The government as too sloppy about protecting personal data and current privacy laws are ‘deeply flawed’, according to a new report.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) claims privacy law is too fragmented, fails to stop personal data privacy breaches and does not keep pace with the growth in personal data collection.

The report points out that tracking who holds personal data is almost impossible as information is swapped between government agencies and no laws regulate photographic or CCTV surveillance.

The concern is this lack of data control leads to multiple breaches of personal data privacy as no one has overall responsibility for what information is held, how it is collected, what happens when it is lost and whether the law allows data to pass between agencies without permission.

To streamline the law for the state and others to reform how information about people is collected, used and stored, the EHRC has recommended a three-point plan for government to follow to improve personal data protection:

• Streamline information privacy laws so organisations can better understand their responsibilities and to let citizens know and use their rights.

• Make organisations justify why they need to hold personal data.

• Public bodies should consider the impact on information privacy of any new policy or practice and ensure any requests they make for personal data are justified and proportionate.

Geraldine Van Bueren, a commissioner at the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: “It’s important that the government and its agencies have the information they need about us to do their job, for example to fight crime, or protect our health. However, the state is holding increasing amounts of information about our lives without us knowing, being able to check that it’s accurate or being able to challenge this effectively.

“This needs to change so that any need for personal information has to be clearly justified by the organisation that wants it. The law and regulatory framework needs to be simplified and in the meantime public authorities need to check what data they have and that it complies with the existing laws.”

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