UK must overhaul data sharing rules

Government has been urged to overhaul the way it handles public information in the wake of a string of damaging data losses.

Whitehall has neither the framework nor the leadership to properly protect the public's personal data, a review by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas and Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust has found.

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The Data Sharing Review found that measures were needed to restore public trust in the way Whitehall handles information in the wake of high profiled data breaches, such as HM Revenue & Customs losing 25 million people's personal data and the Ministry of Defence losing more than 600,000 details.

The review calls for new laws to strengthen and simplify data sharing guidance for front line staff; a clear code of practice on how data is handled; more transparency in data handling; tougher and further reaching powers for the Information Commissioner's Office to enforce rules; more leadership and accountability on data protection; and greater protection of information online and, in particular, in the electoral register.

Walport said in a statement: "The case for change is overwhelming. The law and its framework lack clarity.

"The technology enabling the collection and sharing of large amounts of personal data continues to advance. But public confidence in how personal information is safeguarded is evaporating. Our package of recommendations is aimed at transforming the way personal information is collected, managed, used and shared."

Thomas said in a statement: "The risks in the information age are also very real, particularly if organisations are cavalier about sharing.

"The regulatory system governing data sharing needs to have much more bite - and reform is now long overdue."