I am just wondering what is the legality of obtaining your own personall information once you have disassociated yourself from this organization
smiddy
If I disassociate myself from the org.,can I obtain all of my information that they have on me ? Legally ?
by smiddy 13 Replies latest jw friends
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smiddy
What I am saying is can you extricate every bit of information they have about you ?so that their is nothing left in their files ?
With their past experience can we trust them ? Do you trust them ?
smiddy
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Diest
JWFacts has something about this on his website. I dont remember where, but you should look.
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the truth is mine
You can try but I don’t think you will ever succeed in getting everything. I am pretty sure that they might be willing to give you your publisher cards but even they specifically state that while a publisher can request to see their records at any time the actual card is not the property of the publisher but WTS. And they would never give up the information that is kept form judicial committees. They might not even acknowledge that it actually exists.
The author of JWfacts did get his records but he actually only got copies of them. The Bethal branch retained the originals. Queensland is a state of Australia, so I think you would have laws allowing you to get copies of information they have collected on you but not originals. If it is important to you I would suggest checking with someone in authority who knows the laws and their current interpretation.
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truthseeker1969
Under the data protection act 1997 they are obliged once requested to release any and all information pertaining to you. Under this law you have the right to refute any information that you deem incorrect and or innacurate.
If your country has this act in force you would need to check the rules for your country as they do vary.
If they refuse, as they have in the past, then you can force them through the ombusman to get your files.
They are crafty though, fail to tell them exact congregations and they will omit looking for you and you could find them saying they have no files on you.
I believe at this time, only in Russia can you demand that they destroy information held on you althought this may have changed. The cosiety are aware that they are only allowed to hold information on you for a "certain period of time' which has no legal definition so they state they can retain all files. Again it varies from country to country.
good luck
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Snoozy
I wrote them and tried to get a copy of my disassociation leter from them..they refused. Said it was their private property now.
I am sure if I got a lawyer he could pursuade them to send me a copy..
But so not worth it.
Snoozy..going to read what JW facts has to say about it..
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Snoozy
In case anyone is interested..the link to JW Facts on getting your records..
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/experiences/personal-files-privacy-act-1988.php
Quote:"
There is a wealth of forms and corresponding documentation that are held in the files of both active and disfellowshipped Jehovah's Witnesses. Considering there are 7 million publishers and another 1 percent of Jehovah's Witnesses that are disfellowshipped every year (over 60,000), that is a lot of filing cabinets.
Why bother to go through all the effort and emotions to gain access to these files? To remove some of the mystique and prove that the Watchtower Society is not above the law. Though its leaders hide behind terms such as "directed by holy spirit" and "faithful and discreet slave" to dictate to and Lord it over glassy eyed followers, it is simply a legal, worldly corporation run by men. (End of Quote)"ps..I couldn't have said it better.."simply a corporation run by men."
Snoozy
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00DAD
Here's Paul Grundy's story from his jwfacts website:
How I Obtained my Personal Files from Bethel
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Kojack57
Become friends with the secretary and bribe him. He has the key to the file cabinet.
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blondie
Some countries have data protection acts; as far as I know the US does not.
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/experiences/personal-files-privacy-act-1988.php
Australian experience
Comparison with US data protection law
The United States prefers what it calls a 'sectoral' approach to data protection legislation, which relies on a combination of legislation, regulation, and self-regulation, rather than governmental regulation alone. [ 10 ] Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former Vice-President Al Gore explicitly recommended in their "Framework for Global Electronic Commerce" that the private sector should lead, and companies should implement self-regulation in reaction to issues brought on by Internet technology. [ 11 ] To date, the US has no single data protection law comparable to the EU's Data Protection Directive. [ 12 ] Privacy legislation in the United States tends to be adopted on an ad hoc basis, with legislation arising when certain sectors and circumstances require (e.g., the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988, the Cable Television Protection and Competition Act of 1992, [ 13 ] the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the 2010 Massachusetts Data Privacy Regulations). Therefore, while certain sectors may already satisfy the EU Directive, at least in part, most do not. [ 14 ]
The reasoning behind this approach probably has as much to do with American laissez-faire economics as with different social perspectives. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the right to free speech. [ 15 ] While free speech is an explicit right guaranteed by the United States Constitution, privacy is an implicit right guaranteed by the Constitution as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court, [ 16 ] although it is often an explicit right in many state constitutions. [ 17 ]
Europeans are acutely familiar with the dangers associated with uncontrolled use of personal information from their experiences under World War II-era fascist governments and post-War Communist regimes, and are highly suspicious and fearful of unchecked use of personal information. [ 18 ] World War II and the post-War period was a time in Europe that disclosure of race or ethnicity led to secret denunciations and seizures that sent friends and neighbors to work camps and concentration camps. [ 5 ] In the age of computers, Europeans’ guardedness of secret government files has translated into a distrust of corporate databases, and governments in Europe took decided steps to protect personal information from abuses in the years following World War II. [ 19 ] Germany and France, in particular, set forth comprehensive data protection laws. [ 20 ]