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New UK codes planned [1998] PLBIRp 27; (1998) 45 Privacy Laws and Business International Report 20

UK Registrar plans codes for CCTV and data matching

THE UK REGISTRAR INTENDS to introduce a code of

practice on data matching, and rules for the use of closed circuit television (CCTV) for local authorities. The aim is to bring CCTV fully under data protection law.

The Registrar is concerned about some data matching activities by local authorities. Examples of matching exercises that run the risk of breach- ing the Data Protection Act were given at the Registrar’s press confer- ence on the 14th Annual Report in July. The Registrar said that a number Registrar said. She has already taken action in the form of a letter sent to all chief executives of local authorities informing them of the situation. For those who have already acquired per- sonal data, the advice was to delete any data to which they are not enti- tled. If necessary, the Registrar is willing to take enforcement action.

The proposal was withdrawn, and instead a provision allowing the Commissioner to take the initiative in preparing codes was introduced. In the coming year, the Registrar will seek to finalise a new code on data matching that will reflect the provisions of the code being prepared by the Department of Social Security.

of local authorities have demanded the disclosure of staff payroll infor In the meantime, her office already provides data controllers with guid-

mation from local employers. The information has been requested to conduct investigations on possible benefit fraud. The local authorities have mistakenly believed that the Social Security Administration Act

1997 allows them to request this type of information.

In reality, the Act defines the cases where employees’ data may be matched. Sharing of data is allowed between the Department of Social Security, H.M. Customs and Excise, the Inland Revenue, Local Authorities and certain Government agencies. The Act does not give local authorities the power to demand per- sonal data from third parties, in this case from supermarkets, the Post Office and a brewery.

In other cases, local authorities have sought to match their own payroll data with other information to identify staff with rent or Council Tax arrears. This may be done only with the consent of staff after a full consultation.

“Wholesale data matching exercis- es are a major invasion of the private lives of people to whom no suspicion of any wrongdoing attaches,” the

NEW ACT GIVES POWERS TO INITIATE CODES

The new 1998 Data Protection Act, now due to enter into force at the beginning of 1999, will provide the new Data Protection Commissioner, Elizabeth France, with an opportunity to prepare codes of practice. When the Bill was debated in Parliament, it was suggest- ed that data matching would be regulated by a statutory code of prac- tice. The proposal would have required government agencies and departments to prepare a code within six months of the passage of the Bill.

ance on data matching activities. Another area where the Registrar

intends to draft a code of practice is closed circuit television (CCTV). As images are caught under the defini- tion of processing in the 1998 Act, and CCTV systems are becoming more and more common, there is need for tighter control. The Registrar’s office has, apart from pro- ducing a guidance note on CCTV, participated in the work of the British Standards Institute to develop a British Standard Code of Practice for the operation of CCTV systems. By introducing her own code in the future, the Registrar wishes to bring CCTV monitoring fully within the data protection law.

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The Registrar’s Guidance Notes on data matching (Dec ’97) and CCTV (Jan ’98) are available from her office Tel: 01625 545700 or through the Home Page at http://www.open.gov.uk/

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