PL&B UK E-news, Issue 71

1. Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, meets the Prime Minister

Richard Thomas is “very confident” of the government agreeing to prison sentences for DP offences after meeting Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, on Wednesday this week.

Thomas reported his meeting to yesterday’s Direct Marketing Association’s data protection conference where he explained that “No longer is privacy protection seen as a tedious and bureaucratic issue.” He discussed with the PM “why data protection must be moved up the government’s agenda.” This is the first time there has been an official meeting between a Prime Minister and a data protection or information commissioner in the UK, of which PL&B is aware.

Thomas urged direct marketers to plan ahead and state how they intend to use customer information: “The larger the small print, and the more upfront the better.”

For further details on the Privacy Laws & Business UK Newsletter, please click here.

Copyright Privacy Laws & Business 2008