§ 26. Mr. Leslie Huckfieldasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now introduce legislation to licence the operation of computer dating bureaux.
§ Mr. LaneThe possible threat to privacy from the operation of computers in the private sector is one of the matters which have been examined by the Committee on Privacy, whose report my right hon. Friend expects very shortly.
§ Mr. HuckfieldThe Home Department has been giving that answer for the last 12 months. The application form for Dateline computer dating includes some 52 attitude questions including questions on Communism and sex—[AN HON. MEMBER: "They go well together."]—without a shred of guarantee of anything like confidentiality. Is the Under-Secretary aware that this is one of the more respectable of the operations in this market at the moment? Will he do anything to stop many of these organisations which are nothing more than pedlars of personal profiles?
§ Mr. LaneI hope the hon. Gentleman noticed our answer on Tuesday saying that we hoped to publish the report in five to six weeks. But we have not received any complaints in the Home Office about the operation of these bureaux. Nobody who is asked the questions is obliged to answer them.