Here's hoping someone can advise me on the following.
I recently requested all information held about me at my former employers, their answer was as follows:

Good Afternoon Pete.
As Data Controller, I am required to confirm your identity to ensure I am satisfied with your request prior to release of Personal Data.
Please can you confirm the following:

Start and end date at xxxxxxxx Ltd.
Place of birth
Name of person to contact in emergency ( held in Personnel file)
Name of last school attended
Name of any Collages attended (if at all)
Any convictions (If any)
I also require a copy of photo ID to be sent.

Kind Regards

This seems a little excessive, or, is this a normal response? ( and yes, I dd notice colleges was spelt incorrectly )

Cheers
Pete

Sounds reasonable to me. This is to protect you and ensure the person requesting the information is really entitled to the data. Almost certainly only you would know the answer to all those questions and of course photo ID would confirm all to be above board. I am rather surprised they have not asked for even more personal data, DOB , next of kin to say the least.

Cheers Salmon, I'll furnish them with all the details they have requested

I consider those questions to be way over the top and inappropriate. Presumably they are comparing them to information you were required to put on your application form which again were inappropriate.

Why would an employer require to know your place of Birth? What relevance has that got to your employment?

Supposing you have convictions since you left the firm, it is of no relevance to them but they have asked!

As they employed you one would hope they could confirm your identity in a much simpler way, like a phone call?

Acceptable:

Start and end date at xxxxxxxx Ltd.
Date of birth
Address
Name of person to contact in emergency ( held in Personnel file)

Requesting too much:

Name of last school attended
Place of birth
Name of any Collages attended (if at all)
Any convictions (If any)
I also require a copy of photo ID to be sent.

They put someone who can't spell "College" in charge of handling data?

I'd tell them you appear in a number of photographs in your parents house but couldn't confirm exact number of collages.