It’s understood the Home Affairs Committee will consider what e-crime is understood to be and how this affects crime recording, the extent and nature of the threats on which e-crime policy is based and how well they are understood by policy makers and the effectiveness of current law enforcement and legislative capabilities (including local and regional capabilities and the potential impacts of proposed organisational change).
In addition, Committee chairman Keith Vaz MP and his colleagues will look to assess whether there are any gaps in the response to e-crime (and, if so, how they should be addressed), options for addressing key emerging issues that will affect the public (such as liability over personal computer security, personal data held by social networking sites and its vulnerability to criminal use) and the effectiveness of current initiatives to promote awareness of using the Internet safely (and the implications of peoples’ online behaviours for related public policy).
Written evidence is invited from interested parties. The deadline for the submission of written evidence is Tuesday 10 July 2012.
Speaking about the move, Vaz stated: “The Committee is very concerned about the growth in e-crime and its cost to the UK’s economy each year. The Internet is a core part of our global economy enabling commerce, communications and data sharing to take place on an unprecedented scale. However, as the development of new technologies has increased, so has the abuse of technology to commit crimes. The Government’s systems alone are attacked over 600 times every day.”
Vaz continued: “The police and criminal justice system have worked hard to keep pace with cyber criminals, but there is still a long way to go. The Home Affairs Committee is keen to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the UK’s response to e-crime to date and the options for dealing with future challenges.”
In conclusion, Vaz explained: “The invention of the Internet has changed the face of crime forever. If we are to stay one step ahead of the cyber criminals we must ensure we have all the necessary deterrents in place.”
How to submit your comments
Written evidence should, if possible, be submitted in Word or rich text format (not PDF format), sent by e-mail to: homeaffcom@parliament.uk and marked ‘e-Crime’.
The use of colour and expensive-to-print material (eg photographs) should be avoided. The body of the e-mail must include a contact name, telephone number and postal address. The e-mail should also make clear who the submission is from.
Submissions must address the terms of reference. They should be in the format of a self-contained memorandum. Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference, and the document must include an executive summary. Further guidance on the submission of evidence can be found by clicking here
Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere, though previously published work can be referred to in a submission and submitted as supplementary material. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee.
Please bear in mind that the Committee is not able to investigate individual cases.
Publication of written evidence
Normally, though not always, the Home Affairs Committee chooses to publish the written evidence it receives either by printing that evidence, publishing it on the Internet or making it publicly available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.
For data protection purposes, it would be helpful if individuals wishing to submit written evidence send their contact details in a covering letter or e-mail. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
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