EU says 'More power to information commissioner'

Justice commissioner Viviane Reding has said the UK is failing to meet EU standards and has two months to take steps that include giving more power to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), reports The Register. This is the second stage of the infringement process taken against countries that are failing to follow European law. "Data protection authorities have the crucial and delicate task of protecting the fundamental right to privacy," Reding said. "EU rules require that the work of data protection authorities must not be unbalanced by the slightest hint of legal ambiguity. "I will enforce this vigorously. I urge the UK to change its rules swiftly so that the data protection authority is able to perform its duties with absolute clarity about the rules." She added, "Having a watchdog with insufficient powers is like keeping your guard dog tied up in the basement." European data protection is covered by the 1995 Data Protection Directive. But the Commission believes that current UK law fails on several issues. One is that the ICO has inadequate powers to check other countries' data protection practises, and needs to check this before international transfers of data happen. Secondly, it cannot perform random checks on people or data processing organisations, nor can it enforce penalties after such checks. The Commission is also unhappy with court powers to refuse the right for people to have information about themselves corrected or deleted. A spokeswoman for the ICO said: "It is important that we have effective data protection regulation to help protect individuals' personal information. We look forward to discussing the Commission's detailed concerns with the Ministry of Justice and providing input into the UK government's response." The Commission's infringement process has three steps, the first being a Letter of Formal Notice requesting information. Second comes a Reasoned Opinion, which Reding issued yesterday. Finally, the Commission can refer the UK to the Court of Justice.