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Coroners and Justice Bill

With these amendments we move to the part of the Bill dealing with data protection. The Bill has come a long way since it started out and been much improved, partly by the removal of the wide data-sharing powers that the Government originally proposed. We certainly welcome the Government's new amendments to Clause 156. The Information Commissioner's Office has been calling for a number of changes to the data-control regime operated both by government and private bodies. We believe that the amendments tabled in this part of the Bill fulfil the needs of the Information Commissioner's Office. While we are happy about the progress being made on the face of the Bill, I refer the Minister back to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act, when we brought in the sister set of powers to this. If data controllers working for government departments were found to be guilty or reckless with their data, there could be penalties. But the Government have still not brought in the orders to put that into effect, and last year the Bill went through, since when an awful lot of data have been lost. One of the pieces of information that came out of the News International debacle was that various organisations such as the DVLA appear to have been selling data. Penalties for data controllers who have not been careful with data have still not been brought into being by the Government. I welcome the debate today on these amendments, but I should like to know when the orders to deal with recklessness by the Government will be brought in. I turn now to the issues we are dealing with here. We need to be certain that the Information Commissioner's Office has the power to step in and take action when a data controller in the private sector is lacking in either control or assiduousness in ensuring that data are properly dealt with. As the amendments suggest, this would include when a data controller makes a statement known to be false. The amendments would cover not only recklessness and negligence but also any cover-up. The amendments aim to cover a gap in the Bill. There is no doubt that the experience over the last 12 months has made them entirely necessary. We feel that it is essential to bring in the private sector, because at the moment private sector data controllers can be inspected only with their agreement. This is particularly important at a time of widening data collection, data use and data sharing. The list from the ICO is extensive. I will not delay the Committee much, but I will give a few examples of how the list is growing. There is going to be targeted behavioural advertising and retention of search engine requests. There are credit reference agencies, which can have a significant effect on individuals’ lives, and insurance companies, which increasingly pull customer data. The list also includes retailers and loyalty card databases. I am sure that noble Lords have had the experience of those details being sold. When this happens, you get all sorts of letters that clearly indicate that somebody has been sold the information about you. There are vast amounts of these data. We are pleased that the Government are strengthening this regime but we feel that they need to be certain that there are no gaps. In particular, we look forward to hearing the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, talk about the necessity for his amendment. We have tabled a similar one, but in the interests of time I will let the noble Lord speak to that issue. I beg to move.