Official Secerts Act

[NightOwl]

Why does the Official Secrets Act need signing upon joining? I signed this whilst within the forces for obvious reasons.

[wannabeek]

Why does the Official Secrets Act need signing upon joining? I signed this whilst within the forces for obvious reasons.

So that you can't blab to the tabloids when you notice that a famous MP moves into a big house on your duty but only ever seems to have various young flibbertigibbets residing there.

Seriously though, we are privy to a great deal of sensitive and confidential information, just from our day to day duty. To name just a few: location of sheltered respite homes for battered women with PObox only address; contentious animal research centres where if their location became know then public demos would be inevitable; notorious convicts being rehoused, etc etc...

[tinkz]

I didn't have to sign it?

[POSTMAN]

All Royal Mail Group employees are required to sign a ‘Personal Declaration’ upon commencing their employment. This covers the responsibilities of Royal Mail and its
employees in terms of safeguarding mail, how to deal with confidential information, our internal Code of Business Standards and the Data Protection Act 1998. The ‘Personal
Declaration’ is not part of the Official Secrets Act, and the form makes no reference to this Act.

[NightOwl]

All Royal Mail Group employees are required to sign a ‘Personal Declaration’ upon commencing their employment. This covers the responsibilities of Royal Mail and its
employees in terms of safeguarding mail, how to deal with confidential information, our internal Code of Business Standards and the Data Protection Act 1998. The ‘Personal
Declaration’ is not part of the Official Secrets Act, and the form makes no reference to this Act.

Thanks.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I still have my copy and it says

Official Secrets Act:

A Person may be entrusted with information which is covered by the Official Secrets Act 1989 whilst engaged in business for the Royal Mail Group.

Under the Official Secrets Act 1989, it is a criminal offence for a Government Contractor (which means any person or body who is employed in the provision of goods or services for the Crown) including any employee of a Government contractor , to: -

. disclose unlawfully any information obtained as a result of such work without authorisation, and
. fail to safeguard or improperly retain or provide access to documents or articles containing information which it would be an offence under this Act to disclose.

The above apply even when work within Royal Mail Group ends.

There are also sections for the Data Protection Act, our responsibilities under Royal Mails Obligations, Safety of Postal Packets and Confidential Information. However, its all basically is the same thing. Namely that it is a criminal offence to delay, destroy, open or steal a letter, parcel, mail bag or other postal packet and that its also illegal to improperly obtain, hold, use or disclose any information, manual or electronic, about any identifiable living people.

[wannabeek]

This does come up in the job every so often, usually innocently. Someone pulls over and asks for help finding Mr Jones who lives 'somewhere round here'. I know full well that the only Jones in the village lives in the house next to us but I can't tell him that. I just say, sorry that name isn't familiar, try asking at the shop (or whatever).

Even though it may be a genuine-looking guy, if Mr Jones later complained that the postie had given out his home address to an unwelcome visitor then I could be in a whole heap of trouble.

[fishtank]

It's called a personal declaration, it has nothing to do with the official secrets act and I think it's valid for 7 years after you leave, I think I posted it somewhere in the downloads section.

[POSTMAN]

Yes it's from your post Fish, I remembered you posting it...
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