Digital Bill of Rights

Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve]

My Lords, I was referring to the draft data protection regulation—which is not a directive—not to the right to be forgotten.

[Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames (LD)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Mitchell, rightly raised this privacy issue in the Queen’s Speech debate. Most of us are, I suspect, blissfully unaware that the so-called location services on our mobiles act as an insidious spy in the pocket, constantly recording our every movement wherever we go. Should we not at least start by obliging smartphone and network providers to tell us clearly what personal information they collect and how, and how we, as consumers, can turn it off?

[Lord Faulks]

The noble Lord is right that this is a source of anxiety and a matter which continues to alarm all sorts of people and organisations. The consumer has a role to insist on this information being provided. That, rather than legislation, is probably the answer for the moment.