20. How we collect and use information-Data Protection Act 1998 The Official Receiver is the Data Controller for the purposes of the above Act. The Official Receiver collects information about you to fulfil his statutory functions in relation to your bankruptcy. The Official Receiver may check information provided by you, or information about you provided by a third party, with other information held by him. He may also get information about you from certain third parties, or give information to them, to check the accuracy of information or to prevent or detect crime. He will not disclose information about you to anyone outside The Insolvency Service unless the law permits him to do so. Individuals are entitled to know what information is held about them by the Official Receiver/Insolvency Service. However, we are not required to give you information which would be likely to prejudice the proper discharge by the Official Receiver of functions designed to protect members of the public against financial loss due to the conduct of discharged and undischarged bankrupts. Most of the information held by the Official Receiver will mainly have come from from you in the questionnaire you completed and your statements made to the Official Receiver. You will, of course, know this information already but you can check its accuracy if you wish to do so. Please note that computerised information held about you on the Individual Insolvency Register can be read by members of the public. Our leaflet entitled “Individual Insolvency Register” gives details of the type of information held on the register and is available from your local Official Receiver’s office. If you want to know more about what information is held about you, or the purposes for which it is held, you should contact the Data Protection Liaison Officer (DPLO) at the Official Receiver’s office which dealt with your bankruptcy. The DPLO will send you full details of the type of information held about you. He will also give you a standard data request form to complete and return with payment of the relevant fee and appropriate forms of identification. On receiving the completed request form and fee, the DPLO has 40 days to deal with your request. When you get the information, if you discover that it is inaccurate and/or incorrect you should, in the first instance, write to the DPLO with full details. You can get further information about the Data Protection Act 1998 from the Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (Tel: 01625 545 745) or from its website: www.dataprotection.gov.uk This booklet provides general information only. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, but it is not a full and authoritative statement of the law and you should not rely on it as such. The Insolvency Service cannot accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions as a result of negligence or otherwise. © Crown copyright 2004. The information in this booklet is subject to Crown copyright protection. The Crown copyright material may be reproduced free of charge in any format or media without requiring specific permission. This is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and not being used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. Where the material is being published or issued to others, the sources and copyright status should be acknowledged. If there were a restriction on reproduction, any other proposed use of the material would be subject to the approval of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office Unit.

Application should be made to the Copyright Unit, HMSO, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ. Tel: 01603 621000 Fax: 01603 723000. The permission to reproduce Crown copyright material does not extend to any material in this booklet which is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material would need to be obtained from the copyright holders concerned. For further details on the licensing of Crown copyright, see current guidance at http://www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm issued by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. To obtain further copies of this guide, please contact the Insolvency Service Publications Order Line on 0121 698 4241, your local Official Receiver’s office or write to: The Insolvency Service (Publications Orders) Records Management 4th Floor East Ladywood House

Birmingham B2 4UZ Publications can also be ordered on our website at www.insolvency.gov.uk Issued by The Insolvency Service PO Box 203 21 Bloomsbury Street London WC1B 3QW DX 120875 Bloomsbury 6DX Printed April 2004