The "Report on the Surveillance Society" is one of the most important documents setting out current thinking on the UK data protection law and policy. The report, by the Surveillance Studies Network, was published in September 2006 and commissioned by the Information Commissioner's Office. See our summary of the Report.
One of the key recommendations in the report was that Privacy Impact Assessments be introduced:
"We believe there may be considerable merit in adopting the approach of privacy impact assessment (PIA) in the regulatory practices of jurisdictions at whatever level happens to be relevant"
The Information Commissioner's Office has clearly taken this on board. Today it issued an Invitation to Bid for a project involving reporting on PIA regimes in other jurisdiction, developing a methodology for conducting PIAs, and producing a PIA handbook for use in the UK.
The intended launch date of the methodology and handbook is November/December, so expect a new element to data protection compliance in the UK before the year is out.
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