Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of (a) consumer and (b) small business awareness of the sensitivity of personal data and the importance of protecting it.

The Government takes the protection of personal data seriously. The Information Commissioner is the independent regulator of the Data Protection Act (DPA) and conducts an annual tracker survey which measures individuals awareness of rights under the DPA and gauges individuals’ perceptions of the way organisations handle their personal information. The latest version, which can be found at www.ico.org.uk, states that 97% of respondents were aware of the DPA.

The DPA requires businesses that process personal data to take “appropriate technical and organisational measures against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data". The Information Commissioner's Office can issue civil monetary penalties of up to £500,000 to organisations that are in breach of the rules.