Government may clarify data law

Huntley would not have got job if his past had been known

The government has responded to rising pressure for reform of the Data Protection Act by announcing that it may clarify guidance over the law.

It follows the revelation that police deleted computer records about Soham killer Ian Huntley because of the act.

In a second case an elderly couple died after their gas supply was cut off without social services being told.

Health Secretary John Reid said the act was meant "to protect people's privacy... not to put their lives in danger".

The act regulates how companies and other bodies are allowed to gather, retain and share information in an effort to protect ordinary people's privacy.

It says information must be kept no longer than is necessary and also restricts the circumstances in which it can be passed on to other organisations and companies.

Unproven allegations

There was criticism of the working of the complex act in the wake of the Soham trial.

The public interest must be paramount in relation to this... especially when we are dealing with some of the most dangerous people in society Sir John Stevens Metropolitan Police Commissioner Q&A: Data Protection Act

It was revealed Ian Huntley was cleared to work at a school despite having a string of unproven allegations of sexual offences against him.

British Gas argued the act stopped it informing social services that an elderly couple - who were later found dead in their home - had their supply cut off.

Dr Reid said: "If there are data protection regulations that prevent people's lives being saved there's obviously something wrong.

"So obviously we and the other departments concerned will look at that because the whole point of these regulations is to protect people's privacy, it is not to put their lives in danger."

Conservative spokesman for health Tim Yeo said steps needed to be taken to update guidance given to companies on interpreting the act.

But he added: "If it appears that the guidance cannot be changed in a way that makes it easier for companies like British Gas to pass on vital information then we might have to look at the act itself."

Common sense

The government has denied that the work of various departments towards a possible clarification of the law constitutes a formal review.

But the former Home Office minister who helped bring in the legislation during the last parliament said it needed to be reviewed quickly.

Organisations do use the Data Protection Act as an excuse to hide their own organisational administrative weaknesses Shelagh Gaskill, data protection lawyer

George Howarth said: "It was never intended to protect people in the circumstances that arose last week over the Soham murders and it certainly was never intended that people should end up dying as a result of companies cutting off their energy supply."

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said police forces were interpreting the act in different ways and called on them to use common sense and push the boundaries of the act.

It was revealed last week that Humberside Police had dealt 10 times with Huntley, regarding allegations of rape, unlawful sex with underage girls and indecent assault on a 12-year-old girl.

He was not convicted of any offence, but it is clear that had Soham Village College known about the allegations - the "soft intelligence" against Huntley - they would never have employed him.

Complex law

The Home Office is now said to be considering issuing new guidance to all police forces to make clear how the act affects them.

The complexity of the law on data was also criticised after the recent inquest into the deaths of the south London couple who had their gas cut off.

The bodies of George Bates, 89, and his 86-year-old wife Gertrude were found in a decomposed state at their home.

Their gas supply had been cut off because a £140 bill had not been paid.

British Gas claimed that the act stopped them from passing information to social services that the couple had been cut off.

'Difficult judgements'

However Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said details could have been passed on if the disconnection had posed "a significant risk".

British Gas said it was aware of exemptions but there was "no reason to believe" the Bateses were "vulnerable" customers.

Mr Thomas said he recognised there were "difficult judgements" to be made and it was not always easy to identify the vulnerable.

"However, in any circumstances, for example age or infirmity, where there are grounds for believing that cutting a particular household off would pose significant risk then the Data Protection Act would not prevent an energy supplier from notifying the relevant body."

Lord Filkin, minister at the Department of Constitutional Affairs, said he agreed with the view that the act would not prevent an energy supplier from notifying relevant bodies where there were grounds to suggest cutting off a particular household would pose significant risk.

Data protection lawyer Shelagh Gaskill told the BBC's Six O'Clock News that sometimes references to the act did not reflect the real situation.

"On very many occasions organisations do use the Data Protection Act as an excuse to hide their own organisational administrative weaknesses."