Removal of data

Having just recently finished a ‘soft skills course’. And I wished to have me details/data removed from their records. So I duly sent the company an email asking them to: “Remove all my data/details”. They sent me back an attached form, that I need to print off and send to them with the need to show some ID aswell.
“To ensure we are releasing data to the right person we require you to provide us with proof of your identity and of your address. “  

My point here is why can’t I do it via the internet/email as they have my email account. And the information isn’t that important, it seems like they are making it difficult for people so they don’t remove my details from their system? So I was wondering if there was a template letter tell the company to remove my data and stop them messing around.  

Also on the email was  “Please be aware that the Article 17 Right to erasure is not absolute and there may be legal obligations that require us to retain certain data.”. What is Article 17 about and could I challenge this?  

I presume you have looked at ICO

https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/your-right-to-get-your-data-deleted/

heres another gdpr

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-to-erasure/

Heres a template letter thanks to MrFrankZola that seem to do the trick?  


https://www.datarequests.org/blog/sample-letter-gdpr-erasure-request/

Got a letter back saying that can’t erase all of the data due to the need for details for the funding from the ESF. So my point here is can after the training provider has got its brown paper envelope with cash in it, sorry received its funding payment (when this will happen I am not sure). So that they can finally erase the outstanding data/records from their files. As it might be missed due to the time scale involved, between payment and fulfilling my request. So I sent them another email asking the same thing, "for all possible data to be destroyed that they can". How clear do I have to make it.  



However, it says on the letter they have a ‘right to refuse’ this request? How legal is that does anyone know, as I thought under Article 17 of the GDPR the ‘Right to be erased’, was not up for discussion.

Pintel wrote:Got a letter back saying that can’t erase all of the data due to the need for details for the funding from the ESF. So my point here is can after the training provider has got its brown paper envelope with cash in it, sorry received its funding payment (when this will happen I am not sure). So that they can finally erase the outstanding data/records from their files. As it might be missed due to the time scale involved, between payment and fulfilling my request. So I sent them another email asking the same thing, "for all possible data to be destroyed that they can". How clear do I have to make it.  



However, it says on the letter they have a ‘right to refuse’ this request? How legal is that does anyone know, as I thought under Article 17 of the GDPR the ‘Right to be erased’, was not up for discussion.

Providers are required to keep the documents for circa 7 years from memory.

The best thing to do is, do not sign the documents and then the provider will not be paid.  You may lose a place on the course if you do not sign.

Edit:

6.All projects are required to retain documents for a period after the activity has ended and these should be kept in an acceptable format so that they can be inspected where necessary. The Grant Recipientwill be informed of this retention period at the end of the project. The period will bedependent on the date at which the final claim is paid by the Managing Authority so the retention period will be unique to each project and this period cannot be specified at the outset of a given project.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/731515/ESF_Document_Retention_Guidance.pdf