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Deutsch: Gesetzgebung zur Datenweitergabe von der Britischen Regierung gestoppt

The campaign of Privacy International and of other civil liberties groups against data sharing legislation in UK resulted in the UK Government decision to abandon Clause 152 of the Coroners and Justice Bill.

The respective clause was giving a "designated authority" the power to sign an order allowing the sharing of information between any two agencies in the public and private sector.

The proposed legislation raised concerns related to the possible misuse of personal data and created a large opposition movement. In a campaign led by Privacy International and other NGOs, an open letter addressed to Justice Secretary Jack Straw, signed by thirty organisations on 28 February 2009 condemned the proposal as a dangerous threat to privacy, and called for the withdrawal of clause 152 from the Coroners & Justice Bill. "In view of the extraordinary powers conferred by clause 152, the information sharing provisions in the Bill may constitute the gravest threat to data protection in the history of the Data Protection Act, and are among the most wide-ranging and potentially intrusive proposals ever laid before Parliament," stated the letter.

On 9 March 2009, a spokesman for Straw announced the "rethinking" of the legislative initiative as a result of the "strength of feeling" against it. The spokesmen stated Justice Secretary recognized that the clause had been drafted in too wide a manner and the reason for the "rethink and a re-consultation" was to "try to strike a balance between the positive elements of data-sharing and ensuring that sensitive data is protected".

Although the proposal was entirely stricken out from the Coroners and Justice Bill, a new attempt will be made to introducing an adjusted version in an undetermined future.

"This is an extraordinary U-turn but we cannot be led into a false sense of security. We congratulate the Government on its decision, but it was inevitable given how badly the clause have been drafted and how morally corrupt its outcome would have been. Nobody should be under the illusion that the Government has changed its colours with regard to its zeal for surveillance. This could be merely a blip, so we all have to remain vigilant for the next assault of privacy" said Simon Davies, director of Privacy International.

Privacy campaigner Phil Booth, director of No2ID was also pleased by the decision. "People realized that their information could be taken and used and abused for other purposes" he said, adding: "The public backlash against Clause 152 has been phenomenal. NO2ID has been working closely with Privacy International and others to focus grassroots and organisational opposition, but the reality is that people just won't put up with the hypocrisy of politicians who want to keep their own details secret, or who support shadowy police databases on protestors, yet who clearly still think that the state can do just as it wants with our personal information. It can't - the people have spoken. Let's hope the scrapping of Clause 152 is the first nail in the coffin of the database state."

However, just as Davies, he expressed some reservations, thinking the government might disregard Straw's position.

Straw will launch a public consultation in view of implementing more limited proposals to allow government bodies to share information in cases when there is clear benefit.

"We will talk to interested groups to get the balance right so that we have the right policy issues reflected in any future legislation and at the same time avoid worrying people unnecessarily that their data is being abused" stated Straw's spokesmen.

UK Government backs down on data sharing legislation after PI campaign (8.03.2009)
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd³³0³=x-347-563879

Government abandons data-sharing scheme (7.03.2009)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/495405...

Straw bows to pressure over data sharing (8.03.2009)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/08/data-sharing-civil-li...

UK govt to rethink data-sharing plans (10.03.2009)
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62052042,00.htm?scid...

Civil society joins key professional bodies to demand removal of data sharing powers (28.02.2009)
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd³³0³=x-347-563710

EDRIgram:UK Government proposes increased data sharing (11.02.2009)
http://www.edri.org/edri-gram/number7.3/uk-govt-more-sharing-data