Electoral Registration (Hansard, 26 January 1990)

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to introduce regulations that allow voters to opt out of or opt into the sale of their name and address from electoral registers; whether he has had discussions with the data protection registrar concerning the sale of the names and address from the electoral register; and whether he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
No. I refer the hon. Member to my reply to his question on 15 January at column 27. The data protection registrar was consulted before the introduction of provisions in the Representation of the People Regulations 1986, governing the sale of the electoral register in data form.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to take steps to inform voters of the fact that their name and address are routinely sold or disclosed from the electoral register for poll tax purposes; and whether he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
We have no such plan.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has plans to introduce regulations in order to protect the name and address of voters who may be vulnerable to attack if their name and address appeared on an electoral register that is available for sale or inspection by the public; and whether he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
We have no plans to do so at present, but we shall continue to keep the position under careful review.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has provided guidance to electoral registration officers concerning the inspection or sale of the names and address from the electoral register without the knowledge of consent or the voter; whether his Department has studied the implications of linking copies of the electoral register information to that of the census or to other large databases; and whether he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
No, although the Home Office does issue guidance to electoral registration officers on all relevant aspects of the electoral registration process, including the provisions governing the inspection and sale of the register. We have not carried out any research concerning the combined use of information from the electoral register and the census or other databases.