The Home Affairs Select Committee, lead by the well-respected former Home Officer Minister John Denham, said it will use this inquiry to consider the growth of public and private databases and forms of surveillance with a direct relevance to the work of the Home Office.
The inquiry will be wide-ranging, considering the following issues:
– Access by public agencies to private databases
– Data-sharing between government departments and agencies
– Existing safeguards for data use and whether they are strong enough
– The monitoring of abuses
– Potential abuse of private databases by criminals
– The case for introducing privacy impact assessments
– Privacy-enhancing technologies
– Profiling.
The inquiry will focus on Home Office responsibilities such as identity cards, the National DNA Database and CCTV, but where relevant will look also at other departments’ responsibilities in this area, for instance the implications of databases being developed by the Department of Health and the DfES for use in the fight against crime.
Last November Thomas claimed that the UK was on the verge of a surveillance society.
“Two years ago I warned that we were in danger of sleepwalking into a surveillance society,” Thomas said. “Today I fear that we are in fact waking up to a surveillance society that is already all around us.”
He added: “As ever-more information is collected, shared and used, it intrudes into our private space and leads to decisions which directly influence people’s lives. Mistakes can also easily be made with serious consequences – false matches and other cases of mistaken identity, inaccurate facts or inferences, suspicions taken as reality, and breaches of security. I am keen to start a debate about where the lines should be drawn. What is acceptable and what is not?”
Any organisation or individual wishing to make a submission of evidence to the select committee must do so by Monday 23 April. Full details on how to make a submission can be found in the Evidence submission guide.
The hearing will take place on May 1st at 10.15am in the Thatcher Room at Portcullis House. The hearing is open to members of the public on a first come, first served basis. Members of the public wishing to attend should allow about 20 minutes to pass through security checks and call the information line on 020 7219 2033 a few days before hand to check no details have changed.
