Newsletter - 21st April 2018
Data Protection legislation SHOULD protect data!
Findmypast preview 1939
maps feature
Findmypast offer in US
& Canada ENDS TOMORROW
DNA Day means offers galore ENDING SOON
Budget funerals on the increase
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The latest political scandal
to erupt on this side of the Atlantic is the destruction in 2010 of landing
cards for the West Indians who came to Britain from 1948 onwards on the MV
Empire Windrush and other ships - as a result of which some people who have
been resident in the UK for over half a century have been wrongly denied
medical treatment, lost their jobs, or been threatened with deportation. The
decision to destroy the landing cards has been blamed by the Prime Minister on
officials of the UK Border Agency, who were responding to the Data Protection
Act (which forbids the retention of personal information once it is no longer
needed by the entity that collected it).
If you've not been following
this story this article
on the BBC News website summarises what happened - or, at least, what is
thought to have happened.
It has long been obvious to
me that, far from protecting personal data, the Data Protection Act is likely
to lead to its destruction, depriving the subjects and their loved ones of the
opportunity to make use of their
information - in other words the focus on preventing data falling into the wrong hands has also prevented it from
finding safekeeping in the right
hands! Let's go back 8 years to when I first started writing about this topic…..
In early 2010 it looked
increasingly likely that there would be a change of government following the
forthcoming General Election so on 3rd March 2010 I took the opportunity to email
Dominic Grieve, the shadow minister whose portfolio of responsibilities
included data protection. Here's what I wrote:
Subject: Shouldn't data protection legislation
protect data?
Some of the legislation introduced over the past 12 or 13 years has been arguably well-meant but indisputably badly thought-out.
An example of this is the Data Protection Act, which prevents personal information being misused, but doesn't actually protect the data. Indeed, if anything, it encourages organisations to destroy the data they hold.
As a result we now have a situation where hospitals are routinely destroying patients' data after 8-10 years, a timescale that appears to have been determined more by the risk of malpractice lawsuits than by the needs of those patients.
I was absolutely horrified to discover that hospital records are more likely to have survived from the 19th century than from the 21st century, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that this is bureaucracy gone haywire.
True, patients can request a copy of their records (if they're quick), and safeguard it themselves - but that's an expensive and inefficient process [w]here there are paper records, X-rays etc. An individual might have to pay £50 to each data holder to get their own data.
Surely it would make more sense for hospitals and similar bodies to offer the original files to the patients concerned (or their representatives) before destroying them? If properly planned it would be relatively inexpensive to implement, and it would put the control of personal data back where it belongs - with the person concerned.
In my opinion data protection legislation that doesn't protect data is a nonsense. What do you think?
I am copying this email to your colleague Andrew Lansley as this aspect of data protection relates particularly to the NHS.
Peter Calver
Sadly I didn't get a response from either Dominic Grieve or
Andrew Lansley. (By contrast, Chris Grayling, a shadow Home Office minister who
I also contacted did respond to my
emails - he even forwarded one of my emails, about data protection, to Dominic
Grieve.)
But I didn’t give up there -
later that year I attended a formal dinner where our local MP, Sir Alan Haselhurst, and Kenneth Clarke, the Lord Chancellor and
Secretary of State for Justice, were speaking. At one point during the evening
Sir Alan, who had been sitting at top table on Ken Clarke's right, got up to
greet constituents, so I somewhat audaciously took the opportunity to slot into
the vacant chair and put my views on data protection to the Justice Secretary
face to face (I must admit I wouldn't have dared had he been dressed as Lord
Chancellor!).
Having put my case I was
firmly put in my place by the Minister, who said "I doubt that one person
in a million is interested in seeing their hospital records" - to which I
should have responded (but didn't), that I doubted one person in a million is
interested in seeing their hospital records destroyed. Ironically that dinner
took place in October 2010, the very month in which - according to the Daily
Mirror - the landing cards for the Windrush generation of immigrants
were thoughtlessly destroyed, supposedly for data protection reasons.
Note: as all readers of this newsletter will know,
ships' passenger lists for arrivals in the UK until 1960 are held by the
National Archives, and have been online at Ancestry for
many years. I
contacted the BBC about this a couple of days ago but they couldn't be bothered
to respond, so instead they were scooped by the Financial Times, who made it
the lead story on today's front page - as you can see from this BBC article.
Warning - the way some newspapers have subsequently reported this 'discovery' makes it
seem as if the landing cards have turned up in the National Archives - they haven't.
Data
Protection legislation SHOULD protect data!
I reported
my encounter with Ken Clarke in an article entitled Why doesn't the Data Protection Act protect data? in the LostCousins newsletter on 31st October 2010. Following
publication of that article I was contacted by a number of readers who reported
specific instances in which the destruction of medical records had impacted
upon them, and I summarised these in a follow-up article.
Just a few months later my
father died in hospital, and I made sure that I got a copy of his hospital
records before they were destroyed. Just as well that I did - they revealed
that the doctors had decided not to keep him alive, which for someone
approaching 95 wasn't necessarily the wrong decision. But it’s a shame that
they didn't think to tell his relatives, let alone consult with us - not only
would it have enabled us to say our goodbyes properly, all of
his children could have been by his side when the time came.
But it's not just about
medical records - if the Windrush scandal has taught us anything, it's that
mindless adherence to poorly formulated rules leads to
problems. On 25th May the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into
force in the UK, and similar provisions will apply across the European Union.
The new rules further help to protect individuals against the misuse of their
personal data, but as far as I can I see they do nothing to prevent its
destruction.
