Data Protection (Hansard, 11 January 1993)

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the Government's policy on the European Commission's proposals on data protection in 593W relation to (a) manual files, (b) data subject consent, (c) first communication of personal data and (d) transfers to third countries; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
The Government are opposed to provisions in the revised draft directive which go beyond the 1981 Council of Europe convention on data processing (Miscellaneous No. 19 (1981) Cmnd 8341) which it considers to represent a principled and practical balance between the interests of data users, data subjects and others. It is opposed to the inclusion of manual data within the scope of the draft directive and to the requirement that in certain specified circumstances data subject consent be obtained before data are processed or first communicated to others. It is broadly content with the provisions on transfers to third countries, but considers that they require further drafting amendments.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many copies of the revised proposal for a data protection directive from the Commission he has sent out; how many were sent to organisations representing data users and organisations representing data subjects; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
Nearly 400 copies of the draft Directive have been sent to organisations outside the public sector. The consultation list is based on the Data Protection Registrar's standard list, together with those bodies which have approached the Home Office. It is not possible to say, in every case, whether the body primarily represents the interests of data users or data subjects, or both.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what elements in the Commission's proposals for a data protection directive are additional to the Council of Europe convention on data protection; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
The revised draft directive goes beyond the Council of Europe convention by placing extra restrictions on data users most importantly in the following respects: the application of the data protection provisions to manual files; restrictions on the processing of sensitive data; and the requirement for the data subject's informed consent in various circumstances before data are obtained, processed or communicated to third parties. The Government are opposed to these additional provisions, which they consider would place unnecessary and unjustifiable burdens on data users, with little compensating benefit and in some cases added inconvenience for data subjects.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 June,Official Report, column 700, if he has signed a certificate under section 27 of the Data Protection Act 1984 since his answer; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
My right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary has signed no such certificate.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will seek permission from the respondents to place in the Library their contributions to his consultation exercise on the revised proposal for a data protection directive from the Commission.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
The presumption is that responses to the consultation exercise are confidential between the594W contributor and Government, but I shall place a list of respondents in the Library when the consultation is complete, and the hon. Member may wish to approach them direct to ask for a copy of their submission.