Clause 21 - Use for correcting inaccurate
Identity Cards Bill
10:00 am
Mr Richard Allan (Shadow Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Cabinet Office; Sheffield, Hallam, Liberal Democrat)
Amendment No. 177 seeks to ensure that where the Secretary of State is correcting information, he will notify the individual in writing. I hope that we will get some additional clarification on that from the Minister and examples of where it might occur. For example, I understand that if somebody comes forward with some evidence about their registrable facts, perhaps because they have applied for a passport or something else, and some of the information held by Departments is incorrect, that information will be corrected. It would be helpful if the Secretary of State could authorise that information to be corrected on behalf of the individual.
It would also be helpful to understand the scope of the clause. Is it intended simply to relate to the information that the individual has provided to demonstrate the registrable facts, or will it be broader? If an error is picked up, can the Secretary of State go to a range of Departments that might be using the identity register and seek to correct their information? We have sought in this group of amendments—particularly in amendment No. 177—to ensure that the individual is told where that occurs.
Amendment No. 177 is important in the context of the data protection principles, which are clear: an individual has a right to have data about them corrected if it is inaccurate and the data subject, the person, has a set of rights in relation to the data that is held about them. We are concerned that the clause would allow the Secretary of State to amend an individual's personal data—potentially across a range of Departments—without them being told about it. That would be in breach of the principles of data protection.
The amendment seeks to ensure that the individual is told in writing that a correction has been made. Amendments Nos. 179 and 180 would ensure that the rules that will be established by regulation on how an individual's data is used without consent, to which we will come in clause 23, also ensure that an individual is told about that.
It is important in data protection and potential legal liability terms that when we come to clause 30 we discuss the provision of false information. An individual is liable to prosecution if they knowingly, recklessly, or in some way, with some criminal intent, present registrable facts incorrectly. There has to be a question as to whether the Secretary of State's correcting data about registrable facts will lead to criminal proceedings against an individual. An individual needs to be able to clarify whether they are seen as an innocent party who simply inadvertently provided inaccurate information, or whether they will be treated as potentially a criminal suspect under clause 30 and prosecuted for the provision of that inaccurate information. From the individual's point of view, it is important that there is transparency and clarity. If the Minister is unable to accept our amendments, it would be helpful if he would give a little more detail about how the measure will work in practice.