Today we learned that the Prime
Minister has promised compensation for those who were unfairly treated by the
Home Office - but that doesn't get to the heart of the problem. Newspapers on
right and left are focusing on immigration and race, but the real lesson for
all of us is how precious records are. To quote from my email to shadow Justice
Minister Dominic Grieve 8 years ago:
"hospital records are more likely to have
survived from the 19th century than from the 21st century, and I'm sure I'm not
the only one who thinks that this is bureaucracy gone haywire"
In one month's time things
are going to get worse - unless the powers-that-be come to their senses.
Clearly there's not much more that I can do on my own, however all of us in the
UK could write to our local MPs, to make the point that the Windrush scandal
isn't primarily about immigration or racial prejudice (although they're clearly
important considerations), but about the wanton destruction of valuable records
by unelected bureaucrats responding to poorly-framed legislation.
After a 6
month search Ancestry have appointed Margo Georgiadis
as Chief Executive Officer. She previously spent 14 months in a similar
position at Mattel, the toymaker - hopefully she'll stay with Ancestry for
longer. I suspect that at some point this year we'll see a revival of the plans
to refloat Ancestry on the stockmarket
- for several years the company has been owned by private equity funds, who are
likely to be sitting on a large unrealised profit.
Findmypast previews 1939 maps
feature
I don’t know how many Findmypast subscribers have been chosen to preview their
new Maps feature, but it's certainly
quite impressive - so give it a go if you can.
(I vaguely remember Genes
Reunited using similar technology, though from memory it was too inaccurate to
be of any real value.)
Findmypast offer in US &
Canada ENDS TOMORROW
If you live in the US or Canada
you will have received an email from me earlier this month about an exclusive promotion - so I just want to remind you
that it ends tomorrow (Sunday 22nd April).
DNA Day means offers
galore ENDING SOON
April 25th is DNA Day - the
anniversary of the day in 1953 when the discovery of the structure of DNA was
announced. In 2003 it was declared a public holiday in the US, to celebrate the
(near) completion of the Human Genoome Project, but
it was a one-time celebration - nevertheless that hasn't stopped companies
which offer DNA tests from using it as an opportunity to promote their
services!
This year there is a wealth
of offers, but price shouldn't determine your choice. For most people (almost
everyone reading this newsletter, in fact) the Ancestry DNA test is by far the
best choice, because over 10 million people have bought their test - more than
all the other companies added together, so you will find more cousins and break
down more 'brick walls'. Also
whilst you can transfer Ancestry DNA results to other websites to make further
matches, you cannot transfer other companies' results to Ancestry - the only
way to compare your DNA against that enormous database is to test with
Ancestry.
Whoever you decide to test with
you can support LostCousins by using the links below.
Ancestry DNA
Save £20 at Ancestry.co.uk until
midnight on Thursday 26th April (£59 plus shipping, UK residents only)
Save €24 at Ancestry Ireland until
midnight on Thursday 26th April (€71 plus shipping, Eire residents only)
Save $40 at Ancestry.com until 9pm
PST on Sunday 29th April ($59 plus taxes and shipping, US residents only)
Save $40 at Ancestry.ca until 9pm
PST on Monday 30th April ($89 including taxes, but excluding shipping, Canadian residents only)
These are the lowest prices of the year so far - if
you spot an offer at Ancestry.com.au please let me know.
Family Tree DNA
Save on Family
Finder tests until 28th April ($49 plus shipping)
You can also save on Y-DNA
and mtDNA tests when you follow this link
(for example, the Y-37 test is down from $169 to $139); but don’t order
an mtDNA test unless you have checked with me first.
23andMe
Save 30% in the US and Canada
when you follow this link
(ends 25th April)
Living DNA
Save 20% when you follow this
link
(ends 26th April)
Note: the Living DNA test is
best for those who have already tested elsewhere but want a more detailed
breakdown of their British ethnicity.
Other companies
If you’re ever tempted to
test with a company other than those listed here I suggest you check with me
first - there's probably a good reason why they're not listed.
Let's face it - a lot of
people can't understand why we're interested in family history. So I was
interested to read this article
on the Psychology Today website which,
amongst other things, looks at the fictions and fallacies that can easily turn
our findings from fact to fantasy.
But most interesting, for me
at least, were the references to 'secret adoptions', a topic that we touched on
in the last issue, and misattributed paternity - often called cuckoldry. Until
the advent of DNA testing there was no reliable way of proving who the father
of a child was, though analysis of blood types could sometimes prove that the
supposed father couldn't have been the actual father. This web
page summarises some of the studies that have been carried out - and, as
you will see, there are a wide range of findings, depending on the population
being sampled.
Budget
funerals on the increase
Following on from the news in
the last issue about plans to waive the cost of child burials in England came
the story that budget funerals are becoming more popular - you can find out
more in this BBC News article.
Nothing to do with genealogy,
but I couldn't resist mentioning the story of the man who hijacked a plane
using his fountain pen as weapon - you'll find it here.
This is where any
major updates and corrections will be highlighted - if you think you've spotted
an error first reload the newsletter (press Ctrl-F5) then check again before writing to me, in case someone else has
beaten you to it......
Finally, I'd just like to
wish Queen Elizabeth II a Very Happy 92nd Birthday - congratulations, ma'am. Coincidentally
the next issue will celebrate our 14th Birthday in style - don't miss it!
Peter Calver
Founder,
LostCousins
© Copyright 2018
Peter Calver
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