The Internet and Privacy

Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton Excerpts

Thursday 28th October 2010 Westminster Hall

[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert). He is a self-confessed Liberal scientific geek, but I do not qualify on any of those fronts. It is a particular pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), and I congratulate him on securing this timely and welcome debate. I agree with almost every word that he had to say. It is especially good to be talking of these matters given that they are so topical.

We live in an age when instant access to information—and, indeed, to people—is the key. Our society has become dependent on getting information at the click of a button. Technology is advancing at a speed of knots, to use an ancient term, and it has helped to advance our economy. However, I am concerned about the potential for legislation quickly to become outdated, as Parliament struggles to keep up with the pace of change in the media market. It is important to have laws in place to protect companies that are making new and ever-evolving equipment, but we should also ensure that the new technologies do not infringe upon our constituents’ right to freedom. I do not advocate a parliamentary legislative research and development department to allow us to keep up with the pace of change, but it is important that the House remains aware of, and reacts to, the growing changes in the technology market.

My hon. Friend expressed concern about the issues highlighted by the media earlier this week and came up with some innovative solutions. I share his concern. It is a sad day when an individual can suffer such an extreme invasion of privacy by a company that is used to enjoying its customers’ trust. I am sure that Google will respond to questions posed by the Information Commissioner, my hon. Friend and others in a timely manner, so that we can get to the bottom of the problem. Sadly, this is not the first time that I have heard of an invasion of privacy being committed through the use of new technology.

I draw attention to what has occurred in my constituency. I do not wish to give the impression that the only company of interest today is Google. However, Milton Keynes has had the misfortune to suffer two instances when the use of Google Street caused me and my constituents great alarm. What happened in the village of Broughton in my constituency ended up making a splash in the nationals back in April 2009. A Google Street car arrived on London road, with the well-documented 360° degree camera on its roof. Villagers were outraged, and formed a human chain to stop the car from moving any further down the road. I was very proud of them. Expressing concern at the invasion of privacy, they requested that the driver stop recording images of their streets. The driver refused. Following intervention with Google, it became apparent that residents could halt publication of the images of their homes only after they had been published online, as has been said. My constituents had to place a request with the company for the images to be removed.

I do not wish to seem clichéd, but the similarities that can be drawn between this invasive style of mapping and an Orwellian thriller are increasing. However, it is not the state that is carrying out this street surveillance, but private companies, and that causes me and many other hon. Members great concern. Big Brother should not be watching us, and especially not a private Big Brother.

As a non-lawyer, I confess that I was surprised to discover that privacy is not a right, but simply a reasonable expectation, as most recently established in the case of Campbell v. MGN Ltd in 2004. Although I understand that, Google’s policy of publishing images that my constituents had requested remain unpublished and removing them only after they were published is simply unacceptable. It is our duty to protect our constituents from such instances, and I would welcome the Minister’s comments on the suggestion from my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow that we have an internet Bill of Rights.

The second problem in my constituency, which involves a women’s refuge in Milton Keynes, was perhaps of even greater concern. Hon. Members will forgive me if I do not go into great detail about the refuge or its location for obvious reasons. The refuge protects women and their families who have run away from abusive home environments. Its anonymity is crucial to the organisation and to the sense of security of the women and children who turn to it in their time of need.

A PO box number is given for correspondence sent to and from the refuge. Only once women have called the emergency number and a pick-up point has been agreed do they find out where the hostel is. Imagine their great concern when, on entering the name of the organisation in Google, they see a picture of the building the refuge uses and its address appears on the search engine. Having requested that Google take down the image and the address, the refuge received no response. It is staggering that the privacy of an organisation whose purpose it is to protect others is allowed be invaded in that way.

Legislation venturing into this topic is a grey area, and this debate allows the House to start discussing it for probably the first time in some time. I acknowledge that a legislative approach would have consequences for freedom of information, but does the Minister accept that, following the situations that occurred in my constituency, and Google’s reluctance to do anything about them, the time has perhaps come for, at the very least, a review of the kind suggested by my hon. Friend?