Data Protection Act 2018, section 11

Special categories of personal data etc: supplementary

PART 2 General processing

(1)For the purposes of Article 9(2)(h) of the [F56UK GDPRF56] (processing for health or social care purposes etc), the circumstances in which the processing of personal data is carried out subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in Article 9(3) of the [F56UK GDPRF56] (obligation of secrecy) include circumstances in which it is carried out—

(a)by or under the responsibility of a health professional or a social work professional, or

(b)by another person who in the circumstances owes a duty of confidentiality under an enactment or rule of law.

(2)In Article 10 of the [F57UK GDPRF57] and section 10, references to personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures include personal data relating to—

(a)the alleged commission of offences by the data subject, or

(b)proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed by the data subject or the disposal of such proceedings, including sentencing.

Definitions used in section 11 3

health professional

(1) In this Act, “health professional” means any of the following—

(a)a registered medical practitioner;

(b)a registered nurse or midwife;

(c)a registered dentist within the meaning of the Dentists Act 1984 (see section 53 of that Act);

(d)a registered dispensing optician or a registered optometrist within the meaning of the Opticians Act 1989 (see section 36 of that Act);

(e)a registered osteopath with the meaning of the Osteopaths Act 1993 (see section 41 of that Act);

(f)a registered chiropractor within the meaning of the Chiropractors Act 1994 (see section 43 of that Act);

(g)a person registered as a member of a profession to which the Health ... Professions Order 2001 (S.I. 2002/254) for the time being extends; ...

(h)a registered pharmacist or a registered pharmacy technician within the meaning of the Pharmacy Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/231) (see article 3 of that Order);

(i)a registered person within the meaning of the Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (S.I. 1976/1213 (N.I. 22)) (see Article 2 of that Order);

(j)a child psychotherapist;

(k)a scientist employed by a health service body as head of a department.

(l)a person registered under the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024.

Defined in s.204(1) · see it in the full Act
social work professional

(2) In this Act, “social work professional” means any of the following—

(a)a person registered as a social worker in the register maintained by Social Work England under section 39(1) of the Children and Social Work Act 2017;

(b)a person registered as a social worker in the register maintained by Social Care Wales under section 80 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (anaw 2);

(c)a person registered as a social worker in the register maintained by the Scottish Social Services Council under section 44 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 8);

(d)a person registered as a social worker in the register maintained by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council under section 3 of the Health and Personal Social Services Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 (c. 3 (N.I.)).

Defined in s.204(2) · see it in the full Act
enactment

“enactment” includes—

(a)

an enactment passed or made after this Act,

(b)

an enactment comprised in subordinate legislation,

(c)

an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, a Measure or Act of the National Assembly for Wales,

(d)

an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament, ...

(e)

an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, Northern Ireland legislation; and

(f)

any assimilated direct legislation;

Defined in s.205(1) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 11 4

Joseph Pacini & Anor v Dow Jones & Company Inc.

[2024] EWHC 2714 (KB) · 29 October 2024

Provides that Article 10 includes data relating to the alleged commission of offences and to proceedings for offences or their disposal. The court applied this provision but held that the reported civil allegations did not amount to such data in context. (see paras [95]-[96]; [110]-[113])

YSL v Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

[2024] EWHC 391 (KB) · 22 February 2024

Processing by health professionals or persons owing a legal duty of confidentiality satisfied the secrecy safeguards for health processing.

Hopkins v Revenue And Customs (Rev 1)

[2020] EWHC 2355 (QB) · 1 September 2020Defines

Arrest information concerning alleged offences fell within personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences. The provision did not create a separate duty to acknowledge that status. (see paras [91]-[98])

What each judgment says about section 11 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.

Amendments and notes

3 notes from legislation.gov.uk

Amendments

  1. F56Words in s. 11(1) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 14 (with reg. 5); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
  2. F57Words in s. 11(2) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 14 (with reg. 5); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Commencement

  1. I12S. 11 in force at 25.5.2018 by S.I. 2018/625, reg. 2(1)(b)