Desperate to know what information companies and organisations hold about you, but unsure how to find out? A legal mechanism for discovering exactly this is already in place, and is weeks away from being strengthened under new EU laws.
The "subject access request", created in the Data Protection Act 1998, is your right to find out what information is held about you by companies or organisations, including an employer, and get copies of it.
Requests must be submitted in writing to an organisation, via email or letter, and limited only to personal data. Employees can request information on an assessment of performance at work, for instance. There are some exemptions on releasing data, however,...