Data Protection act - company to company?

Question

A General Manager for a manufacturer has gone to our distributors and asked for our contact details.

Is he allowed to do this?

I am not trying to be petty but the company i work for need to know whether he can just have this info.

My old driving instructor ran off with my money but the company he worked for said because of the data protection act they couldnt tell me where he lived so i could instruct a solicitor.

Answer 1

"data controller" means, subject to subsection (4), a person who (either alone or jointly or in common with other persons) determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, or are to be, processed;

"data processor", in relation to personal data, means any person (other than an employee of the data controller) who processes the data on behalf of the data controller;

data subject" means an individual who is the subject of personal data;
"personal data" means data which relate to a living individual who can be identified-
(a) from those data, or
(b) from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller,
and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and any indication of the intentions of the data controller or any other person in respect of the individual;

"processing", in relation to information or data, means obtaining, recording or holding the information or data or carrying out any operation or set of operations on the information or data, including-
a) organisation, adaptation or alteration of the information or data,
(b) retrieval, consultation or use of the information or data,
(c) disclosure of the information or data by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, or
(d) alignment, combination, blocking, erasure or destruction of the information or data;
"relevant filing system" means any set of information relating to individuals to the extent that, although the information is not processed by means of equipment operating automatically in response to instructions given for that purpose, the set is structured, either by reference to individuals or by reference to criteria relating to individuals, in such a way that specific information relating to a particular individual is readily accessible.

Answer 2

I'm not sure, but I think the data protection act applies to individuals, not companies. That doesn't necessarily mean that they have to give out company contact details, but I don't think you can use the act as a reason.

The driving instructor thing was probably right, but why couldn't you sue the company?

Answer 3

No he can't do this. It is a clear breach of the Data Protection Act, which states that information cannot be used for any other purpose than that for which it was originally collected - unless the provider of the information agrees to additional uses.