HC Deb 06 December 1988 vol 143 cc108-9W
Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to require all organisations, which maintain the names of people on lists without their knowledge and circulate the lists for a fee to others for employment and other purposes, to register with his Department; if he will investigate the procedure and role of such organisations; and if he will take steps to seek to ban those which interfere with personal freedom.

Mr. Renton

The Data Protection Act 1984 provides that data users holding personal data processed automatically shall register the fact and, interalia, the purpose for which the data are held and to whom they may be disclosed. My right hon. Friend has no plans to extend the registration requirement to manual files.