analytics company OCF plc. It is four times more powerful than its predecessor Iridis3 and has 12, 200 Intel Xeon E5-2670 processor cores, a petabyte (or one-million gigabytes) of disc space, with 50 terabytes of memory.
The new machine is one of very few in the UK to include Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors, which can take control of some of the most demanding mathematical calculations to significantly increase its processing power.
Iridis4 will mainly be used for research by University staff and students across a wide variety of disciplines, from engineering to archaeology, and from medicine to computer science. It is estimated around 350 projects are likely to run on the machine in the first year.
University of Southampton pro vice-chancellor Professor Philip Nelson said: “Staying ahead of the game in high performance computing is vital to help the University stay competitive. Simulation and computation enabled by HPC are recognised globally as the ’third pillar’ of modern research and this investment will ensure we remain world leaders in this field.“
Steve Legg, IBM’s University programs manager in the UK, said: “The University of Southampton occupies an enviable place in the ranks of
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – NOVEMBER 2013
leading research-led universities across the world and the Iridis supercomputing facility is just one example of a long-term partnership with IBM across many areas of collaboration.
“The growth of Big Data and the availability of computing power like Iridis4 means that the range of research areas that are enabled by supercomputing continues to grow. We look forward to seeing its impact on the University’s research, already recognised for the range and importance of the science conducted on the supercomputer’s predecessor, Iridis3.“
The University of Southampton’s Iridis3 will remain in operation, providing an important resource for industrial research through the e-Infrastructure South Consortium.
www.businessmag.co.uk
The code itself is not legally binding, but does provide guidance on how to handle and respond to a subject access request.
Details: Dorothy Agnew 023-8071-8083
dorothy.agnew@
mooreblatch.com www.mooreblatch.com
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