§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements operate for the logging of those who have access to (a) computer and (b) manual files kept by his Department on individuals; and if he will describe the procedures in operation for both categories.
§ Mr. RentonSpecific guidelines on security of automatically processed data in Government Departments are observed. They are contained in "Protection of Information in Computer Systems" and "Central Government Code of Practice No. 21", issued by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, which give recommended procedures to safeguard data in computer installations. Copies of these guidelines have been placed in the House library.
Access to manual files on individuals is strictly limited on a need to know basis. The list of authorised persons is kept under review.