Main focus of Friday, November 23, 2007

The data protection scandal in Great Britain

The British tax authorities have lost discs carrying the personal data of 25 million citizens. How well does data protection work - particularly in view of the fact that many Euroepan states are increasing the amount of data they collect and store about their citizens?

taz - Germany

"This makes a joke of data protection," comments Ralf Sotschek, pointing out that the spending cuts introduced by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer have put the tax authorities under too much pressure. Nonetheless, he concludes that the scandal has its positive side: "One positive aspect of the affair is that it will bolster the opposition to Labour's favourite project: the inclusion of biometric data on passports. Brown will stick to his plans: the information is in safe hands, he says, because together with new passports legislation will be passed under which officials could be sent to jail for up to two years for the 'unauthorised passing on' of data. Persons who tamper with the data either physically or electronically could face sentences of up to ten years in prison. These attempts at reassurance are laughable." (22/11/2007)

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The Irish Times - Ireland

The Irish comments: "The Labour government has made several proposals recently for radically enhanced measures against international terrorism. Plans for security barriers, increased police checks on buildings and public events require trust from ordinary citizens that the threat is real and the measures taken proportionate and reliable. This is all the more the case in light of plans to develop a national identity card system at a cost of £10 billion over the next decade and an associated electronic border control regime requiring travellers to divulge 50 pieces of information about themselves to police. Such plans will deservedly be re-examined in the light of this debacle." (22/11/2007)

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The Economist - United Kingdom

The weekly stresses the role of regulation. "Many European countries and 35 American states have rules that require companies and government departments to disclose breaches of information security to anyone affected. In many cases they are also legally liable for any loss. This gives them an incentive to store as little data as possible and to look after it properly. Britain, alas, has some of the most toothless data-protection rules in the developed world: the government recently rejected a plan to make reporting of breaches compulsory. ... If organisations were confronted by the risks of building large databases and forced to balance them against the benefits they provide, they would design them differently and monitor their use more closely." (22/11/2007)

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Eesti Päevaleht - Estonia

The disappearance of CDs carrying the personal details of millions of citizens in the United Kingdom prompts the Estonian newspaper to warn against putting too much faith in the power of technology. "This affair clearly shows how great the danger is for a society in which more and more data is collected in databanks. Although computer experts have repeatedly claimed that they have the risks almost entirely under control, ultimately humans are prone to making mistakes. Here in Estonia, where there are plans to digitalise our public health information system in the near future, this should give us food for thought." (22/11/2007)

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