Transcription and Confidentiality

Definition of confidentiality

What is confidential data?

Any data that contains personal, sensitive or confidential information. This data might include, but not limited to:

• Medical record, be that doctor, dentist, hospital, optometrist, any healthcare provider
• Police records
• School/education records
• Government held information, such as driving licence or passport
• Information held by social services
• Legal proceedings or information held by a lawyer
• Property dealings, including lettings or sales
• Personnel/HR data, including contracts, grievances or disciplinaries

Legislation

8 Principles of the Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which defines UK law on the processing of data on identifiable living people. It is the main piece of legislation that governs the protection of personal data in the UK. The Data Protection Act (DPA) is designed to protect personal data stored on electronically.

It requires that organisations must ensure the protection of personal information, that might include name, address, date of birth, bank details. There is stronger legal protection for more sensitive information, such as:

• ethnic background
• political opinions
• religious beliefs
• health
• sexual health
• criminal records

Any organisation with access to personal data has a legal responsibility to adhere to DPA.

The individual whose personal data is being held is known as the data subject.

The individual who is identified as being responsible for the security of the personal data is known as the data controller.

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is responsible of overseeing and ensuring the DPA is followed.

Fingertips typing Services Limited Ltd is registered under the Data Protection Act acts in accordance with all the regulations set out by the ICO.

Ensuring confidentiality

Files are uploaded onto our web folders server.

Clients have a dedicated folder for their company. They can log in using a user name  and password provided by Fingertips. The client uploads their file into their Dictations To Do folder. There can be sub-folders in this folder, depending on urgency e.g. 4 hour, same day, overnight etc.

The system notifies the director that a new file is ready. Only the director and administrator has access to all folders. The manager will then transfer the file into the file that is specifically for typists. Typists only have access to that specific folder.

Once the transcription is complete, the manager will move it from the Typists folder to the client’s Transcriptions Done folder. The client can easily check the progress or completion of their files.

Clients can also send their files by YouSendIt (now called Hightail) and SendThisFile securely.

There is a strict non-disclosure policy provided by Fingertips Typing, which is adhered to by the typists.

Choosing Fingertips Typing

Fingertips has been established for over a decade, since director, Cathy Bennett, started the business. Our reputation is built on quality and trust – our transcribers are highly trained typists with experience in many different industries.

We’ve prepared this Privacy Statement to make specific reassurances that your information is kept confidential. This document will run through the different kinds of information collected and stored by Fingertips and explain what we will use it for.

Privacy Statement

Your personal details

To register for an account with Fingertips, you are required to supply your company name, your name, address, telephone number, email address and web address if applicable. This information will be used for invoicing purposes, as well as being added to the Fingertips customer database. The telephone number is used to contact the client in the event of unpaid invoices and any other work related reason that may occur.

Fingertips will not pass your personal details on to any third party.

Who can access my information?

The sub-contractors of Fingertips do not have access to the database and therefore to your information. Only the Director of Fingertips has access to the database, and the administrator who updates the database.

Visit our website for more information.

Written by Debbie Rowe, Transcriber for Fingertips Typing

 

Transcription and Typing

First Typewriter

The first typewriter recognised as being “commercially successful” is one invented in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [1]

The patent was sold for $12,000 to a company called Densmore and Yost, who tried to manufacture the machine. The company made an agreement with E. Remington and Sons to produce the machine.  In 1874,  the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer went on sale. It had a QWERTY keyboard, and was a blind writer, as the keys struck upwards. It meant that the typist couldn’t see the characters as they were being typed. [2]

Learning to Type

Children these days learn the keyboard very quickly without ever having a typing lesson. Because they navigate the keyboard using one hand or just two fingers, does that make it wrong because they are not using the tried and tested methods?

Teaching children to type

Colour Coded Keyboard

Learning to Touch Type

Learning to type, in the traditional way, is about learning which fingers type which letters, lots of repetition, and then the development of typing by touch or touch typing, by muscle memory. It was believed that this was the most efficient way of typing. Once the individual has mastered touch typing, the development of speed is crucial.

Children today can learn to type by games that teach them whilst having fun. It becomes second nature very quickly as they are using mobile devices with keyboards from a very young age.

Typing speeds used to be the benchmark, along with accuracy, for administrative jobs. The job adverts used to state how many words per minute the individual needed to be able to type in order to be considered for the job. A typing test, at interview, was standard to check speed. Check your typing speed here.

Image courtesy of  ratatype.com/learn

 

Here are some best practice pointers for safe and efficient typing. You can view the web page here for full details.

Posture – sit straight, elbows at right angles, face the screen with head tilted slightly forward

Home keys – ensure you always return your fingers to the home keys between typing bouts

Take a break – ensure you take regular breaks, to rest your eyes and your hands, wrists and shoulders

 

Evolution of the Typewriter

Since the invention of the typewriter, the keyboard, as it has become known, has evolved hugely.

Click on the Timeline to learn more

The concept of the modern keyboard has also changed, with the invention of mobile technology.

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Typing Then and Now

When I learned to type, it was on the old fashioned manual keyboards, in a cold hut, whilst at sixth form college. Having mastered the basics, I then progressed to an electronic word processor that took on another learning journey. The keyboard was more reactive and faster, the keys required less pressure and what had been manual calculations before for tabs or centering were now a more automated process.

USB Typewriter?

Typewriters and word processors gave way to computers, with small screens, small memory capacity and large keyboards. As technology progressed, screens got larger and so did the memory, and keyboards became more streamlined.

