Warning over 'big brother' data risk

[Shinobi]

By Brendan Carlin, Political Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:43am BST 08/08/2007

The growing dangers of Britain's "surveillance society" were raised yesterday amid fears that more and more private information is being shared out without people's knowledge.

Your View: Has Big Brother taken over our society?

Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, published new guidance on the Information Commission's website (http://www.ico.gov.uk) to warn consumers that "in some cases, information may be shared without you even knowing about it".
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Under the Data Protection Act 1998, organisations can legally pass on data held about individuals where they have just cause.

Examples given by the new information commission guidance included credit checks by lenders verifying someone's financial standing, a hospital sharing information with a local GP, and a local authority sharing information with the Department for Work and Pensions to allow it to work out a benefit payment.

But the new guidance comes amid claims from privacy campaigners that there was "almost zero [public] awareness" over the scale of information sharing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../nbigbro108.xml