Michael Ellis
Main Page: Michael Ellis (Conservative - Northampton North)The Internet and Privacy
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Robert Halfon
I was pleased to serve with my hon. Friend on the Public Bill Committee that considered the abolition of identity cards. He is also a huge defender of civil liberties, and has been so for many years. He is right, and raises an important subject, but one for another debate. Today, I am focusing specifically on the activities of internet companies and their role in curtailing our civil liberties.
Michael Ellis (Northampton North) (Con)
I, too, join those congratulating my hon. Friend on orchestrating the debate today.
On regulation, specifically, does my hon. Friend think that there is any merit, or viability, in establishing an industry-wide data security mark of some sort? Is there not a clear commercial incentive for companies such as Google to ensure that they get this right, and to satisfy the general public that they are getting it right? What about a kitemark or some such security apparatus, which would allow the public to see the quality or otherwise of companies such as Google and their security infrastructure? Would my hon. Friend support something such as that?
Robert Halfon
My hon. Friend is exactly right. It is that sort of thing that I hope the independent commission of inquiry would consider.
Although internet companies are global, nothing would stop the Government from fining their operations in the UK.
I stand before the Chamber known as Robert Halfon. However, if I took the advice of the Google chief executive, Eric Schmidt, I might have changed my name by now. In August, Mr Schmidt suggested that people might have to change their names in order to wipe their personal histories as captured on the internet. His vision for Google is not just to monitor people, but to predict their behaviour. He has said that
“most people don’t want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next”.
In the future, Google will
“know…who you are…what you care about…who your friends are”.
Mr Schmidt also said:
“If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”
Therein lies the problem we have been discussing today. It is the nub of the whole subject. For Mr Schmidt and his company, Google, the burden of taking defensive action because of activity by internet companies lies on the individual. In fact, in my view and that of many others, it should be the opposite.