Local MEP launches new website aimed at helping East Midlanders protect their personal data

2.27.04pm GMT Tue 9th Jan 2007

Bill Newton Dunn, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands, today launches his new website www.protectyourpersonaldata.eu The website contains guidance about what to do to ensure that the large quantities of data which firms and government collect on individuals is accurate, how to correct the data when there are inaccuracies, how to prevent misuse of data, etc. There is advice about preventing identity theft and steps to take to reduce junk mail, as well as a section which explains how to view your credit report, something which Bill recommends everybody do once a year to check for irregularities.

Bill says,

In the UK and across Europe the collection of data is big business. It is estimated that in the UK each and every one of us appears on at least 700 databases. Companies use them to profile customers. Banks to decide on whether or not to give loans. The government maintains thousands of databases. Fortunately in the UK we have an Information Commissioner whose job it is to ensure that our data is properly protected and not sold on by unscrupulous data collectors. All databases must be registered with the Information Commissioner.

However, I think it is important that we all take responsibility ourselves for checking that personal data held by companies and the government is accurate. Mistakes can result in hassle for the individual, even job and loan refusals. Sometimes it is very serious; it was discovered recently that because of typing errors 2,700 people have been wrongly identified by the police as having criminal records. That means that when applying for jobs or credit, these people's background checks will have revealed they had previously committed crimes. In fact, their names had been entered incorrectly onto a database.

At a time when identity theft has become an everyday threat to all of us, it is important that we also take steps to ensure our personal data is secure. I have produced a free website which deals with these issues in an accessible way. I hope that it will be useful to the citizens of the East Midlands.