European Commission should pursue UK over data protection failures

5.46.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 26th Jun 2008

After a meeting in Brussels with deputy Information Commissioner David Smith from the UK privacy watchdog, London MEP and Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman Baroness Sarah Ludford is urging the European Commission to take a firm stand over the UK government's continuing failure, despite some legislative changes, to ensure adequate protection of personal data, in breach of EU law.

She said:

"The Commission must not hesitate to take the UK to the European Court if it continues to fall short of EU legal standards through negligence in government bodies and through a refusal to endow the Information Commissioner's Office with sufficient money and staff or adequate powers like the ability to do 'spot checks' without permission.."

The Commission has previously written to the UK government with concerns about the compliance of the UK Data Protection Act with EU law and Sarah Ludford has pursued the matter in parliamentary questions. In their answers the Commission has avoided saying whether it will be taking enforcement action.

Sarah Ludford added:

"With the best will in the world, the Information Commissioner is facing an uphill struggle, as data loss scandals in the past year demonstrate. Personal and financial details of 25 million child benefit claimants, 3 million driving test applicants and thousands of potential army recruits have gone missing. To cap it all, when the government has the cheek to call opposition parties soft on terrorism, senior civil servants and cabinet minister Hazel Blears have allowed secret intelligence documents on Al-Qaeda to be lost."

"Thanks to the Liberal Democrats at Westminster, recent legislation does beef up privacy powers and tighten sanctions. But it's not enough, so Brussels must not let Gordon Brown's government off the hook on this issue which threatens the security and peace of mind of every British person."