Ms Helen Dixon:

It is a very interesting question. As we frequently point out as a data protection authority, data protection law does not prohibit policy choices by the Government. It does not necessarily prohibit any activity. What data protection law does is prohibit the processing of personal data unless it can be justified and legitimised under the data protection laws. Data protection law should never be used to obfuscate what is correct to do in all of the circumstances. Under data protection law, of course disclosures of any individual's personal data, particularly his or her sensitive health-related personal data and personal data relating to mental health, is prohibited unless there are specific circumstances that would justify it. Personal data can be disclosed where it is necessary to save a life or prevent serious harm to an individual. Each individual case would have to be looked at to see whether a basis exists to make such a disclosure. It is also likely to be the case that in circumstances such as those outlined by the Deputy, data protection law may not be all that is in scope, and he knows this better than I do. There may be medical ethical issues at play. In general terms, data protection law does not prevent what needs to be done to save the life of any individual.