Scottish Government access to birth certificate data via ScotlandsPeople: FOI release

Information requested

Information related to the Scottish Government's access to birth certificate serial numbers via ScotlandsPeople or other channels.

Response

The answers to your questions are below.

1. Does the Scottish Government access birth certificate serial numbers via ScotlandsPeople or other channels?

No. The Scottish Government does not access birth certificate serial numbers via ScotlandsPeople or through any other channels.

2. What departments or directorates are authorised to access this data?

No departments or directorates within the Scottish Government access birth certificate serial numbers. The ScotlandsPeople database is not used by the Scottish Government for this purpose.

3. What is the lawful basis under UK GDPR for such access?

As the Scottish Government does not access birth certificate serial numbers, there is no applicable lawful basis under UK GDPR for such access.

4. Are DPIAs, internal reviews, or risk assessments available?

As there is no access to birth certificate serial numbers, no Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), internal reviews, or risk assessments have been conducted in relation to this type of data.

5. Is the data retained, indexed, or used for policy, statistical, or administrative purposes?

Birth certificate serial number data is not accessed, retained, indexed, or used by the Scottish Government for policy, statistical, or administrative purposes.

6. Is this access governed by a formal agreement with NRS or any third-party data processor?

There is no formal agreement between the Scottish Government and National Records of Scotland (NRS), or any third-party data processor, for access to birth certificate serial numbers.

The Redress Relations and Response Team within the Scottish Government has permissions to access birth, death, and marriage records via the ScotlandsPeople database. However, in practice, the team only accesses death certificate data, and solely for the purposes of administering the Scotland Redress Scheme. Birth certificate data, including serial numbers, is not accessed or used.

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