Government not listening on surveillance, say Lords

Privacy watchdog needs greater powers and snooping laws must be reformed, says committee

Lords will debate privacy

The House of Lords Constitution Committee has expressed disappointment at the government's response to its report on surveillance and privacy.

The report in February recommended more powers for the Information Commissioner, in particular to allow monitoring of the private sector, and greater use of privacy impact assessments.

Lord Goodlad, chairman of the Lords Constitution Committee, said: "We are disappointed the government has failed to recognise the fundamental importance of privacy in the relationship between individuals and the state," he said.

"The government should also have accepted our argument that the Information Commissioner needs greater powers over inspecting private sector organisations. "

In its response to the report, the government rejected proposals for a review of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which allows authorities to intercept communications, as well as rejecting calls for a Joint Committee on surveillance and data powers and for more information to be provided to citizens on surveillance issues.

And the committee said the government failed to address recommendations on citizen-oriented identification systems that could give individuals control over identification and authentication data.

The House of Lords will debate the issue this Friday.