Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the report by the Information Commissioner's Office, Anonymisation: managing data protection risk code of practice, published in November 2012, (1) is still a statutory code of practice, and (2) if anonymising data only in line with the 2012 code, removes all of a data controller’s obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The ICO Code of Practice on Anonymisation published in November 2012 was issued under the Data Protection Act 1998. That legislation was repealed and replaced by the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 in May 2018. The 2012 report is therefore no longer a valid code of practice, although information which is anonymous continues to fall outside the scope of the UK’s data protection legislation.
The ICO is currently carrying out a call for views on its new, draft guidance on anonymisation, pseudonymisation, and privacy-enhancing technologies, due to finish on 31 December 2022. This new guidance includes key considerations organisations should undertake when determining whether information can be safely considered anonymous, and therefore outside the scope of data protection legislation.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of national communications resilience following completion of the Digital Voice programme.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The UK’s transition from the Public Switched Telecoms Network (PSTN) to IP-based telephony services (such as BT’s Digital Voice programme) is an industry-led migration and does not result or benefit from any government decision or investment. The decision to upgrade the PSTN was taken as the technology it relies upon is now outdated and companies are finding it increasingly difficult to source the spare parts needed to repair it. Whilst BT is subject to the Universal Service Obligation, which requires it to provide telephony services to any premises that requests them, this obligation can be met using any technology.
Despite this, the government recognises the unique importance of the fixed telephone network in the UK, in particular to elderly or vulnerable users and customers of telecoms enabled care services. As a result, the government works closely with telecoms providers and Ofcom to ensure such users are protected and that where possible, customer disruption is minimised. DCMS receives regular updates from telecoms providers about the progress of their migration and any emerging challenges they face.
Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. It has published guidance on the matter of vulnerable consumers, which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers throughout the upgrade process. This guidance is available on Ofcom’s website.
In addition, with regard to the issue of network and power resilience, in 2018 Ofcom conducted a consultation with the general public, Ofgem and the wider telecoms sector to assess the impact of the migration on access to the emergency services in the event of a power outage. In light of its findings, Ofcom has stipulated that telecom providers must provide digital voice customers with access to 999 services for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power cut. This is a minimum standard and many providers offer additional resilience options.
The motivations behind BT’s decision to pause its rollout are a private matter for the company. The Government meets regularly with BT to discuss a range of matters including the migration from PSTN to VoIP and DCMS ministers frequently share any concerns they have received from members of the public.
The telecoms sector has proven itself to be extremely robust and there are statutory obligations on telecoms providers to maintain the availability of services and report significant outages to Ofcom. DCMS works closely with the telecommunications industry and Ofcom to ensure the sector remains resilient to all risks that may affect services, including technological transformation. The Government works together with the telecoms industry through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group to agree methods to strengthen telecoms resilience and establish best practice across the sector.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consultation with customers or residents they have required as part of the Digital Voice programme; and what consultation has so far taken place.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The UK’s transition from the Public Switched Telecoms Network (PSTN) to IP-based telephony services (such as BT’s Digital Voice programme) is an industry-led migration and does not result or benefit from any government decision or investment. The decision to upgrade the PSTN was taken as the technology it relies upon is now outdated and companies are finding it increasingly difficult to source the spare parts needed to repair it. Whilst BT is subject to the Universal Service Obligation, which requires it to provide telephony services to any premises that requests them, this obligation can be met using any technology.
Despite this, the government recognises the unique importance of the fixed telephone network in the UK, in particular to elderly or vulnerable users and customers of telecoms enabled care services. As a result, the government works closely with telecoms providers and Ofcom to ensure such users are protected and that where possible, customer disruption is minimised. DCMS receives regular updates from telecoms providers about the progress of their migration and any emerging challenges they face.
Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. It has published guidance on the matter of vulnerable consumers, which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers throughout the upgrade process. This guidance is available on Ofcom’s website.
In addition, with regard to the issue of network and power resilience, in 2018 Ofcom conducted a consultation with the general public, Ofgem and the wider telecoms sector to assess the impact of the migration on access to the emergency services in the event of a power outage. In light of its findings, Ofcom has stipulated that telecom providers must provide digital voice customers with access to 999 services for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power cut. This is a minimum standard and many providers offer additional resilience options.
The motivations behind BT’s decision to pause its rollout are a private matter for the company. The Government meets regularly with BT to discuss a range of matters including the migration from PSTN to VoIP and DCMS ministers frequently share any concerns they have received from members of the public.
The telecoms sector has proven itself to be extremely robust and there are statutory obligations on telecoms providers to maintain the availability of services and report significant outages to Ofcom. DCMS works closely with the telecommunications industry and Ofcom to ensure the sector remains resilient to all risks that may affect services, including technological transformation. The Government works together with the telecoms industry through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group to agree methods to strengthen telecoms resilience and establish best practice across the sector.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, as a condition for government investment in the Digital Voice programme, what analogue or other back up plans they have required BT to provide for individual householders in the event of failure or lack of digital services.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The UK’s transition from the Public Switched Telecoms Network (PSTN) to IP-based telephony services (such as BT’s Digital Voice programme) is an industry-led migration and does not result or benefit from any government decision or investment. The decision to upgrade the PSTN was taken as the technology it relies upon is now outdated and companies are finding it increasingly difficult to source the spare parts needed to repair it. Whilst BT is subject to the Universal Service Obligation, which requires it to provide telephony services to any premises that requests them, this obligation can be met using any technology.
