As someone passionate about preserving LGBTQ+ histories, I am acutely aware of the delicate balance we must strike between protecting individual privacy and ensuring access to the voices of LGBTQ+ people and communities.

Data protection laws rightly safeguard LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination, unwanted exposure, and harm. Yet these same protections can restrict access to vital community archives, oral histories, and personal testimonies that form our shared heritage.

The challenge for heritage professionals lies in navigating this complex terrain with sensitivity and care: How do we honor the privacy and safety of living individuals while safeguarding the visibility and accessibility of queer histories for future generations? This tension speaks directly to our responsibility to both protect and empower the communities whose stories we steward.

The legal landscape:

Under UK data protection laws, archives must handle personal data (any information about identifiable, living individuals) using a legal justification.

UK data protection law recognises certain types of personal data as special category data, which require additional protection due to their sensitive nature. Sexuality is explicitly recognised as special category data. The use of such data is subject to stricter rules because processing it could pose significant risks to an individual’s fundamental rights and freedoms, including the risk of discrimination.

The key requirement is establishing a lawful basis for processing this data. While many organisations rely on consent to process personal data, archives rarely take this route because consent can be withdrawn at any time, potentially forcing the removal of historically significant materials. Instead, they usually rely on:

• ‘Public task’ for general personal data
• ‘Archiving in the public interest’ for sensitive or special category data

Sexuality is classified as special category data, meaning it needs extra protection. Archives can process such data if it serves the public interest and appropriate safeguards are in place. We must balance preserving records with avoiding harm or distress to individuals, though this concept is not clearly defined, often leading to caution

When does caution become censorship?

The lack of clear legal precedents leaves us with an issue – faced with uncertainty, cautious heritage professionals may default to restricting LGBTQ+ materials, beyond what the law actually requires. Despite good intentions this has the potential to perpetuate the historical invisibility of queer communities.

On the other hand, misjudged decisions about access can have real impacts on living individuals.

When are we putting people at risk?

Handling LGBTQ+ archive collections requires a nuanced understanding of risk – not just legal risk, but the very real human impact of exposing personal information. It is essential to approach these materials with respect, recognising that behind every document or recording lies an individual.

We have to manage access thoughtfully, balancing the need to protect people from harm with the need to keep this history accessible.

Balancing privacy and preservation

Effective data protection for LGBTQ+ archives doesn’t require blanket restrictions. Instead, it calls for nuanced approaches that consider context, consent, and community benefit. Some practical strategies include:

Risk-based assessment: Rather than applying uniform restrictions, archives can evaluate materials individually, considering factors like the person’s public profile, the historical significance of the content, and the potential for harm. This requires resource and expertise, which is not always easily available.

Community consultation: Engaging with LGBTQ+ communities and advocacy groups to understand when materials might cause distress and when restrictions might actually harm community interests.

Graduated access: Instead of complete restriction, archives might provide different levels of access – perhaps allowing researchers to view materials onsite only.

Clear policies: Transparent, publicly available policies help donors, researchers, and community members understand how personal data is handled and when restrictions apply.

Advocacy and understanding

Understanding the actual legal requirements – rather than assumptions about them – empowers everyone to advocate for appropriate access to LGBTQ+ histories.

For donors considering giving material to an archive, ask questions about data protection policies and how they’re applied to LGBTQ+ materials. For archive professionals, seek training and guidance that goes beyond generic data protection advice to address the specific challenges of sensitive historical materials.

Striking the right balance between data protection and accessibility is a nuanced and ongoing challenge for heritage professionals. While safeguarding the privacy and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ individuals is non-negotiable. But it is equally vital to ensure that our histories are not obscured or lost behind excessive restrictions.

By approaching this balance with sensitivity, clear policies, and active community engagement, archives can ensure privacy and preservation coexist. Honouring both individual rights and collective memory strengthens our LGBTQ+ heritage.

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This post does not constitute legal advice.

The Bi History Project offers training and consultancy – for more information about navigating these challenges in your organisation, get in touch.

Sources:

1. The National Archives: Data protection legislation overview and guidance for archives, including the legal basis for processing and special provisions for archiving in the public interest.
2. GOV.UK: Overview of the UK’s data protection legislation, including the definition of special category data (such as sexuality) and the requirement for stronger legal protection.
3. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): Guidance on data protection principles, exemptions, and processing special category data under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
4. Surrey County Council: Practical guidance for archives on applying data protection law, including the use of ‘archiving in the public interest’ and the handling of sensitive data.
5. UK Legislation: Full text of the Data Protection Act 2018, which underpins the legal framework for processing personal and special category data in the UK.