Information Commissioner Christopher Graham: A New Hope?

On Sunday, Christopher Graham - Britain's new Information Commissioner - gave his first newspaper interview to the Sunday Telegraph and a bit of hope to all of us who want to see more transparency in government.

Mr Graham said:

"I think [in the past} the Information Commissioner's Office [ICO] has not been alert enough and fierce enough with public authorities that do not comply with their requirements under the Freedom of Information [FOI] Act." 

As many of you will know, last week Big Brother Watch released our first major piece of research (available to download in full here). It was a massive study into council controlled CCTV cameras and every piece of information was gathered through FOI requests. It is essential that the ICO is strong in making local and national government bodies open up to ensure that there is proper scrutiny of the state. 

Among the other highlights, Mr Graham said he wanted to

…urge the Government to introduce firmer enforcement of personal privacy laws including jail sentences of up to two years for rogue company employees who illegally sell confidential information.

This is another key issue for Big Brother Watch. We are vehemently opposed to new databases on principle, but those that have been created require far greater security.

And finally, but most pleasingly of all, the article ends with the following text:

The Information Commissioner is clearly concerned society's obsession with CCTV cameras has gone too far. "There needs to be some evidence that it is necessary. You can't just say: 'It's a [crime] deterrent so we will have it.' It needs, for example, to go into pubs where there is a history of trouble. But it's unfair for a licensing authority to have CCTV as a matter of routine because law-abiding citizens should be able to have a meal or a drink without being captured on CCTV." 

This is a very encouraging statement from a man who has the power to change the way CCTV is used by public bodies in this country. Our report last week has had a great effect in re-starting the debate about camera surveillance and its enormous proliferation in Britain. Hopefully Christopher Graham can keep the discussion going and enact the fundamental change in approach to CCTV this country really needs.

By Dylan Sharpe