A statement from the Information Commissioner’s Office:
The Scottish Government has today published Identity Management and Privacy Principles for public service organisations. The new guidance is designed to help organisations achieve privacy-friendly public services, encouraging good practice and ensuring personal data is always handled with respect. They have been devised by an expert group – including the ICO’s Assistant Information Commissioner for Scotland and Registrar General – and subject to full public consultation. Welcoming today’s announcement Ken Macdonald, Assistant
Commissioner for Scotland at the ICO, said:
“Public bodies can no longer afford to get it wrong on protecting people’s personal information. Not only could the organisation’s reputation suffer but so will their bank balance – as the Information Commissioner can now issue a monetary penalty of up to £500,000.
“The new principles that have been developed for the Scottish Government are tailored to help public bodies to get it right first time and I would urge all authorities to ensure they are being put into practice. It
needn’t be an arduous task and the pay-off is immeasurable as it will help to maintain the public’s trust in how their information is handled by Scotland’s public services.”
The full guidance – Identity Management and Privacy Principles – can be viewed on the Scottish Government website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/12/PrivacyPrinciples
For more information see:
www.scotland.gov.uk/PrivacyPrinciples