§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are, in relation to the computer system of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys dealing with census information (a) the purpose or purposes for which personal data are held, (b) the source or sources from which data are obtained, (c) the descriptions of any person or organisation to whom personal data have been disclosed, including the number of such disclosures over the last convenient period of time, (d) the Departments that have, or intend to have, terminal access to the computer system and (e) the lists of the indices held on the computer system, and the number of entries in each index.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information requested is as follows:
- (a) The data in the computer system are used only for the preparation of statistics. The computer record does not contain either names or addresses; it operates under the safeguards which are described in the White Paper "1981 Census of Population: Confidentiality and Computing" (Cmnd. 8201).
- (b) The data were obtained from all those who completed census forms.
- (c) No census information relating to an identified individual has been disclosed to anyone outside OPCS, except to a court of law in connection with a prosecution for refusal to complete a census return properly.
- (d) Other Departments are able to specify statistical tables by means of a terminal system, but they do not have any access to data concerning identified individuals. OPCS maintains control of the statistics produced, in order to preserve the confidentiality of personal census data.
- (e) No indexes to census personal data are held in the computer system.