The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about alleged breaches to data protection legislation by the Council. This is because the most appropriate body to consider and decide such matters is the Information Commissioners Office. There is no good reason why we should investigate in these circumstances.
The complaint
The complainant (Mr F) complains about the Council’s handling of his personal information and data protection requests. In particular, he says the Council has recorded inaccurate information about his actions which concern an audio recording he made of a meeting between him and Council officers. Mr F says the Council has failed to correct the inaccuracies as a matter of data protection law and has not complied with his legal information requests.
In summary, Mr F explains the alleged failings mean the Council is not maintaining accurate personal and sensitive data about him which is a cause of distress. As a desired outcome, he wants the Council to amend its records and comply with his data protection requests.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I have carefully considered Mr F’s complaint to us and in my view this is expressly limited to matters of data protection legislation, specifically alleged non-compliance by the Council with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018. The Council’s response to Mr F addresses technical aspects of the legislation to make clear its position as to the accuracy of information it holds about him. The Council has expressly signposted the Mr F to the ICO should he dispute the Council’s interpretation of the legislation and its final position. I have also considered Mr F’s desired outcome which is limited to enforcing his data rights as a matter of law. We cannot make binding decisions as to data protection matters, nor enforce data rights. The appropriate body to consider and decide such matters is the ICO. I see no reason why Mr F cannot reasonably refer his complaint to this body. For these reasons, we are not the appropriate body to consider Mr F’s complaint and so we will not consider it further.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is limited to alleged data protection breaches and Mr F wanting to enforce his rights in this respect. We are not the appropriate body to consider and decide such matters.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman