International Policy on Protection of Personal Information

Policy Issue

The collection and use of information about and by individuals is at the heart of social work practice, as recognised in the IFSW International Code of Ethics. Because of its perceived attractions in the administration of social welfare services, computerisation is of growing importance. However, the new technology changes existing power relations and places a renewed responsibility on professionals to consider its implications for their services and for the interests of their clients and service users.

Background

Social workers and others have raised concern throughout the world about the increased use and availability of computers in social work. Also laws have been adopted in many countries which attempt to incorporate international standards of data protection at a general level. Examples include those promoted by the Council of Europe. Social workers' concerns include: How to deal with the confidentiality of data: what kinds of data social workers should collect, and from whom; the purposes for which data are to be generated; how long data should be stored for; and to whom data can be made available among clients or users of services.

The issues raised by computerisation are not new to social work, given that the collection and use of personal information is fundamental to the work of the profession. Nevertheless, new opportunities and problems are created by the technology, and considerations of social work practice have not been uppermost in the thinking of national governments on data protection and the safeguarding of personal privacy. Instead, commercial interests and factors associated with the transmission of information from one country to another have been more important. Accordingly, this policy statement takes as its starting point the core elements of social work practice and relates them to computerisation. It should be noted that it is technically possible for any manual records system to be computerised, including text material. However, what is technically possible is not always desirable. Experience with some computer systems indicates that such systems may anyway not be effective, either in producing policy-relevant information, or improving the quality of personal information handled.

A modern high-technology society needs to have a fast and easy flow of information. But it must also consider how much and what kind of information it needs on individuals. This raises questions about how much control a society should exercise over the individual citizen.

The personal information recorded by social workers concerns only that part of the population who are social work clients or service users. Therefore the extensive recording of data can contribute to an unwelcome isolation of this group. Furthermore, social workers are particularly well placed to acquire a broad spectrum of information about individuals. Their unique position has led to their being increasingly requested to record personal data for purposes other than immediate or long-term help to their clients or service users.

A parallel tendency has been the pressure on social workers to make collection of data from clients or users a precondition for providing social work services or other forms of assistance as, for example, when social assistance payments are dependent on the possession and disclosure of a bank account. In contrast, professional social work should offer a relationship based on unconditional regard. Questions about extraneous issues should not intrude, unless both parties to the relationship expressly agree.

Policy Statement

IFSW is convinced that in client-based data collection, the person collecting information should not be the social worker assigned to help the client or user. The client or user should have the right to choose to participate in the process without suffering adverse personal consequences. The client or user should have the opportunity to judge the validity of the proposed data collection exercise; he or she should have the right to cancel his/her participation up to the pre-report stage of the investigation.

IFSW believes that the principles of knowledge and of decision-making by clients or users are central to considerations of protecting privacy. Thus the client or user should be informed of the existence of any information system and of its purpose. Agency regulations should specify how data would be handled inside and outside the agency, and these regulations should likewise be communicated to the client or user.

IFSW suggests that the agency's responsibilities are: To ensure that data are not used for purposes other than those for which they were required; to ensure that employees' contracts of employment reflect the obligation to maintain client confidentiality; to respect the client's wishes about the secure storage of information; to ensure that legitimate disclosure of client-related information is dependent on the client's wishes, or that the agency discloses no more information than is necessary for its purposes; to indicate prescribed periods after which records are destroyed. It seems that the need to retain information diminishes over time, although there are some specific exceptions. Therefore, it should be generally assumed that the information is destroyed, unless an exception is made or a summary is prepared for the purpose of maintaining archives.

IFSW proposes that exceptions to the general policy of records destruction should be made only on the basis of professionally agreed criteria.
IFSW contends that social workers need to promote a more rigorous approach to the transmission of information in which they are involved. When a social worker seeks information from a client, or is asked by a third party to provide information on a client or user, certain stipulations should be met. These include: The request should be made in writing, and verbal discussions or telephone conversations should be recorded; the client or user should be given the opportunity to provide the information needed, rather than obtaining information from computers or other agencies; and he or she should be given a paper copy of the information provided or be informed of the information obtained; records of access to the file should be maintained on the individual file itself, and should be made as difficult as possible to erase from the file.

IFSW endorses a general assumption and practice of openness between social workers and clients or users. This applies to all aspects of social work, including the sharing of information. However, when a social worker decides that it is inappropriate for a client or user to exercise his or her right to gain access to information under agency regulations, the social worker should be entitled to refuse such access. Refusal of access should be on the basis of professionally agreed criteria, and should not be imposed arbitrarily by governments or others. In such circumstances, the client or user should be allowed to refer to a defined 'trustee' (such as a psychologist or social worker) who has been licensed for this purpose. The client or user would choose an individual trustee from a list maintained by a data protection authority. The task of such a trustee would be to review the agency's reasons for wishing to deny the client access to the information. The trustee would have the power to overrule the agency's refusal to disclose information.

IFSW acknowledges that all files, but particularly computer files, have inherent limitations, as "subsets of reality". Thus, if crucial decisions are being made about a client, simply on the basis of what is in the file, the client should be able to have the decision reconsidered after he or she has given an opinion on the decision, in person or through a representative. Examples of such decisions can include those on custody, the transfer of parental rights, and parental access to children.

IFSW stresses that the practice of social work requires communications between people, in which every effort must be made to keep such relationships unconstrained by external disrupting factors. The social worker's role is subject to ethical considerations; and the specific ethical duty of the social worker is to maintain the client's right to a relationship of mutual trust, privacy, and confidentiality. Also, it is pragmatically necessary for social work to function in such a way that communication is subject to minimum of external constraints.

IFSW reminds that the power to maintain and link information given by computers requires a countervailing concern for the wishes and interest of clients or users who are "subjects" of the data. Hence, it is essential to specify clearly the purposes for which data are to be kept.

IFSW proposes that good practice by social workers requires the close scrutiny of the basis, including the information, on which important decisions are made. Social workers should become aware of the technology and its implications. They should aim to work according to the principles outlined in this policy statement. They should also make clear to governments and international organisations who determine policies for data protection precisely what kinds of data should be protected.