Lords to decide on private sector data protection spot-checks

Lords will decide future of ICO powers

A Lords committee will decide on Monday whether or not to add new powers for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to the government's Coroners and Justice Bill.

A Labour-inspired amendment to the bill – which would give the ICO the same right to carry out spot-checks on private sector companies as is already being given for government departments – was dropped when the legislation went through the Commons.

But government sources said that a similar amendment would be proposed, this time by a minister, when the bill is considered line by line in a committee on Monday.

The CBI has already warned that such a move could be detrimental to businesses.

A CBI spokeswoman said it would enable the Information Commissioner to ask the government to push through a regulation specifying industrial sectors in which the ICO would be able to mount spot-checks without having to rely on existing powers of search.

Currently, the ICO would have to seek a warrant from a court, requiring a suspicion that the company was not complying with data protection law.

The CBI said no case had been made for claiming existing powers are inadequate, and said the proposal would be a disproportionate burden on business during a recession and only a few days' notice of the move had been given by the government.

Tory peers are likely to oppose the amendment, but may not push for a vote at this time. The issue can be raised at a later stage before final approval in the Lords and will need to be approved in the Commons.