I am fed up with the excuses made in the names of;
Computers - "There's nothing we can do, it's the computer that does it".
Data Protection Act. Can't deal with this or talk about *&*&* because of the Data Protection Act.
The Human Rights Act. Difficult one this, as it spawns a range of 'exclusive' interpretations, (not necessarily correct ones) enabling all sorts of excuses individuals and organisations can hide behind.
What a lot of ignorance, incompetence and poor judgement is lurking and hiding behind these excuses. 
MrFlighty
If they say it's because of the Data Protection Act then ask them which part of it they're referring to so that you can check if what they're saying is correct. Do that and they usually then start blustering and back-tracking!
I agree with your last paragraph! xx