"Religion" on BOF profile

[Nimby]

I don't know how long it's been there, but I just noticed that my online BOF profile has a "religion" box which has defaulted to "Christian".

Maybe BOF have a target to meet but surely it should default to "none/not defined"?
I certainly don't spend my Sunday mornings in Church.

[roadrunner]

Mine showed "not specified", which is sensible, but then when I edited something else on the profile this changed to "Christian" and I had to change it back to "None/not disclosed", as the original option wasn't there. Seems a bit silly that changing one thing on your profile changes another as well, even more so that you can't directly undo the change.

[Tatty]

What has it to do with BOF? Most of us are in a forest on Sunday.

[graeme]

They'll need to include it for some SportEngland monitoring purposes.

[greywolf]

They'll need to include it for some SportEngland monitoring purposes.

That might be the case but setting the default in this way is a serious f*ck-up and completes invalidates any data being collected

[Glucosamine]

The Mormons have a reputation for signing up our ancestors to religion - at least BOF is only doing it with the living. Or is Salt Lake City bidding for a future WOC? With all respect to those who do believe, my own forest-to-church hours ratio probably makes me an animist, if there is to be a default.

[Simon]

"None/not disclosed" are not the same

[Big Jon]

I can't see that religious belief has any link to orienteering in any way, therefore this information should not be included on the BOF database.
Are any BOF directors prepared to justify this information?

[Tatty]

I agree Big Jon.

[aiming off]

Data Protection Act

"Sensitive personal data means personal data consisting of information as to -

(a) the racial or ethnic origin of the data subject,

(b) his political opinions,

(c ) his religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature,

(d) whether he is a member of a trade union (within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992),

(e) his physical or mental health or condition,

(f) his sexual life,

(g) the commission or alleged commission by him of any offence, or

(h) any proceedings for any offence committed or alleged to have been committed by him, the disposal of such proceedings or the sentence of any court in such proceedings."

It should NOT be there.

[Big Jon]

I'll repeat my question - any BOF director want to justify this inclusion on the BOF database?

[cbg]

Data Protection Act

"Sensitive personal data means personal data consisting of information as to -

Hence why there is a "Not disclosed" option probably - it is not sensitive to all (e.g. Evangelicals).

It appears in an "Equality" section, along with Community (ethnicity in my language) (with no opt out) and Disability. Bound to be a Sport Council requirement, to see if orienteering is reaching out to all British society and therefore worth supporting with taxpayers' funds.

Cue political discussion.

[graeme]

Can't get too excited about this, but it's interesting that amending the database to include "second club" was regarded as too much effort for BO. We've probably been Christian in BOF eyes all along...

[Clive Coles]

I actually think that question has been on the profile since the BOF system first went on-line. I don't think it's a recent introduction.

[roadrunner]

It appears in an "Equality" section, along with Community (ethnicity in my language) (with no opt out) and Disability.

Actually, there is an opt out for "Community" though it could be a lot clearer - just leave "Select..." displayed when you save and it appears as "Not specified". But there isn't one for "Disability", which seems to me to be a failing.

I agree that it's not uncommon for organisations to ask for this sort of information these days, but most make it a lot clearer that the whole section is optional.