It proposes increasing penalties available to the courts to
deter people who are guilty of trying to profit from illegal trade
in personal information or who deliberately give out personal data
to those who have no right to see it.
The consultation explains that the Government has been
increasingly concerned about an apparent increase in trade in
personal data. It says that current penalties of a fine in the Data
Protection Act do not provide a sufficiently strong deterrent,
albeit potentially unlimited. These concerns were highlighted in an
Information Commissioner's Office special report to Parliament,
What Price Privacy, in May this year.
The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord
Chancellor, Lord Falconer, said: "Greater data-sharing within the
public sector has the potential to be hugely beneficial to the
public – as individuals and to society as a whole. It is wholly
compatible with proper respect for individuals' privacy. One of the
essential ways of maintaining that compatibility is to ensure the
security and integrity of personal data once it has been
shared."
Lord Falconer added that the proposal to change the Data
Protection Act will not result in penalties for front-line public
sector staff who, while sharing data for legitimate reasons, make
an error of judgement.
The consultation is open until 30th October 2006.
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