An Opinion about an Individual

An opinion about an individual is personal data about that individual and is thus covered by the DPA. An opinion may also indicate an intention towards that individual. A copy of any document that contains an opinion may therefore have to be released to the individual, particularly if the document has been written by a line manager, under the Data Subject Access Request provisions of the DPA.

An opinion can be defined as a belief or conclusion held with some confidence but not necessarily substantiated by positive knowledge or proof.