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BCS welcomes Cyber Security: Protection of Personal Data Online Report
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT has welcomed the Cyber Security: Protection of Personal Data Online report published today by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
The report follows the inquiry launched in October 2015 following the cyber-attack on TalkTalk’s website. The Committee looked at cyber-security and the response to cyber-crime and broader issues around data protection.
David Evans, BCS Policy and Community Director says: “This report includes some very welcome suggestions to support organisations in keeping people’s data safe, and increases the penalties for those that don’t. It also underscores that the organisation-centric way we manage data is increasingly under pressure. The measures proposed - while sound - will incrementally help rather than eliminate the underlying dysfunction. As an Institute whose purpose is to make IT good for society, we’re increasingly concerned about how collection and use of personal data is affecting everyone in society. Our own survey results show that security is the top issue keeping IT professionals awake at night, while a separate survey shows that 89% of people in Great Britain* think they should be able to control what data a company collects about them online, and what it uses this data for. We agree, and we think this requires some bigger shared solutions as well as incremental improvements. This is why we are encouraging individuals and organisations to come together and shape the future of personal data.”
Through its personal data challenge launched last November, the Institute is aiming to bring together interested parties to discuss how people can have control of their personal data and at the same time organisations are empowered to use data in more beneficial ways, with genuine trust on both sides.
David continues: “The goal is to achieve the full potential of data by seeking the best possible public benefit; to achieve the best outcomes for the most people with the least risk and harm. We want common currency; technical and legal systems to unlock the power and utility we know is possible when personal data is aggregated around individuals and organisations. We believe that by bringing together people and helping them to work differently we can collectively deliver those benefits while also increasing public confidence in how personal data is used. A person-centric, accessible and understandable approach to data will become the bedrock of 21stcentury service provision, the trigger for the innovation of a wide range of new business models and services, and one of the means by which social and societal benefits will be achieved.”
View report:
For information on the BCS Personal Data Challenge visit: BCS Personal Data Challenge
*findings from an online YouGov online survey on behalf of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, undertaken in December 2015.
