Data watchdog issues new privacy guidance for businesses

Bamford: Safeguards needed

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched a new guide to help businesses developing IT systems to consider the privacy impact on customers and employees.

The latest version of the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) handbook is designed to help organisations address the risks to personal privacy before implementing new initiatives and technologies.

Assistant information commissioner Jonathan Bamford said that for the public to have trust in an organisation, individuals must be confident their information is held securely.

"It is essential that before introducing new systems and technologies, which could accelerate the growth of a surveillance society, full consideration is given to the impact on individuals and that safeguards are in place to minimise intrusion," he said.

The handbook is part of the ICO's initiative to try to ensure privacy is designed in to IT systems from the start, rather than as an afterthought.

All central government departments and their agencies are required to adopt PIAs when developing new systems, after the Cabinet Office issued strict guidelines following the HM Revenue & Customs data breach in November 2007.