How can government strike a balance between information security and privacy? That is a topic for a March 15 forum in London, at the Grange Holborn Hotel.
The Freedom of Information Act, implemented in 2005, has allowed individuals to make information requests to public bodies including central and local government, police and education institutions. Regulated by the Information Commissioner, the act has led to unprecedented access to public sector data. In April 2010, the Information Commissioner’s powers were extended to allow the Commission to carry out spot checks on government departments and issue fines of up to £500,000. However, despite this increase in powers, critics still question whether the Commission requires further powers to effectively enforce data protection laws.
In 2010’s Strategic Defence Security Review, the government committed itself to take forward the planned Interception Modernisation Programme of collecting communications data. The review states the pledge to “introduce a programme to preserve the ability of the security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to obtain communication data and to intercept communications within the appropriate legal framework”.
Continuing developments in technology, social networking and the on-going growth in cloud computing, pose challenges to ensuring information security. The ways in which information is collected, shared and used mean that data protection and information security policies have to constantly evolve. In November 2010, the European Commission proposed a ‘legal right to be forgotten’, allowing internet users to permanently delete their information on social networking sites. Visit –
