Voters' data 'should not be sold'

Jenny Robins (11 July 2008  09:24)

Story from BBC NEWS

Councils should be banned from selling edited versions of the electoral rolls, a report on the use of personal information has said.

The government-commissioned report said allowing voters' details to be sold to commercial firms sent a "poor message". It also said people should have a right to know who firms shared their details with and firms which deliberately broke privacy rules should face large fines.

The government said it agreed measures needed to be taken to increase trust.

The review, headed up by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas and Wellcome Trust director Dr Mark Walport, was commissioned a week before HM Revenue and Customs lost two discs containing personal details of 25 million people.

Fining powers

The review said that across the public and private sectors data sharing was "shrouded in confusion" and the public had little insight into how their personal information was used.

Mr Thomas said he was concerned about the practice whereby councils sold on "edited" versions of the electoral roll - from which people can opt out - which were often used by direct marketing companies. "We feel that selling the edited register is an unsatisfactory way for local authorities to treat personal information," he said.
"It sends a particularly poor message to the public that personal information collected for something as vital as participation in the democratic process can be sold to anyone for any purpose."

The review called for wide-scale reform, including suggesting that ministers launched their own inquiry into firms which gathered and sold on people's personal details.
It also recommended that the information commissioner be given powers to impose fines against private or public sector bodies which deliberately or recklessly broke privacy rules.

Facebook fears

The report suggested fines similar to those which can be imposed by the Financial Services Authority, which can run into millions of pounds. And it said organisations should publish privacy policies explaining how and why they used people's personal information. It suggested that internet sites which collected people's details from electoral rolls, company registers, telephone directories and website were a "worrying threat to privacy".

The government should consider regulating such services, the review said.

And concerns were raised about the amount of information put on social networking websites like Facebook and Bebo, Dr Walport said: "Many individuals are posting more and more personal information on the web and of course web technology means that it can be aggregated in a very powerful way."

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We agree that measures need to be taken to increase public trust and confidence in the handling and processing of personal data by the public and private sectors." She said that the government was working on "possible amendments" to the information commissioner's powers and funding arrangements. "We will assess the other recommendations in the report in further detail and issue a more detailed statement once we have had time to fully consider the implications and costs of bringing about such changes," she added.
Click here to view the report

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