MPs Demand Tougher Data Protection

New Report Demands Greater Enforcement

It’s not long since Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lost the data of some 25 million British citizens on two data disks, which have still to be found. The Parliamentary report into that incident, called The Protection of Private Data, has called for much stricter data protection laws, according to the BBC.   Calling the incident “truly shocking,” committee chairman Alan Beith said,   "The scale of the data loss by government bodies and contractors is truly shocking but the evidence we have had points to further hidden problems. It is frankly incredible, for example, that the measures HMRC has put in place were not already standard procedure."   The committee wants new criminal laws to protect data, including prosecution of those who lose data, as well as more powers for the Information Commissioner.   Once other EU member states are able to access UK data on UK citizens, the committee says, "the importance of restricting the amount of data held, as well as proper policing of who had access to it takes on even greater importance.”