Justice Commitee wants tougher data laws

MPs have called for tough legislation to combat data losses which they blame on failing Government procedures.

The House of Commons Justice Committee, a cross-party group of MPs, wants the law changed so criminal charges can be brought against those who recklessy or intentionally disclose people's personal data.

This follows the committee's report on the Protection of Private Data which looked into the loss of 25 million people's personal details by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The report said there was a "widespread problem" and "systemic failings" in the Government's handling of personal data, and it was likely more cases would come be made public.

Alan Beith, chairman of the committee, and Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, told Computeractive: "The Government was supposed to have had security and safety procedures in place, which would have prevented the HMRC loss. However, we did not see any.”

“We have not yet heard of all the other breaches but as more come to light we will see that these too could have probably been prevented with such procedures.”

Mr Beith said the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill needed to be amended to give Information Commissioner Richard Thomas the power to carry out unannounced "spot checks" on procedures in firms and Whitehall departments. He also warned that without these amendments, the important means of data sharing could be jeopardised.

“The sharing of important government data, such as criminal security and children’s safety should not be impaired by poor government procedure," he said. "It is important that this data sharing continues and safeguards such as the one we are proposing are put in place to enable this to continue."

Mr Beith used the example of the Soham murders, where the data of Ian Huntly was not shared, as the kind of problem that could arise if these services were impaired.

The Justics Committee's recommendations were “welcomed” by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The Ministry of Justice said that Parliament was currently considering proposals to amend section 60 of the Data Protection Act through the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

"We will consider this, along with other recommendations for safeguards, when the various reviews have concluded so that we can take a considered view of the range of measures necessary to strengthen the protection of personal data," it said in a statement.