Church bans prayers for the sick over data breach fears

PRAYERS for the sick are being restricted in Catholic churches in Scotland due to an EU shake up of privacy rules.

Catholic churches across the country have begun banning the publication of the names of ill people in their bulletins, because it is feared it may breach the new personal data statutes.

The General Data Protection Regulation, which came into force on Friday is aimed at curbing US tech giants like Google and Facebook – but it has emerged that church leaders fear they face crippling fines if they fall foul of the law.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow and of St Andrews and Edinburgh have been among the first to agree that publishing the names of sick people who need congregation prayers is not now realistic.

But the Information Commissioner’s Office which is responsible for enforcing the rules across the UK say churches may be taking things too far.

And the Church of Scotland said they see no problem in identifying any member of the congregation who needs prayers.

An Archdiocese of Glasgow spokesman said: “The advice we have been given at the moment is that a person’s name should only appear in a parish sick list when they have given prior written permission.

“Obviously in the case where someone has been taken ill suddenly and without warning, such prior written permission is not a realistic option.

“This would appear to be an unintended consequence of a much wider law which affects all organisations which hold data on individuals. It may be that as time passes a clearer picture will emerge about such issues, but for now we have been advised that it is best to be careful to avoid unintended breaches.”

It is understood church leaders took their lead from the Catholic Insurance Service Ltd that advises all eight Scottish Catholic diocese.

The parish bulletin of the Holy Family and St Ninian in Kirkintilloch, part of Glasgow archdiocese, has already told its congregation: “Parishes have been advised that names of the sick can no longer be published in the bulletin without the direct permission of the sick person to the parish priest.

“Names cannot be put on the sick list via

This is an unintended consequence of a much wider law

a third party. All names on the present sick list will be removed next week.”

But a Church of Scotland spokesman said: “Guidance for congregations is that including the name of a member of the Church of Scotland, or member of the congregation, or regular attender of worship with the congregation, in an order of service so that person may be prayed for is a legitimate use of that person’s information and is in keeping with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation.

“It is however important to note that if any detailed health information was to be shared – including the nature of the illness – then consent would be required.”

The Free Church of Scotland was unable to state its position until there was “further consultation next week”.