The Data Protection Act
The Data Protection Act (2018) relates to living individuals and provides everyone access to their own personal information, if held by PRONI. You can contact PRONI seeking information about yourself or on behalf of a relative if you have their consent – this is also known as a Subject Access Request (SAR). Subject Access Requests must be made in writing – you can contact us by letter, email or by submitting a PRONI enquiry form online.
What do I need to make a Subject Access Request?
Information requested as part of a Subject Access Request will only be released to the person that the information relates to (the Data Subject) or their authorised representative. Proof of identify will therefore be required before a search can be undertaken or information disclosed (e.g., passport / driving licence – please do not send original documents).
Please be aware that only information relating to the data subject can be released. Any third-party personal data relating to living individuals (up to age 100) contained within the information remained protected under the Data Protection Act, therefore if you also seek to access the personal data of a deceased individual born less than 100 years ago, proof of their death (e.g. a death certificate) will be required.
For example, if you are seeking access to your school records, but also wish to gain access to your sibling’s records, you would need to provide proof that they are deceased (or provide authorization that they are content you work on their behalf – see below).
If we do not hear from you within twenty working days of requesting proof of identity, your request will be automatically closed off. However, you are free to make a new request at any time.
Requesting a search on behalf of someone else
If a third party is acting on the data subject’s behalf (for example if you are helping a relative apply for their information) we will require a Form of Authority to be completed and submitted to us along with the data subject’s proof of identity. This confirms to us that the data subject, seeking access to their own information, has authorised you to work on their behalf and that any results found relating to the data subject can be released to you.
Once all the required information has been supplied, a search of the relevant archives will be carried out. Once completed we shall inform you of the outcome. Any relevant information found as part of our search will only be released to you (or to the person acting on your behalf) and will not be available to the world at large or for public consultation at PRONI (in contrast to information released as part of a Freedom of Information request).