I've managed to skim-read this report (not the annexes), along with some of the
press coverage. It is certainly repetitive and a little long-winded, but does
make some interesting recommendations. From my experiences during my ongoing
research interviews with various public sector DPOs, a lot of the
recommendations are either already in place or underway - for example, the
recommendation 3 that all public organisations should have clear subject access
procedures.
However, others stand out such as the proposed Public Services Trust Charter
(pp. 57-9) that all public sector organisations are supposed to embody in their
service-level privacy agreements. This permits data to be processed without
the subject's knowledge "only" for a whole range of purposes including for "the
protection of the economy" and, dubiously, "the protection of morals".
Another recommendation is the appointment of board level Chief Knowledge
Officers (pp. 91-4) to integrate issues such as DPA/HRA/FOI, data-sharing
protocols and records management - something of an "Information Tsar", perhaps.
So, to consider the point made by Charles Raab, does this improve data-sharing
as well as protecting privacy? Chapter 10 (pp.99-107) with it's suggested
changes to the current legal framework clearly indicates a move towards greater
data-sharing at the expense of privacy protection. True, the courts can strike
down secondary legislation contravening the HRA and it's Art. 8 Right to a
Private Life (p.107). However, Courts have been reluctant to strike down
legislation to date and, even if they did, the Government could simply ignore
any such a ruling. (That is my understanding anyway - I am *not* a lawyer!)
Interesting times indeed. Any further views on this?
Regards
Adam Warren
PhD Researcher
---------------------------------
Department of Information Science
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leicestershire LE11 3TU
UK
PS If pressed for time, the gist of the report can be garnered from the first 3
pages of the Exec Summ (pp. 4-6) and the list of recommendations (pp.121-5).
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