NMWM16350 - Disclosure of information: lawful disclosure: disclosure with the customer’s consent (including for agents and personal representatives)

NMWM16030 describes the limited situations in which customer information may be disclosed outside HM Revenue & Customs (NMWM02030).

One of these circumstances is where the customer who is the subject of the information consents to use of their information for that purpose (NMWM16360). Section 18(2)(h) Commissioners for Revenue & Customs Act 2005 permits disclosures made:

• ‘with the consent of each person to whom the information relates’

Disclosure of their personal information can also be made to customers under the Data Protection Act 1998 (NMWM16110) which further requires that consent should be

• ‘a positive indication of the wishes of the data subject’

Consent should be freely given, fully informed and specific to the circumstances in which it is sought. The data subject (i.e. the customer) is also able to withdraw their consent as easily as they give it.