joseph kihanya <kihanyajn@yahoo.com> wrote: The question of the correction of data held by public bodies and sometimes by private bodies is one that generates interest considering that wrong entries may cause one to suffer hardship or miss on entitlements. Consider the case of retirees and a pension scheme or that of a medical case file.In the latter case, in an emergency, would it be crucial that all your details, including allergies, blood types etc, be absolutely CORRECT? Lets have some views. 1. Freedom of information legislation: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act> Over seventy countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on access to information or records held by government bodies, the oldest being Sweden's Freedom of the Press Act of 1766. Many more countries are working towards introducing such laws, and many regions of countries with national legislation have local laws - for example, all states of the US have access laws as well as the national legislation. In general, such laws define a legal process by which government information is available to the public; In many countries there are vague constitutional guarantees for the right of access to information, but usually these are unused unless specific legislation to support them. These laws may also be described as open records or (especially in the United States) sunshine laws (alluding to "letting light shine" on the process). A related concept is open meetings legislation, which allows the public access to government meetings, not just to the records of them. In many countries, privacy or data protection laws may be part of the freedom of information legislation; the concepts are often closely tied together in political discourse. A basic principle behind most freedom of information legislation is that the burden of proof falls on the body asked for information, not the person asking for it. The requester does not usually have to give an explanation for their request, but if the information is not disclosed a valid reason has to be given. 2. UK government legislation defining what information public sector organisations are obliged to provide on request. UK - Freedom of Information Act 2000 < http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2000/20000036.htm > 3. Explains how the FOIA applies to the US Dept. of Justice and how information may be obtained. < http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/index.html > "Like all federal agencies, the Department of Justice (DOJ) generally is required under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to disclose records requested in writing by any person. However, agencies may withhold information pursuant to nine exemptions and three exclusions contained in the statute. The FOIA applies only to federal agencies and does not create a right of access to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies. Each state has its own public access laws that should be consulted for access to state and local records. --------------------------------- Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.