FAQ on Data Protection or Freedom of
Information training at your office
We can come to you to train you on Data Protection or Freedom of
Information laws at a time that suits you. Instead of charging per
delegate, we charge a daily rate of £1,600 plus
VAT and travel and accommodation expenses.
Why use Pinsent Masons?
The Data Protection Act says that any organisation which
processes personal data must ensure the reliability of all of its
staff who have access to personal data. This, in many instances,
means training staff – and failure to train can result in a breach
of a statutory obligation.
Within most organisations there are a number of groups of staff
to train, each of whom has its own requirements. There are
front-line staff who need to know "what does data protection mean
to me?" and their managers who might need to know "why?". In
addition, there might be a team of staff who have data protection
incorporated into their job function, or who exercise statutory
powers, or who have access to personal data of a very sensitive
nature, or staff who need to know details of related legislation
such as the Human Rights Act 1998 and Freedom of Information Act
2001.
Whatever your training requirements, Pinsent Masons' experience
means that we can deliver a training course, on your premises, at a
time which suits you. In addition, the course content targets the
data protection issues confronting your business, and includes
elements of other relevant legislation. Whether you want to train
your in-house data protection liaison team, the managers in charge
of marketing, or staff who manage a call centre, you should
consider Pinsent Masons' expertise. Our legal experts have years of
experience in training, and in the law surrounding data protection,
freedom of information, human rights and other legislation which
has an impact on these areas. Our courses can deal with the
international aspects of data protection.
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The aim of Pinsent Masons' courses
Our aim is to make Pinsent Masons' training sessions relevant to
the data protection issues faced by our clients. Before undertaking
any training, we ask clients to identify the issues which affect
what they do so that we can illustrate our courses with appropriate
materials. This enables attendees to see the operation of the law
in a context which is relevant to them.
Clients choose from a variety of topics, but they normally
include one or more of the following: how to legitimise the use and
disclosure of personal data for other purposes; use of the
Internet; disclosures to third parties such as public authorities,
relatives of the Data Subject, or the police; and the processing of
personal data for research, human resources or marketing
purposes.
As our training courses are based on interaction with our
audience, we advise that no more than 25 delegates attend each
course. All courses will be delivered by using standard Microsoft
Powerpoint unless requested otherwise.
The courses outlined here represent our most popular
offerings:
- Basic staff training
- Short data protection courses
- Training for managers
- Training a data protection team
- Training in Freedom of Information
- Bespoke training course options
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Costs and conditions
Our costs are calculated on a daily rate of £1,600 plus VAT per
training day plus all reasonable travel and accommodation expenses
where, for example, the course is to be held some distance from
London. We do not charge per course or per delegate.
In advance of each course we normally send a single copy of the
course documentation for copying to delegates. If we are asked to
provide all copies there will be an extra charge to cover our costs
of photocopying, postage and packing.
We do not charge for course preparation unless a specific
bespoke training course is requested, in which case we will give
advance notice of any additional costs.
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Further details of our course options
Basic staff training
The basic data protection course is intended to give staff a
sound understanding of data protection issues faced by them at
work. We can normally deliver three to four sessions per day. Each
session lasts between 90 minutes and 2 hours depending on the needs
of the audience; we recommend the longer 2 hour time for staff who
have regular access to personal data so that they can discuss
matters as the course progresses. We can amend courses to include
special procedures (e.g. information security, telephone scripts or
recording techniques).
Each course is designed to answer six basic questions:
- Why is data protection important?
- How do the data protection principles relate to my work?
- What are my legal responsibilities?
- To whom can I turn for advice?
- What can happen if I make a mistake?
- What can happen if I deliberately flout the rules?
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Short data protection courses
We also offer short courses in data protection, as a brief
introduction to the subject and covering the basic practical
elements, but not extending to Human Rights or Freedom of
Information. These would normally last from 40 to 90 minutes.
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Training for managers
This course builds on all the elements of the Basic Staff
Training mentioned above. Since each course usually lasts half a
day, many organisations find it convenient to timetable two Basic
Staff Training Courses in the other half day.
The course includes the following additional objectives so that
managers understand: why data protection need not "get in the way"
of the business; why a breach has the potential to halt the
processing of personal data; where there are potential data
protection issues or conflicts in their area of responsibility,
what to do if they exist; why procedures need to be managed; why
data protection must be integrated into any new or existing product
or procedure, or in changes to procedure; why staff need
appropriate training; and the defences available if the "worst"
happens.
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Training for a data protection liaison
team
This all-day course normally covers the important elements of
the Data Protection Act 1998 which apply to the client, but we can
bring in elements of the Human Rights Act and the Freedom of
Information Act if requested.
With your help we will prioritise the course contents from the
following list of topics: the definitions (Data, Personal Data,
Relevant Filing Systems, Processing, Data Controller, Data
Processors); the First Data Protection Principle (i.e. lawful
processing, fair processing, legitimising the processing);
Disclosure and the Second Principle; the Data Protection Principles
which govern quality (Third, Fourth, Fifth); the Seventh Data
Protection Principle with particular reference to BS7799; the
Eighth Data Protection Principle and Schedule; the rights of Data
Subjects and the Sixth Principle; relevant exemptions,
notification/ registration and the Information Commissioner's
Powers; and offences under the Act.
We normally illustrate the application of the Data Protection
Principles using problem areas relevant to our clients (e.g.
Internet use, human resources, data matching, marketing).
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Training in Freedom of Information
This all-day course is based on the practical implications of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The questions answered are:
- Who is subject to FOI legislation?
- What information is accessible?
- What information should be identified in a publication
scheme?
- How do you provide access?
- How are the Data Protection and Human Rights Acts
connected?
- What are the exemptions from access?
- What can happen after access?
- What is the role of the regulator?
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Bespoke training course
Please let us know your requirements. Additional course
preparation charges will be incurred only if we are asked to
prepare something outside our general range of materials.
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Contact us
If you would like to know more about our data protection
training services, please contact:
Helen Hadjipantelis
Training Administrator
Pinsent Masons
30 Aylesbury Street
London EC1R 0ER
Tel: 020 7490 6218
Fax: 020 7490 2545
Email: training@pinsentmasons.com
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