Strong opposition to UK data sharing clause

The UK government is facing strong opposition to the clause in a draft Bill currently being debated in Parliament that removes barriers to data sharing between government departments to support improved public services. Justice Secretary Jack Straw is being called upon to remove the 'information sharing orders', aka clause 152, from the Coroners and Justice Bill. The British Medical Association has said that the whole profession is concerned for doctor/patient confidentiality, because the clause allows information obtained for one purpose to be used for another, with limited justification. Opposition also comes from such weighty quarters as Liberty, GeneWatch UK, Patient Concern, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the British Computer Society. Further, the Information Commissioner wants 'much stronger safeguards' in the bill to protect sensitive data, particularly health records. He has made a number of criticisms in an updated commentary on the Coroners and Justice Bill (outlined in Volume 9, Issue 4 of Privacy & Data Protection.) A copy of the ICO's commentary is available from the ICO's website.

Source: PDP Data Protection News

UK Information Commissioner's Office launches public consultation on a Privacy Notices Code of Practice

The UK's Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has launched a public consultation prior to publishing a Privacy Notices Code of Practice. The Code of Practice will help organisations to draft clear privacy notices and make sure that they collect information about people fairly and transparently. The Code contains good and bad examples that organisations will be able to use to help draw up their own privacy notices.We would welcome your comments on the draft code of practice by Friday 3 April 2009.

How to respond
Please use the response form for submitting your comments. Forms should be saved in Word format and emailed to: consultations@ico.gsi.gov.uk . Alternatively you can print out this form and post to: Data Protection Development Team, ICO, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.Click on the titles below to view the draft code of practice and the consultation response form.
Draft Privacy notices code of practice
Privacy notices code of practice: consultation response form