§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to amend the Data Protection Act 1984 in order to permit the staff of airlines operating in the United Kingdom to give out information concerning passengers flying into or out of the United Kingdom, to next of kin who require confirmation or otherwise that a person has travelled with that airline. [9387]
§ Mr. SackvilleNo amendment to the Data Protection Act is necessary. The Act permits disclosure of data to any category of person described as a potential recipient in the relevant entry in the data protection register. Whether an airline may disclose data to next of kin therefore depends on the terms in which it was registered. Only the airline can decide, in cases where disclosure is permissible, whether it would be appropriate to disclose in any given situation.