Media lobbying ‘watered down’ data-misuse laws
(Via ZDNet) Matt Loney writes
It will take another data scandal before tougher sentences are imposed for data misuse, according to the information commissioner.
“I called on the government some time ago to increase the penalty to a prison sentence. The government did listen and agreed to increase the penalty to a prison sentence in the Criminal Justice [and Immigration] Bill, but a last-minute, very intensive lobbying campaign… meant it got watered down. The result is that the prison sentence remains but will not be implemented straight away, which means we will need another scandal before it is implemented.”
