Government warned on surveillance society dangers

Select Committee says privacy under threat from new technology

IT databases and search engines are encouraging the development of a surveillance society, according to a new report by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

“Technological developments have increased capacity for surveillance, particularly in terms of the storage of large volumes of data, and the ability to search databases and share information through the use of interoperable systems,” the report, titled “A Surveillance Society”, concluded.

Three government databases were highlighted as potential concerns by the report: the NHS care record service, the children's database ContactPoint, and the National Identity Card Scheme.

The report also noted that social networking increases the chances that personal information can be spread, without individuals' necessarily appreciating the risk.

Other risks include technology that creates profiles of individuals in order to make predictions on their future behaviour. The Committee pointed to digital technology firm Phorm, which has designed software called Webwise and OIX that tracks internet users´ behaviour to generate sales opportunities.

The rise in government surveillance is partly due to a strategy coined by the Cabinet Office in 2005 as “Transformational Government”, explained the report. The strategy aims to take advantage of technology used by the private sector to tailor services to the customer and to increase efficiency.

The Committee warns there are serious risks associated with the government’s penchant for collecting and storing personal information. Not only can mistakes or misuse of databases cause substantial harm to individuals but data-collection on a mass scale will eventually erode trust between the individual and state.

“To enjoy a private life is to act on the assumption that the state trusts the citizen to behave in a law-abiding and responsible way,” the report added.

The reported recommended that organisations should employ data minimisation policies – where a proven need has to be demonstrated for all information collected. Businesses should also adopt policies and procedures, which monitor staff access to customer information.

Individuals were urged to take responsibility for monitoring the collection, storage and use of their data.