Part 7: Supplementary and final provision Section 184: Prohibition of requirement to produce relevant records
This section makes it an offence for an employer to require employees or contractors, or for a person to require another person who provides goods, facilities or services, to provide certain records obtained via subject access requests as a condition of their employment or contract. It is also an offence for a provider of goods, facilities or services to the public to request such records from another as a condition for providing a service. Such conduct may give the employer or provider access to records which they would not otherwise have been entitled. There are established legal routes for employers and public service providers to carry out background checks, which do not rely on them obtaining information via subject access requests.
	Subsections (1) and (2) set out the elements of the offence and subsection (3) provides for certain defences; i.e. to fulfil a legal obligation or if in the public interest. As worded, the section places a legal burden on the defendant to prove the relevant defence on the balance of probabilities.
	Subsection (5) expands on what it means to place a "requirement" on somebody to provide relevant records. It includes any action that the person knows will make the other person feel obliged to comply with the request, or being reckless as to whether the person may feel that they are obliged to comply.
	Subsection (6) defines the meaning of "employment" and "relevant record" for the purposes of the offence. More detail on relevant records is set out in Schedule 18.
	This section is similar to section 56 of the 1998 Act, but the list of relevant records in Schedule 18 is wider because it now includes medical records.