John Wadham, director of Liberty, was also a member of the advisory group consulted on this report:

"So many government agencies hold information on us that it's no surprise some bureaucrats want a peek at the files held on us by others. The scale of this 'data-sharing' has been creeping up for years; today's report if implemented will result in more of this peeking by officials into our personal and private lives.

"The report does recognise and promote, for the first time, the idea that the government and public bodies have a duty to protect our privacy. It does also suggest a significant number of safeguards - but it will still lead to a major increase in data-matching.

"It's a basic principle of data protection that personal information that we give for one purpose should not then be used for another purpose without our consent. This is particularly important since we often have no choice about giving government the information in the first place - on tax returns, to receive benefits, to drive, or to obtain a passport.

"Information we give in good faith for one purpose shouldn't be passed on and used by other people for other purposes without our knowledge and beyond our control . "We do, as the report says, need new law on data privacy and data matching.

But the law should be clear: no data matching of our personal information without our consent - unless we're actually suspected of a crime. That way, suspected criminals and fraudsters can still be investigated, but the innocent vast ,majority of the population need not fear being 'criminalised' by faulty matching and the notorious inaccuracies of much Government-held data".