The Queen's Speech: Data protection gets tougher

Queen's Speech

Data protection gets tougher

A new Data Protection Bill will be introduced by the Government to give effect to the 1995 EC Data Protection Directive. It will mean stronger rules and will apply to certain manually held records as well as computerised ones. It will also set rules for processing personal data, including stricter conditions for sensitive material about health, race or religion. An area of likely controversy will be the impact on the media. Labour promises to safeguard its legitimate interests in access to information. Patricia Wynn Davies