A recent review conducted by Mark Walport, the director of the Wellcome Trust, and the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has come up with certain pertinent suggestions regarding current personal data protection policies.
One of the main recommendations is tougher and further reaching powers for the Office of Information Commissioner to enforce relevant rules apart from more proactive leadership and greater accountability on data protection, and more protection of information online and, specifically, in the electoral register.
Walport noted in a statement:
The case for change is indeed overwhelming. The law and its framework lack clarity. The technology enabling the collection as well as sharing of large amount of personal data continues to advance. However, public confidence in how personal data is safeguarded is evaporating.
The package of recommendations is largely aimed at transforming the manner in which personal data is collected, managed, stored, used and shared. RIchard Thomas mentioned:
The risks in the new information age are very real, particularly if organisations are cavalier about sharing. The regulatory system that governs data sharing must have much more bite, and reform is now long overdue.
The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office), the UK’s independent public body, has been set up for promoting access to official information and also protect personal information through standard practice.
