Clause 152
Coroners and Justice Bill
1:15 pm
Henry Bellingham (Shadow Minister, Justice; North West Norfolk, Conservative)
The clause goes much further than the Thomas and Walport review. Perhaps I am a suspicious person, but judging from the mood music at the evidence session, the Information Commissioner did not look to be enamoured with the clause.
In this technological age, more data are always going to be shared. We accept that medical records are going to be shared among hospitals and GP practices, and that the police and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are sharing more and more data. We recognise that the fight against crime requires more data to be exchanged and shared. There are increasing numbers of CCTV cameras, and local councils are going to share that information with the local police. There was a recent example of that in my constituency. An unfortunate Polish migrant worker was minding his own business in the centre of King’s Lynn when he got beaten up by a bunch of drunken hooligans. The incident was caught on CCTV and the four people involved were then prosecuted, convicted and sent to prison. That is an example of CCTV cameras working well and how data should be shared.
We accept that in this terrifying, terrorist environment there will be more and more data sharing. We want the police and security services to retain the powers that they have, and that will mean more data sharing. However, a balance needs to be struck between the needs of the police in fighting crime and the rights of the individual.
I recently saw a quote from Sir David Omand, the Cabinet Office’s former security intelligence co-ordinator, saying:
“Finding out other people’s secrets is going to involve breaking everyday moral rules.”
The intrusive mining of databases, including accessing phones, could involve “breaking everyday moral rules”. We have to go so far, but surely there is a stage beyond which we should not go. However, much of the data that are shared could, and should, be shared on a voluntary basis. The public do not mind some of their data being shared and we all know what sort of data that is.