Eventually, the computers got smaller in physical size, massive in capacity and screen and keyboard condensed into one device. Typing can still be done manually on touchscreen with fingers or a stylus. But you can now dictate to your device and it is clever enough to recognise what it is you want to say.
The documentation produced has also changed. Letters used to be the only

Stephen Hawking

way to communicate, and these were typewritten or handwritten. Emails became another way to stay in touch, followed by text messaging.

Social media followed, allowing words to reach their recipient in a flash.

Technology exists to allow a user with a disability to type by having their eye movements tracked on a keyboard… Stephen Hawking.

The future is here – you can now buy a virtual keyboard, which a small bluetooth device projects on to a flat surface, offering the user a full keyboard experience. [3]

Virtual Keyboard

Whatever next?

Transcription and Typing

Whatever you  need typing, Fingertips Typing Services can help. We have years of experience of typing and transcribing a variety of projects, for example, but not limited to:

• Interviews/focus groups/seminar/conferences
• Medical reports
• Property/lettings/estate agents reports
• Legal/insurance reports
• Education/dissertation/theses

Visit the Fingertips Typing website to see how we can help you work effectively, by providing a friendly, professional and personal service.

Written by: Debbie Rowe, typist for Fingertips Typing Services

Resources

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sholes_and_Glidden_typewriter

[3] http://gandtnews4u.blogspot.com/2012/12/cube-laser-virtual-keyboard-future-of_75.html

Transcription and Police Interviews

History

It is believed that police cautions were first used in the early 1800s.[1]

By the 1920s, police began to give drivers  written warnings for motoring offences. The Home Office, in 1928, published statistics on cautions. [2]

From 1995 cautions were recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC), and it was recommended that cautions should be retained for 5 years, though each police force could follow its own guidelines. [1]

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced the concept of statutory Conditional Cautions.[1]

In 2008 a Home Office circular made clear suspects must receive a written explanation of the implications before accepting a caution, to meet the informed consent obligation, and provided a new form to be signed by the offender which explained in considerable detail the consequences. [1]

TV/Movie Police Cautions

It’s a serious situation when an individual is being cautioned, as they are most likely getting arrested and charged with a crime.

However, the process is not always dramatic or exciting, so when TV series and movies are made, everything tends to be a bit more over the top

Remember these:

“Book’em, Danno” – Hawaii 5-0

“Get your trousers on – you’re nicked!” – The Sweeney

Do you remember any catchphrases of TV/movie cops? Let us know in the comments section below.

Police Caution in Interview

You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence, if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

This version of the police caution has been used from the inception of the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act 1984.

The caution prior to that was “you do not have to say anything unless you wish to do so, but what you say may be given in evidence.”

Around the world, police cautions differ in language but follow the same format.

In the US, it is called Miranda warning, but also known as Miranda rights and is a right to silence. [3]

You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?

In Australia, the caution differs slightly from state to state:

New South Wales – You are not obliged to say or do anything unless you wish to do so, but whatever you say or do may be used in evidence. Do you understand?

Queensland – Before I ask you any questions I must tell you that you have the right to remain silent. This means you do not have to say anything, answer any question or make any statement unless you wish to do so. However, if you do say something or make a statement, it may later be used as evidence. Do you understand?

In New Zealand, the caution follows the same lines:

You have the right to remain silent. You do not have to make any statement. Anything you say will be recorded and may be given in evidence in court. You have the right to speak with a lawyer without delay and in private before deciding to answer any questions. Police have a list of lawyers you may speak to for free.

These examples of police cautions were taken from Wikipedia – click here for more examples from around the world.

PACE

In 1984, the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act came into being, with the purpose of regulating police powers and protecting pubic rights.[4]

Additional codes of practice have been published and updated since 1984 to provide specific guidance around :

• Code C from May 2014 – Requirements for the detention, treatment and questioning of suspects not related to terrorism in police custody.
• Code E, first published in January 2016 – Audio recording of interviews with suspects in the police station.

Code C lays out when cautions should be given, the terms of the caution as well as specifics around the cautioning of juveniles and the mentally vulnerable. It also gives guidance on general interviews, those in police stations and interviews of juveniles and the mentally vulnerable.

Code E explains how audio recordings should be conducted at each stage of the interview.

Evidence and Its Uses

Evidence that has been recorded enables the prosecutor to make a decision informed by what was said at interview.

It is also entered as an exhibit to the officer’s statement, and may be used in the same way as physical evidence.

Should the recording be entered and accepted into evidence, it will be used for the conduct of the case, when it has been accepted by the defence.

There is no requirement to prepare a record of the interview if the person who was questioned about and/or charged with an offence nor when the person stays silent or only says ‘no comment’ throughout the interview.

Transcription of Evidence

If the recorded interview is accepted as evidence, it can be played or transcribed.[5] Should there be a need for the interview to be transcribed, there are guidelines that should be followed, outlined in PACE Code E Note 5A. [6]

5A Any written record of an audibly recorded interview should be made in accordance with national guidelines approved by the Secretary of State, and with regard to the advice contained in the Manual of Guidance for the preparation, processing and submission of prosecution files.

Fingertips Typing Services can transcribe your police interviews.

Written by: Debbie Rowe, Transcriber for Fingertips Typing Services.

Visit Fingertips Typing Services.

Resources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_caution
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/250902/crimestats.pdf
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_warning
4. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/police-and-criminal-evidence-act-1984-pace-codes-of-practice
5. http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/tape_recorded_interviews/
6. https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/criminal/docs/crim-practice-directions-V-evidence-2014.pdf