Is transfer to a UK-based overseas Embassy an overseas transfer?
No. Whilst foreign embassies are inviolable under the terms of the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964, the notion that an embassy is an extraterritorial part of its owning state has been disproved (see Chung Chi Cheung v The King [1939] AC 160). This does not mean, however, that there are no issues arising from disclosure of student information to a foreign embassy. Extreme caution should always be taken where such disclosures are made, and specific subject consent should be required (given the exceptional nature of most such disclosures, it would be unfair to try to get general consent for this during first registration). ** 6. Is consent for a disclosure acceptable if only received over the phone? The Act does not define what is required to make consent legitimate, but whenever consent is obtained for disclosure, the disclosing institution should be careful to ensure that, with regard to Principle 7, the nature of any consent obtained is commensurate with the sensitivity of the data to b
