The Serious Crime Bill allows for the sharing
of data for comparison as a crime fighting measure. Called data
matching, this involves public sector financial watchdog the Audit
Commission comparing different records to try to detect fraud.
But the Government's proposals are too wide
ranging and do not contain enough safeguards against the invasion
of citizens' privacy, according to the amendments proposed by
Anelay.
The proposed law as currently written states
that the Audit Commission's activities be governed by a code of
practice. It says, though, that that code of practice will be
written by the Audit Commission itself.
Anelay has proposed a legislative demand that
the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), the body responsible
for protecting people's privacy under the Data Protection Act,
approve any code. She has also suggested that both Houses of
Parliament approve any code or any changes to it.
"The code of practice and any revisions to it
shall be subject to the approval of the Information Commissioner;
and, following his approval, to approval by affirmative resolution
of both Houses of Parliament," reads one of her amendments, tabled
late last week.
The Bill has been passed to the House of Lords
for reading and approval, before being passed back to the House of
Commons. The amendments will be discussed at the Committee stage
before the Bill is read before the Lords for a third time. It then
goes through a number of readings and a Committee stage in the
Commons before becoming law.
The amendments proposed by Anelay would also
demand that the Audit Commission produce reports connected to every
data matching exercise to justify the process. According to the
proposed amendments, the report should detail:
- the reasons for conducting the data matching
exercise; any assumptions to be made in the data matching
exercise;
- what audit these assumptions will be subject
to;
- the outcome of the data matching exercise
which the Commission would consider to be successful;
- why the Commission consider that the use of
data matching is a proportionate use of its powers;
- steps the Commission will take to ensure that
data subjects are protected; and
- what reports the Information Commissioner
will receive about the data matching exercise.
The Serious Crime Bill has hit the headlines
because of its super-ASBOS, the Serious Crime Prevention Orders,
which can apply to organisations as well as people. The data
matching element has attracted less attention but could become
controversial if support for Anelay's amendments builds.
The Bill extends to the Home Secretary powers
to alter in the future what circumstances will merit a data
matching exercise. It says the Home Secretary "may by order add
further purposes for which data matching exercises may be
conducted". This, too, is opposed by the Tories in the Lords.
"Any further purposes added by the Secretary
of State under subsection (1)(a) must be limited to the prevention
and detection of serious offences, as defined by Schedule 1 to the
Serious Crime Act 2007," says one of Anelay's amendments.
