ICO strategies open for public consultation

Published on 28 Aug 2007

The Information Comissioners Office (ICO) has launched a series of consultation documents covering CCTV, Data Protection and Information sharing.

In July we reported on the new Data Protection Strategy and now the ICO has announced a consultation period for two new strategy documents:

The CCTV code of practice

An update of the 2000 code of practice, the draft strategy takes account of the advances in technology that has seen so called 'talking CCTV' introduced in towns and cities across the country. The strategy also addresses 'listening' CCTV, cameras that have built in microphones to monitor sudden changes in noise levels that may signal a disturbance. The new code deems such devices to be 'highly intrusive and unlikely to be justified' and requires that any cameras fitted with such a facility should have it turned off or disabled.

The new code also recommends that businesses wanting to install CCTV should carry out an impact assessment to judge whether CCTV is necessary and how the system would be operated in line with the Data Protection Act.

The draft strategy can be found on the ICO website. The closing date for comments is 31 October 2007.

Framework code for the sharing of information

The stated aim of the framework code is to help oganisations that gather personal information develop systems of sharing information in line with data protection rules. The code deals with:

  • Deciding to share personal information
  • Fairness and transparency
  • Information standards
  • Retention of shared information
  • Security of shared information
  • Access to personal information
  • Freedom of Information

The framework code can be found on the ICO website. The closing date for comments is 1 October 2007.