Clause 29 - Unauthorised disclosure of information
Identity Cards Bill
5:30 pm
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale, Liberal Democrat)
I am grateful to the hon. Member for Newark for presenting the amendments as he has. They highlight the possibilities for accidental or deliberate leaking of information from the register. I can see where he is coming from in terms of the amendments. Why should an act of innocent incompetence on the part of a lowly paid official land them in a position of having committed an offence? Subsection (4) provides mitigation on the basis that a person
“believed, on reasonable grounds, that he had lawful authority to provide the information”.
It does not provide mitigation for someone who has made an innocent error.
Dare I say that the blame lies with the Government in the first place for having created the unnecessary bank of information from which a leak could occur? This situation leads me to reaffirm my view that the best way of dealing with the potential for unauthorised disclosure is to ensure that the source of information is not created in the first place.