§ 28. Mr. Leslie Huckfieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment what rules of confidentiality govern staff in his Department in the handling of personal information, whether stored manually or on computer.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThe staff of my Department are required to observe the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts and of the Statistics of Trade Act, 1947, when information has been obtained under that Act. Additionally, departmental instructions to staff generally and more specific instructions to computer staff emphasise the need to maintain confidentiality and privacy.
The Government will in due course publish a White Paper which will deal with the privacy of personal information held in Government computers.