Freedom of Information Act

moonrakermagpie

I'm planning to get some prescription sunglasses on-line. One of the measurements they need(which isn't shown on my prescription) is the distance between the centre of each pupil. On principle I'm not going to ask the opticians to do it because they would charge about £40 for something that takes about half a minute.

Would this be covered by the Freedom of Information Act, or any other that entitles me to personal information.

Cheers.

Pepzofio

Surely they have this information if they have fitted you with (regular) glasses? Can't you just ask if this measurement in on your file rather than paying them to do the measurement again? Or are you saying they have refused to provide you with it unless you pay them?

Bazey

I had to do this a while ago, can you get them to fax you your exact prescription? I told my Opticians I was going on holiday so needed a copy, they cannot charge you for it, but they may stall in given you the information, ask to speak to the branch manager if they are not compliant.

hope this helps!!

Pigget

The Freedom of Information Act is usually used to request information from publically funded bodies, ie. a county council.

I think what you mean is the Data Protection Act, where you can request a copy of any details held on file about you, such as medical records.

I would imagine you could request this from the opticians, however I would think there are much easier ways of getting this info.

bitemebankers

moonrakermagpie wrote: »

On principle I'm not going to ask the opticians to do it because they would charge about £40 for something that takes about half a minute..

I'd phone around a few opticians if I were you. Most will take a PD measurement for far less than £40. Some might even do it for free. Either way though, it's only reasonable to have to pay something for a professional service.

Alternatively, going down the (somewhat combative) route of issuing a Data Access Request will cost you money, take a lot of time and messing around, and you still might end up drawing a blank.

Ladyhawk

Sorry - FOI Act only applies to public sector bodies and not to private institutions, individuals or companies.