Confidence, confidential

Information given or held in confidence is confidential, and must not be disclosed to a third party (any other individuals) without the express permission or consent of the giver of the information. The information is in effect a secret between the giver and receiver.

Where the information is about another person (such as a patient), then that person (the data subject) must also consent to the disclosure.

For example: A tells B, in confidence, that he has AIDS. For B to tell C about this, he must obtain consent from A. For C to tell anyone else, both A and B must consent, or at least B must know that A has assented to C disclosing this information. In practice therefore, it is best that A knows and agrees from the outset how the information he has given B will be used, and who else will be let in on the secret. this is the concept of fair processing.