ild’s needs, and where the overarching consideration will be whether information needs to be shared to safeguard a child where there is an established or potential risk of harm. Additionally, in some circumstances, seeking consent from a person you believe is neglecting or abusing a child is likely to undermine safeguarding procedures and may increase the risk of harm to the child or another person. 15 Special category data is defined in Annex A 16 What are the conditions for processing? | ICO 17 Special category data | ICO You can be confident in sharing personal information knowing that legislation allows you to share for safeguarding purposes 11 The complexities of “consent” and why it causes confusion The meaning attached to the term “consent”, and the expectations that it sets for how people make decisions, can be different depending on the context and how people are used to working within a particular environment. If these different meanings and expectations are conflated and confused, they can act as a barrier to appropriate information sharing when decisions have to be made about sharing information for safeguarding purpose. Some meanings attached to “consent” include: • “consent” as a lawful basis to share information, as defined by data protection legislation (and relevant for the purpose of this Advice), is different to the general meaning of consent – such as the giving of permission. As already discussed, this is not usually the appropriate legal basis for sharing information to safeguard children • “consent” or “agreement” to receive a service, such as a parent’s agreement to engage with services under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 The meaning of 'consent' in this context is the general sense of the word and is separate from the meaning of 'consent' 