§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Energy how many registrations his Department has made under the Data Protection Act; how many people are involved with implementing the legislation in his Department as a significant part of their job description; and how much he estimates it will cost to conform with the eight data protection principles.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerAs I informed the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown) on 22 May, at column253, my Department has submitted six applications for registration under the Act. Implementing the Act is a significant part of the job of only one of my officials. Conforming with the first six of the data protection principles and the eighth will not involve extra costs since these embrace existing good computing practice. In advance of any experience of the number of inquiries made in a given period by individuals about personal information which may be held on my Department's computers, it is not possible to give an estimate of the costs likely to be incurred in complying with the seventh principle.