Info chief calls for data safeguards in wake of HMRC debacle Organisations and individuals must step up the fight against identity fraud, the Information Commissioner's Office will say today. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) will say the data security problems at HM Revenue and Customs were a watershed and call for organisations to implement new safeguards to help protect …
Has anybody started the English equivalent of a Class Action suit against these people yet? I don't have any interest in this case as I don't have kids so don't receive Child Benefit, but I would be certainly interested in seeing heads roll to bring the departments in line, and to give them a decent insentive to stay that way.
The Big Cheese at the top leaving with £x million in the bank is not an suitable insentive.
**"At a conference on the "surveillance society" in Manchester today, the ICO will also encourage people to take more control over their personal information to help them guard against the risks of identity fraud."**
How the hell are we supposed to do that when the the Government wants to make it a criminal offence *not* to hand over all of your most intimate personal details.
If they don't lose them, and assuming Bottler Brown and his rabble get re-elected, you can be sure that the next time they get strapped for cash the idea of selling all of those personal details to Tesco, et al, won't seem so bad.
Nothing to fear, think again!
“Before giving out any personal information we advise individuals to make sure they know who they are giving their details to, why these details are needed and how they will be used. If individuals are not satisfied with the response they should not feel obliged to give out their details "
Except that Government departments have the force of law *require* individuals to give such details. And the argument of "public interest" is used to exempt Government from key provisions of the Data Protection Act. So data sharing is underway - without individuals' consent to use personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected. See http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/B/9/pbr_csr07_service.pdf
Directors of companies can be fined or jailed for failing to use "appropriate technical and organisational measures ... to protect against ... accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data". But Government departments ....?
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