The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) should have the power to search private businesses, according to a new government report.
Looking at data protection changes in the controversial Justice and Coroners Bill, the Joint Committee on Human Rights has said boosting the ICO's ability to search businesses and take action against them would be a "human rights enhancing measure".
The report called for the Information Commissioner to be able to assess private businesses as well as public ones, essentially conducting spot checks. It also said the ICO should have the power to "seek sanctions" against public bodies which refused to comply with its notices exactly what those sanctions would entail wasn't outlined.
The report said such measures would help increase data protection of individuals. "We consider that these additional powers for the Information Commissioner would be a human rights enhancing measure," it stated.
Information commissioner Richard Thomas told the report's authors that his office should be able to serve an assessment notice on any data controller public or private and there must be "meaningful sanctions" for ignoring a notice.
He added: "We received welcome new powers in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 to levy fines on data controllers for deliberately or recklessly breaching the data protection principles. However it is important that the Government brings these powers into force as soon as possible."
The Confederation for British Industry (CBI) disagreed with the proposed spot checks of private businesses data practices, saying the current system works "perfectly well".
"At the present time, if the Information Commissioner suspects a business is breaching the data protection rules, he can apply for a warrant [to search the business]", a CBI spokesperson told IT PRO.
Removing the requirement to have just cause to search would mean the ICO could assess a business that had no data protection problems. "We didn't think it was proportionate," the spokesperson added. "The current system works perfectly well."
The report also slammed the information sharing aspect of the bill, which would give the government the power to share data across public bodies. Justice Secretary Jack Straw has already publicly backed down from that proposal after a public uproar.
-
AI is helping bad bots take over the internetNews Automated bot traffic has surpassed human activity for the first time in a decade, according to Imperva
-
Two years on from its Series B round, Hack the Box is targeting further growthNews Hack the Box has grown significantly in the last two years, and it shows no signs of slowing down
-
ICO admits it's too slow dealing with complaints – so it's eying up automation to cut staff workloadsNews The UK's data protection authority has apologized for being slow to respond to data protection complaints, saying it's been overwhelmed by increased workloads.
-
“Limited resources” scupper ICO probe into EasyJet breachNews The decision to drop the probe has been described as “deeply concerning” by security practitioners
-
Surge in workplace monitoring prompts new ICO guidelines on employee privacyNews Detailed guidance on how to implement workplace monitoring could prevent data protection blunders
-
TikTok could be hit with £27m fine for failing to protect children's privacyNews Social media firm issued with a notice from the ICO for potential violations of UK data protection laws
-
What is AdTech and why is it at the heart of a regulation storm?In-depth The UK data regulator has come under heavy fire for consistently delaying much-needed action, privacy groups say
-
ICO crackdown on AI recruitment part of three-year vision to save businesses £100 millionNews ICO25 outlines a fresh approach that involves releasing learning materials, advice, and a new ICO-moderated discussion forum for businesses
-
Clearview AI fined £7.5m over improper use of UK dataNews Australian facial recognition firm collected 20 billion images from the internet without consent in order to build its database
-
UK data watchdog cut IT spending by £1.2 million during pandemicNews The ICO’s IT budget has been slashed by around 23% since 2019
