SARs allow an individual to request sight of all information that an organisation holds about them, but Deputy Curgenven said that he was shocked when the information from Home included social media posts.
A series of Rule 14 questions about the situation were submitted by Scrutiny Panel vice-president Liam McKenna and Home president Marc Leadbeater responded.
One of Deputy McKenna’s questions asked how the committee came to have the social media posts.
‘I have been open about the fact that I personally took some screenshots relating to matters connected with the committee’s responsibilities, some of which were later forwarded to the office,’ replied Deputy Leadbeater.
‘Other screenshots were received from members of the public and from other deputies.
‘The material was not gathered as part of any systematic monitoring exercise conducted by the States of Guernsey or by officers.’
He also said that it did not routinely engage in processing or storing any personal data sourced from social media posts on any platform and Home did not use any third party to gather such data, either.
Deputy Leadbeater has said that ‘no States committee has been monitoring anyone’, but in answer to a further question he said that this comment was made in good faith in response to allegations which he considered unsupported.
‘It is assumed the quotes referenced originate from social media posts,’ he wrote.
‘In the same discussion I also stated that I had “seen no evidence” of any States of Guernsey committee monitoring individuals.’
‘Unusual’ rise in Subject Access Requests creates extra work for officers
Home Affairs president Marc Leadbeater is concerned about States members encouraging people to submit Subject Access Requests to the committee and the amount of time it is taking to deal with them.
He said that as of 5 June it had received 35 SARs, which compel a body to provide copies of all data held on an individual to them on request.
These were encouraged by Deputy Rob Curgenven, he said. ‘While individuals are entirely entitled to exercise their rights under data protection legislation, I do have concerns about elected representatives encouraging large numbers of people to submit broad-ranging requests on the basis of allegations that have not been substantiated,’ said Deputy Leadbeater.
SARs are an important legal right and he said that the committee would ensure that all ‘valid requests’ were dealt with according to its statutory obligations. ‘However, the number received over such a short period is highly unusual and has created a significant additional workload for the officers responsible for handling them.’
Some of these related to all operational areas under Home’s remit, he said, while the scope of others was unclear. ‘In each case, the data protection team has contacted the individual concerned to request proof of identity and clarification regarding the scope and timeframe of their request before processing can continue.’
Two have been withdrawn, while one has narrowed the scope of their request to just one service rather than all of the committee’s remit.
Deputy Leadbeater said that an SAR was not just a matter of producing a file or pressing a button and information might need to be searched for across many operational areas, then reviewed carefully and assessed to make sure that third parties’ rights and personal data were protected.
Home has already responded to allegations that it had monitored Deputy Curgenven or anyone else and Deputy Leadbeater said no evidence had been provided to support these claims.
‘Nevertheless, the videos have resulted in a substantial number of requests being submitted, requiring significant officer time and public resources to process.
‘The committee and its officers will nevertheless continue to process all valid requests professionally and in accordance with the law.’