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Data Protection in the Areas of Police and Criminal Justice (EU Directive)

He is in a pretty desperate situation if that is true. The animation in these debates often comes from what I might call the meta-issue of why we are discussing European law expansion at all, rather than the precise statutory powers being considered, or at least that is my observation. I intend neither to engage in that debate, nor—other than briefly—to discuss the matter of principle that the draft directive raises. In dealing with the matter of processing personal data for the purposes of preventing, detecting and prosecuting crime, there will always be a balancing act. On the one hand, the prevalence of cross-border crime, including serious and organised crime, crimes of violence, sexual crime and terrorism, is growing, and criminals and criminal gangs are becoming more organised and sophisticated and making better use of technology and information systems, so the police and prosecuting authorities must have the means to match them. On the other hand, the issue of data protection and privacy from the prying eyes of the state in particular is important, contentious and topical, from data storage to the Leveson inquiry. In opposition, both Government parties set themselves up as opponents of data collection where it could be seen as intrusive, yet I read the following in today's edition of The Guardian:"““Ministers are planning a shakeup of the law on the use of confidential personal data to make it far easier for government and public-sector organisations to share confidential information supplied by the public. Proposals to be published next month by the Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude, are expected to include fast-track procedures for ministers to license the sharing of data in areas where it is currently prohibited.””" The Cabinet Office Minister said:"““In May we will publish the proposals that will make data sharing easier””." The home affairs editor of The Guardian notes that"““databases continue to proliferate across Whitehall, even before the extension of data-sharing powers. Now the Cabinet Office minister…says government must be 'smarter and more effective' at sharing such sensitive data.””" It is not only the EU that has to undertake this tricky balancing of civil liberties with security and the pursuit of crime. The issue before us is not one of principle, but whether the proposals achieve that balance. That question may be answered only in the further examination of the directive. As I have indicated, we do not oppose the Government's decision today not to opt out, and I hope that that is clear.