265.—(1) In this section—

F1569[‘Act of 2018’ means the Data Protection Act 2018;]

F1570[‘controller’ means a controller within the meaning of—

(a) the Data Protection Regulation, or

(b) Part 5 of the Act of 2018;]

F1569[‘Data Protection Regulation’ means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016³² on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);]

“information” means any personal data or information extracted from that data, whether collected before or after 5 February 1999;

F1570[‘personal data’ means personal data within the meaning of—

(a) the Data Protection Regulation, or

(b) Part 5 of the Act of 2018;]

“relevant purpose” means—

(a) for the purposes of determining entitlement to or control of—

(i) benefit,

(ii) a service provided by or under sections 45 F1571[, 45A], 58, 59 and 61 of the Health Act 1970 or regulations made thereunder,

(iii) F1572[…]

(iv) an allowance under the Blind Persons Act 1920,

F1573[(v) a grant—

(I) that—

(A) was awarded in accordance with section 2 (amended by section 3 of the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Act 1992) of the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Act 1968, and

(B) was continued under subsections (2) and (3) of section 6 of the Student Support Act 2011,

(II) that—

(A) was awarded pursuant to a scheme administered by a vocational education committee (within the meaning of section 7 of the Vocational Education Act 1930) whereby grants were provided to students to assist them in attending courses in higher or further education, and

(B) was continued under subsections (2) and (3) of section 6 of the Student Support Act 2011, or

(III) that was awarded under a scheme of grants made pursuant to section 16 of the F1574[Student Support Act 2011,]]

(vi) legal aid awarded under F1575[the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995, or] F1576[, or]

F1578[(vii) financial support under the F1579[Childcare Support Act 2018, or]]

F1577[(viii) the provision of a service under the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024,]

or

(b) for the purposes of—

(i) F1580[(i) carrying out a social housing assessment under section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009,]

F1581[(ii) allocating a dwelling under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009,]

(iii) the determining of rent or other payment in accordance with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966,

or the control thereof.

[1998 s14(1)]

(2) A specified body holding information may share that information with another specified body who has a transaction with a natural person relating to a relevant purpose, where the specified body seeking the information provides the personal public service number of the person who is the subject of the transaction and satisfies the F1582[controller] of the specified body holding the information that the information requested is relevant to the transaction for that purpose between the person and the specified body seeking the information.

[1998 s14(1)]

(3) A specified body may only seek information for the purposes of a transaction relating to a relevant purpose.

[1998 s14(1)]

(4) Where information shared between one specified body and another is found to be inaccurate, the specified body on making the discovery shall confirm with the person the correct information and advise the other specified body of the amended information.

[1998 s14(1); 2000 s32(1)(d)]

(5) A person who knowingly seeks or transfers any information held by a specified body relating to another by using that other’s personal public service number, other than where the seeking or transferring of information is provided for under this Act or any other enactment, is guilty of an offence.