Councils should be banned from selling copies of the electoral
register to marketing companies, the UK's information watchdog has
said.
Information commissioner Richard Thomas said in the
Data Sharing Review, published today, that selling the register
is an "unsatisfactory" way for local authorities to treat personal
information.
Councils can sell the edited version of the
electoral register, which holds details on 60% of the
electorate, to anyone. It is most commonly sold to marketing
companies for use in cold calling and direct mailing campaigns.
"It sends a particularly poor message to the public that
personal information collected for something as vital as
participation in the democratic process can be sold to 'anyone for
any purpose'," the report says.
People can opt out of having their details included on the
edited register but the report said the forms for doing this are
confusing. Many people don't realise the edited version is
available for sale, it said. Others are put off registering to vote
at all because they fear their details might be sold.
Under the recommendations, the full version will still be
available to political parties for electoral purposes, and to
credit rating agencies.
The Data Sharing Review was commissioned by Prime Minister
Gordon Brown to look at the way private and public sector
organisations collect and store data. Its publication follows a
raft of high-profile data losses and breaches, but it was
commissioned shortly before officials
lost two CDS containing the entire child benefit database in
November 2007.
Its authors, Richard Thomas and Mark Walport of the Wellcome
Trust, called for a shake up in the way data is handled in the
UK.
Their recommendations aim to address the public's concerns about
data privacy, which include a
lack of trust and a fear of
"
function creep" - the "ever-greater use of personal information
by an increasingly overbearing state".
The proposals will tackle culture in organisations, increase
transparency, and improve staff training in data handling. The
report also called for stronger powers for the Information
Commissioner and more control for individuals.
The report stressed that IT should not be the driving factor in
information management. It said, "It is important that people do
not find themselves led simply by what technology can achieve -
they need to understand first of all what they want to
achieve."