11 July 2008 - Households could see a big fall in the amount of junk mail they receive after the Information Commissioner today said local councils should be banned from selling voters' personal details.
The recommendations came in an independent Data Sharing Review into the way the public and private sector handles personal information. The review was ordered October last year after HM Revenue and Customs lost the personal details of 25 million people.
The review, headed up by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas and Wellcome Trust director Dr Mark Walport, calls for a cultural change in how personal information is handled by government, councils and private companies.
At present, local authorities sell the so-called edited version of the electoral register to anyone prepared to pay a fee. This roll contains the personal details of anyone who fails to tick an opt-out box on their electoral registration form. The information is primarily used by marketeers to produce junk mail lists.
An estimated 40 per cent of voters is presently opted out of being on the edited version of the electoral roll. Although this implies that 60 per cent of people agree to let councils sell their details, the report found that "the language used on electoral registration forms can be confusing and many people do not realise it is the edited register that is on public sale".
The review further found that the public has little insight into how their personal information is being used and calls for wide-scale reform, including the abolishment of the edited electoral register: "We feel that selling the edited register is an unsatisfactory way for local authorities to treat personal information. It sends a particularly poor message to the public that personal information collected for something as vital as participation in the democratic process can be sold to 'anyone for any purpose'."
"We therefore recommend that the Government removes the provision allowing the sale of the edited electoral register. The edited register would therefore no longer serve any purpose and so should be abolished."
The review also said that firms breaking privacy rules should face large fines. It recommends new powers similar to the Financial Services Authority, which can levy unlimited fines on companies breaking the rules.
The recommendations in the report have been endorsed by the Electoral Commission, which regulates elections. A spokesman for the Commission said: "Our view is that, as a matter of principle, electoral registers should be compiled exclusively for electoral and other limited statutory purposes and that they should not be made available for sale for commercial purposes."
However, Caroline Roberts, director of Public and Legal Affairs at the Direct Marketing Association said the edited register is an important tool for marketeers when creating bulk mail lists: "Everyone agrees that direct mail should be correctly targeted and access to the edited electoral register is an efficient way of verifying data to do just that.
"Marketeers use data from many different sources to help with accurate targeting and the edited register is an additional layer to ensure data accuracy. Removing access to the edited register for data cleaning purposes will make it harder for marketers to target accurately and effectively."
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "We agree that measures need to be taken to increase public trust and confidence in the handling and processing of personal data by the public and private sectors.
"We will assess the other recommendations in the report in further detail and issue a more detailed statement once we have had time to fully consider the implications and costs of bringing about such changes".