Despite this, the government recognises the unique importance of the fixed telephone network in the UK, in particular to elderly or vulnerable users and customers of telecoms enabled care services. As a result, the government works closely with telecoms providers and Ofcom to ensure such users are protected and that where possible, customer disruption is minimised. DCMS receives regular updates from telecoms providers about the progress of their migration and any emerging challenges they face.
Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. It has published guidance on the matter of vulnerable consumers, which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers throughout the upgrade process. This guidance is available on Ofcom’s website.
In addition, with regard to the issue of network and power resilience, in 2018 Ofcom conducted a consultation with the general public, Ofgem and the wider telecoms sector to assess the impact of the migration on access to the emergency services in the event of a power outage. In light of its findings, Ofcom has stipulated that telecom providers must provide digital voice customers with access to 999 services for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power cut. This is a minimum standard and many providers offer additional resilience options.
The motivations behind BT’s decision to pause its rollout are a private matter for the company. The Government meets regularly with BT to discuss a range of matters including the migration from PSTN to VoIP and DCMS ministers frequently share any concerns they have received from members of the public.
The telecoms sector has proven itself to be extremely robust and there are statutory obligations on telecoms providers to maintain the availability of services and report significant outages to Ofcom. DCMS works closely with the telecommunications industry and Ofcom to ensure the sector remains resilient to all risks that may affect services, including technological transformation. The Government works together with the telecoms industry through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group to agree methods to strengthen telecoms resilience and establish best practice across the sector.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, as a condition for government investment in the Digital Voice programme, what performance indicators are required relating to access and inclusion for vulnerable customers; and whether an equalities impact assessment has been conducted to measure performance against these indicators.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The UK’s transition from the Public Switched Telecoms Network (PSTN) to IP-based telephony services (such as BT’s Digital Voice programme) is an industry-led migration and does not result or benefit from any government decision or investment. The decision to upgrade the PSTN was taken as the technology it relies upon is now outdated and companies are finding it increasingly difficult to source the spare parts needed to repair it. Whilst BT is subject to the Universal Service Obligation, which requires it to provide telephony services to any premises that requests them, this obligation can be met using any technology.
Despite this, the government recognises the unique importance of the fixed telephone network in the UK, in particular to elderly or vulnerable users and customers of telecoms enabled care services. As a result, the government works closely with telecoms providers and Ofcom to ensure such users are protected and that where possible, customer disruption is minimised. DCMS receives regular updates from telecoms providers about the progress of their migration and any emerging challenges they face.
Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. It has published guidance on the matter of vulnerable consumers, which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers throughout the upgrade process. This guidance is available on Ofcom’s website.
In addition, with regard to the issue of network and power resilience, in 2018 Ofcom conducted a consultation with the general public, Ofgem and the wider telecoms sector to assess the impact of the migration on access to the emergency services in the event of a power outage. In light of its findings, Ofcom has stipulated that telecom providers must provide digital voice customers with access to 999 services for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power cut. This is a minimum standard and many providers offer additional resilience options.
The motivations behind BT’s decision to pause its rollout are a private matter for the company. The Government meets regularly with BT to discuss a range of matters including the migration from PSTN to VoIP and DCMS ministers frequently share any concerns they have received from members of the public.
The telecoms sector has proven itself to be extremely robust and there are statutory obligations on telecoms providers to maintain the availability of services and report significant outages to Ofcom. DCMS works closely with the telecommunications industry and Ofcom to ensure the sector remains resilient to all risks that may affect services, including technological transformation. The Government works together with the telecoms industry through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group to agree methods to strengthen telecoms resilience and establish best practice across the sector.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what oversight, if any, they have of BT’s Digital Voice programme; and what accountability measures are in place for key performance indicators.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The UK’s transition from the Public Switched Telecoms Network (PSTN) to IP-based telephony services (such as BT’s Digital Voice programme) is an industry-led migration and does not result or benefit from any government decision or investment. The decision to upgrade the PSTN was taken as the technology it relies upon is now outdated and companies are finding it increasingly difficult to source the spare parts needed to repair it. Whilst BT is subject to the Universal Service Obligation, which requires it to provide telephony services to any premises that requests them, this obligation can be met using any technology.
Despite this, the government recognises the unique importance of the fixed telephone network in the UK, in particular to elderly or vulnerable users and customers of telecoms enabled care services. As a result, the government works closely with telecoms providers and Ofcom to ensure such users are protected and that where possible, customer disruption is minimised. DCMS receives regular updates from telecoms providers about the progress of their migration and any emerging challenges they face.
Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. It has published guidance on the matter of vulnerable consumers, which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers throughout the upgrade process. This guidance is available on Ofcom’s website.
In addition, with regard to the issue of network and power resilience, in 2018 Ofcom conducted a consultation with the general public, Ofgem and the wider telecoms sector to assess the impact of the migration on access to the emergency services in the event of a power outage. In light of its findings, Ofcom has stipulated that telecom providers must provide digital voice customers with access to 999 services for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power cut. This is a minimum standard and many providers offer additional resilience options.
The motivations behind BT’s decision to pause its rollout are a private matter for the company. The Government meets regularly with BT to discuss a range of matters including the migration from PSTN to VoIP and DCMS ministers frequently share any concerns they have received from members of the public.
The telecoms sector has proven itself to be extremely robust and there are statutory obligations on telecoms providers to maintain the availability of services and report significant outages to Ofcom. DCMS works closely with the telecommunications industry and Ofcom to ensure the sector remains resilient to all risks that may affect services, including technological transformation. The Government works together with the telecoms industry through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group to agree methods to strengthen telecoms resilience and establish best practice across the sector.