15 Jan 2007

The human rights group Liberty today warned that the Prime Minister’s initiative to weaken data protection laws to enable government agencies to share individual’s personal details could dramatically undermine privacy rights.

Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti said:
 
“This is an accumulation of our government’s contempt for our privacy. This half-baked proposal would allow an information free-for-all within government – ripe for disastrous error and ripe for corruption and fraud.”
 
"If the Government wants to appoint officials to help the bereaved navigate bureaucracy, we will be the first to applaud. Just don't tell us that sweeping away privacy protection is for our own good. Human beings are a bit like Cabinet Ministers; they value their private and family life and only want it intruded upon for proper and proportionate reasons."  
 
Contact: Jen Corlew on 0207 378 3656 or 07973 831 128