Everybody's talking about... data sharing

Opinion by

14 October 2008

Business

<i>How is our personal information used, who holds it and what impact is the sharing of personal data having? These are some of the issues in July's Government Data Sharing Review, which concluded there was a lack of transparency in the way firms deal with personal information. Among its recommendations was the abolishment of the edited electoral register. How has the direct mail industry reacted?</i>

THE INDUSTRY BODY
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) does not welcome the Data Sharing Review recommendation that the edited version of the electoral register should be abolished.

The Data Protection Act states personal information must be accurate and up to date. Marketers therefore have a legal responsibility to ensure that they comply with data protection law and meet consumer expectations. The edited electoral register, as a continually updated nationwide register of the whole of the UK population, is an essential tool for cleaning and verifying existing data and making sure that it is accurate and up to date. It has been available since 2002 and people have a choice every year about whether they want to opt in or out.

Around 60% of people choose to remain on the edited register. Everyone agrees direct mail should be correctly targeted and access to the edited electoral register is an efficient way of verifying data to do just that. Removing access to the edited register for data cleaning purposes will make it harder for marketers to target accurately and effectively.

Caroline Roberts, Director of public and legal affairs, DMA

THE PRINT GROUP
It’s a questionable proposal. The electoral role is widely used data. Councils also get revenue for capturing and supplying information. The main issue about the edited electoral register is that people can opt in and out of it when they wish to. But the majority of people choose to make their name available.

It is up to individuals to decide whether they want to make their data available, not the government. If the tool was not available, data would be less clean, causing a problem for direct mail houses as it would be harder for them to meet legal obligations put forward by the Data Protection Act. Data has to be accurate and up to date.

I am not sure why the government has decided to do this as there seems to be no justifiable reason. Although direct mail houses can get information from other sources, the edited electoral register is the best maintained list on the market. By removing it, a burden is going to be placed on the industry. Gaining good data will become a lot more time consuming.

Andrew Woodger, Data services director, Adare