Bosses warned to keep vaccine info secure

| 18/10/2021 | 30 Comments

(CNS): The Office of the Ombudsman has said that employers must still abide by the Data Protection Law when meeting the new requirement to ensure staff on work permits are vaccinated. Before they record the COVID-19 vaccine status of expatriate employees, they must make sure they are retaining that information legally and are advised to produce a written policy stating how employees’ vaccination checks will be done and for what purpose. Companies cannot use this information for “incompatible purposes”, in other words for anything other than meeting the new immigration legislation.

“Although the government is now requiring vaccination information to be submitted prior to the grant or renewal of a work permit, the collection of an employee’s vaccination status by a government agency or a private sector employer must comply with the requirements of the DPA,” Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston said.

Any processing of personal data must be justified under the DPA, particularly if its use may have negative consequences for employees.

“If you cannot specify your use for this information and are recording it ‘just in case’, or if you can achieve your goal without collecting this data, it is unlikely that you will be able to justify it under the Act,” Hermiston added.

Employers must have a legal basis to collect and process all personal data, including information on their employees’ vaccination status. An individual’s vaccination status is classified as ‘sensitive personal data’, given that it is medical data. This means that additional measures must be taken to protect the use of this data.

Businesses and organisations must ensure that they only collect the minimum amount of personal data necessary, hold it only for as long as is needed for the initial purpose, and ensure that it is held securely, with access granted only to those who need to see it.

This applies to government-mandated data collection as well as any additional private sector employment requirements.


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Category: Business

Comments (30)

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  1. Annoyed says:

    As far as I can see Government is obtuse and actively trying to eradicate small businesses. All of these regulations require someone to collect / not collect data that someone who a small business must pay for. Someone who will cost them more than they can afford. Basically small businesses must have a lawyer, and an accountant and a politician in their pocket if they want to survive. Not a sustainable model.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Mandatory vaccines but its it’s a secret whether you had one or not and soon the gov will demand you stamp it on your passport.

    You guys are just light bulbs

  3. Anonymous says:

    Ms. Hermiston must have a lot of time on her hands these days.

    • Anonymous says:

      Never seems to have done much. So much for “good governance and an accountable civil service.”

  4. Geoff says:

    Well, all I can say is that since the government has said that its not discriminatory to require ex-pats to be vaccinated, effective immediately, my company will make it a requirement for ALL employees to be vaccinated (ex-pat and Caymanian). I am not discriminating against anyone in making this a requirement as I am treating all equally. Lets see how many employers follow suit!

    • Anonymous says:

      You think you’re “sticking it to the man” but that is literally what they want you to do…so thank you?

    • Anonymous says:

      Do you also forbid your employees from consuming alcohol and smoking? I don’t want one of your employees drinking and then mowing me down while I’m relaxing on my porch.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Common sense must prevail although law is there. Laws are meant as guide to follow
    But practicality should also be considered.
    Work permit application need to be submitted by the business with certain documents including medical and vaccination status. So their office has data. Medical info is known to employers for ages and no problems and why a big deal re covid vaccine.
    Us schools ask for vaccination certificates for DPT Polio etc. So what a big deal if covid included.
    20 yrs ago when my child was going to Med school in UK they said one of requirements is HepB vaccine. It was our choice to have it and go to school or dont have it and dont go to Med school.
    Let us be practical than data protection law. Yes many will come to know of vax status in office in immigration etc. We shld not talk about individual publicly but to punish a businessman if that info leaked is not correct.

  6. Anonymous says:

    This is from Ireland and probably true in most European Countries: “In a statement accompanying the updated protocols the Government noted: “As vaccination is not mandatory in Ireland, and there are no plans to make it so, employers cannot currently require staff to reveal their vaccination status.”

    • Anonymous says:

      USA:
      The mandate doesn’t actually exist yet, in that it hasn’t been sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for approval, and it’s not yet a legally enforceable mandate.

  7. Annoyed says:

    Just more bs for employers to deal with…especially small businesses. Red tape rules this rock.

    • Anonymous says:

      Just ignore the law if you don’t like it in Cayman – lots of people do and there are no consequences. My boss has been thumbing his nose at Cayman’s laws for years and years. He sees it as a competitive advantage and, compared to his law-abiding competitors, it is. It helps if you have the right network of contacts, but it’s not necessary for some infractions because there is no due diligence to ensure businesses are obeying the law.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Employers shouldn’t be allowed to collect this information

    • Anonymous says:

      Then how do they submit applications?

      • Anonymous says:

        And how do they keep their employees safe from their unvaccinated colleagues?

        And how do they satisfy customer demands to be exposed only to vaccinated staff?

        • Anonymous says:

          why the vaccinated need to be protected from the unvaccinated? isn’t is extremely safe and effective?

          • Anonymous says:

            The unvaccinated are 8 to 9 times more likely to transmit Covid, than the vaccinated.

            • Anonymous says:

              I accept your statement. but lets stay on point… if you are vaccinated, why are you worried about the unvaccinated? Aren’t you safe via the effective vaccine?

              • Anonymous says:

                Compassion. Reducing your chances of being a vector for transmission helps anyone who cannot vaccinate or doesn’t care to vaccinate. Even though I am vaccinated I still wear a mask and limit my interactions with people in public – it requires almost zero effort and consequence.

                • Anonymous says:

                  Do you mean zero effort to give up your freedoms?

                  • Anonymous says:

                    I think that’s what they meant. Apparently it’s really easy to just let someone else take the wheel. I wonder how rewarding it will feel 3 years down the line when the necessities of others coincides with something they don’t want to give up.

                    I wonder how compassionate they will be.

              • Jotnar says:

                As you know perfectly well, being vaccinated is not a complete guarantee against catching Covid although it does reduce the chances significantly. But a vaccinated person Ming in contact with an unvaccinated person, who bus far more likely to be infectious than a vaccinated one, is increase their chance of catching the disease. Why should they take that risk? To protect the right to choose of the unvaccinated?

        • Anonymous says:

          Really? At this point… a hostile extra terrestrial invasion is welcomed.

        • Anonymous says:

          If their other employees have take the vaccine, then they are protected. The only risk being taken is by the unvaccinated on themselves.

        • Anonymous says:

          By hiding from the rest of the world. Stay home in your room and never come out. Don’t go to work. Don’t go where other people go. Life itself is a risk you don’t want to take. The rest of us are fine with it and still living and not hiding from a good life.

    • Anonymous says:

      Why Schools do both private and public.
      HSA does about their employees.
      I don’t care because I’m vaccinated you nut job.

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