Right of Erasure (Right to be Forgotten)

Under the forthcoming European General Data Protection Regulations, individuals have the right to have personal data erased. This is also known as the ‘right to be forgotten’.

You can make a request either verbally or in writing and the Trust will have one month to respond to your request. You should be aware, however, that this right is not absolute and that it only applies in certain circumstances. 

When does the right to erasure apply?

As stated above, the ‘right to be forgotten’ applies only in certain circumstances, most commonly these would be:

• Where the data the Trust is processing is no longer necessary for the purpose it was originally collected or processed for;
  
  
• You originally provided your consent to allow us to process your information and then subsequently you chose to opt out of the processing. If there is no other lawful basis for us to hold the data, the right to be forgotten may apply;
  
  
• The Trust is legally obliged to erase your data (such as due to a Court Order);
  
  

There are certain circumstances when we would not be required to comply with a Request to Erase information and we will provide our justification for this decision, in detail, in our written response to a formal request. Alternatively, the Information Governance team will be happy to provide further information and they can be contacted via e-mail at Information.Governance@stockport.nhs.uk