§ Mr. CohenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the objectives and policies which form part of the information society initiative and which rely on the use of personal data; and if he has discussed these objectives and policies with the Data Protection Registrar. [29694]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe information society initiative brings together a range of existing and new support programmes into a coherent and accessible whole, with the overall objective of helping UK business take maximum advantage of information and communication technologies. It includes in particular programmes to raise awareness of the potential business benefits of using new technologies, and highlights some of the implications of doing so, including data protection and security issues.
No ISI programme relies on the use of personal data. Where personal data and received as part of the dissemination of ISI in areformation to interested parties, they are handled according to the relevant data protection regulations.