HC Deb 07 July 1987 vol 119 c88W
Mr. Cohen

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional advice he is going to give to the electoral registration officers as to the sale of names and addresses of people contained in the electoral register in machine-readable form, when the sale of the names and addresses takes place without the consent or knowledge of the data subject.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

None. We have already advised registration officers that people who buy this data will have to register the details with the Data Protection Registrar and we have told them of the existence of the mailing preference service to help electors who do not wish to be on mailing lists.

Mr. Cohen

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce the subject access fee and issue the orders under section 29 of the Data Protection Act.

Mr. Renton

We hope to announce the subject access fee within the next few weeks. Drafting of the orders inder section 29 is well advanced, but consultation with the interested parties concerned is not yet complete. We plan to lay the orders immediately after the summer recess.