HC Deb 17 February 1998 vol 306 cc540-2W
Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if Clause 27 of the Data Protection Bill[Lords] applies to those personal data processed by the Security Service which are intended to assist the police in relation to serious crime; and if he will make a statement. [29116]

Mr. George Howarth

Clause 27(1) provides that personal data are exempt from the data protection principles and from Parts II, III and V and clause 52 of the Bill if the exemption is required to safeguard national security. Clause 27(2) provides for Ministerial certification of the need for exemption and clause 27(4) allows appeals by people directly affected. The form of exemption in respect of personal data processed by the Security Service is under consideration.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 29 January 1998, Official Report, column 342, concerning the compliance costs questionnaire in relation to data protection, if he will publish aggregate statistics relating to responses made by(a) local authorities, (b) Government departments, (c) large manufacturers, (d) small manufacturers, (e) financial institutions, (f) charities, (g) marketing organisations and (h) retailers, for each of the questions Q2 to Q8, Q10 to Q12, Q15, Q18, Q20 to Q23 and Q27 to Q31, indicating the breakdown between manual data and computerised data. [29117]

Mr. George Howarth

I am afraid that the information is not readily available in the precise form requested. However, following is a table giving a percentage breakdown of the costs to non-Government organisations by reference to the main categories of additional spending.

The costs to Government Departments were assessed separately, not through the questionnaire.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the compliance of measures in the Data Protection Bill[Lords] with the requirement for a definition of consent set out in Article 2(h) of Directive 95/46/EC; and if he will make a statement. [29041]

Mr. George Howarth

The Directive does not require us to amplify the terms it uses. We consider that the Bill gives proper effect to the requirements of Community law.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those cases, with respect to the lawful processing of sensitive personal data under Schedule 3 to the Data Protection Bill [Lords], where the Secretary of State has used Article 8(4) of Directive 95/46/EC to specify additional exemptions; if he will list the reason for each exemption; and if he will indicate the nature of the suitable safeguards which are intended to protect the data subject. [29115]

Mr. George Howarth

Article 8(4) of the Directive, relating to reasons of substantial public interest, is reflected in paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 to the Bill. The latter provides an exemption for processing which is necessary for the administration of justice, the exercise of functions conferred by any enactment or the exercise of any function of the Crown, Minister of the Crown or Government Department.

The exemption is necessary to enable the conduct of legitimate functions as authorised by Parliament. The safeguards are the legal constraints on the discharge of the functions in question and more specific provisions included in some of the relevant statutes.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the protection afforded to the media in the Data Protection Bill[Lords]. [29044]

Mr. George Howarth

Clause 31 of the Bill exempts processing for special purposes (journalistic, literary or artistic purposes) from some provisions of the Data Protection Bill. The processing must take place with a view to publication and the data controller must reasonably believe both that publication, having particular regard to the special importance of freedom of expression, is in the public interest and that complying with the data protection rules is incompatible with the special purposes.

Clause 42 allows the Data Protection Commissioner to serve a special information notice on the data controller for the purpose of ascertaining whether the processing is being undertaken only for the special purposes and with a view to publication. Clause 44 restricts the ability of the Commissioner to serve an enforcement notice on a data controller in respect of processing for the special purposes unless it does not meet the necessary criteria and the court has granted leave for the notice to be served.

Challenges may be made after publication; but the exemption still applies if the conditions are satisfied.

In line with Article 9 of the European Communities Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC), these provisions are intended to reconcile the privacy protections in the main data protection regime with the needs of freedom of expression.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to(a) Recital 10 of Directive 95/46/EC and (b) the exemptions in the Data Protection Act 1984 relating to crime and taxation, if he will make a statement on Clause 28(4) of the Data Protection Bill [Lords] in respect of (a) the UK's obligations towards Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention and (b) the lessening of protection afforded to data subjects. [29043]

Mr. George Howarth

Clause 28(4) provides a power for the Secretary of State, by order subject to affirmative resolution, to exempt from the first data protection principle, subject access rights and non-disclosure provisions any processing relating to the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of offenders or the assessment or collection of taxes.

No decision has been taken on the precise use of this power. Before taking such a decision, we would have full regard to the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1995 European Communities Directive on Data Protection.