We advised a substantial company on its obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998. The company particularly needed guidance on the appropriate wording to be used on its credit account application documents and on the order forms enclosed with its hard copy catalogues.
This involved a careful analysis of precisely which individuals the company might wish to credit-check and from whom prior consent would need to be obtained: these might include, for example, directors and guarantors (who could be directors’ spouses) of an applicant company, individual partners of a partnership and sole traders.
We prepared a form of Data Protection Act consent to be signed by those individuals and amended the company’s existing credit application form to cross-refer to the consent. We also made changes to the company’s order form to make it clear that anyone wishing to apply for a credit account would be required to sign a Data Protection Act consent.
The work had to be done within a tight timescale because the company was operating to a deadline.
