§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the headings or fields of information under which his Department's databases record personal details of serving and former members of HM armed forces. [80614]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonPersonal details of serving and former members of the armed forces are held on a variety of databases which contain a large number of different headings or fields of information. In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1984, details of the Ministry of Defence's use of personal data are contained within the 371W Data Protection Register. The Register entry shows the purposes for which data are held by the Department and for each purpose:
- (a) the types of individuals about whom data are held;
- (b) the classes of personal data held;
- (c) where the data are obtained from;
- (d) who the data may be disclosed to;
- (e) any countries outside the UK where the personal data may be sent.
Our Register entry covers both civilian and Service personnel. A list of headings or fields of information particular to databases used for recording personal details of serving and former members of the armed forces is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Data Protection Register is publicly available from the Data Registrar's website on http://www.dpr.gov.uk. The Ministry of Defence's Register Entry is G0626166.