The authorities can now share details with more private firms and trade bodies, in the name of preventing fraud.
The list was five, and now stands at 11. They are, in the jargon, Specified Anti-Fraud Organisations (SAFOs) and they are: BAE Systems Applied Intelligence; Callcredit Information Group; CIFAS, the trade body of banks, insurers and others; Dun and Bradstreet; Equifax; Experian; Insurance Fraud Bureau; Insurance Fraud Investigators Group; N Hunter; Synectics Solutions; and TUFF (Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum).
Why is this needed? As Home Office minister Karen Bradley put it in a foreword to a code of practice on sharing information against fraud: “Data sharing is a vital tool in the fight against fraud.” Sharing data brings benefits as the fraudster trying to buy goods online with stolen credit cards may be claiming benefit fraudulently, or making unfounded claims against insurers.
This is however controversial, as besides you have the rights of the individual – a balance (’of course’, said Karen Bradley). And what about data protection? And what if you (the ‘data subject’) are innocent?! As the code of practice puts it, data on those ‘suspected (on the balance of probability) of committing fraud against the public sector’ can be shared with others in the public sector – and the private sector, these SAFOs. The SAFO has to work according to the Data Protection Act (DPA) and show that it’s being fair and transparent.
The code admits that if the data is inaccurate, the person could suffer (he might not be allowed goods or services). Hence any public authority should someone have charge of data protection, and correct any inaccurate information, and tell the SAFO it’s sharing with of the inaccuracy. Again, as according to the DPA, data should not be kept longer than ‘necessary’, and should be secure, both in terms of IT (firewalls and computer passwords) and physically.
The campaign group Big Brother Watch (BBW) meanwhile is calling for harsher penalties for those who seek to abuse their access to personal information. According to BBW it’s become increasingly clear that ‘the Data Protection Act is not up to the task of deterring the illegal disclosure of our information’. More on the BBW website.
