WRITTEN ON December 10th, 2007 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Data nitwittery, Foundation of Trust, What do we want?

The great thing about watching the Number 10 petitions website isn’t the pleasure of seeing the PM accede to the often perfectly sensible requests (I’m not aware government has yet done anything as a result of any of them) but the insight into how different the Numb Err Ten tribe’s view of the world is from reality as we perceive it.

Government can be pretty obtuse about not seeing the problem. Especially when it _is_ the problem.

Consider this petition to:

review existing data protection legislation and improve the reporting of information security breaches in the public and private sectors

The response starts

The Government takes the protection of personal data extremely seriously.

They’ve lost me already. Do they mean they accept it’s important and remain mindful and contrite about how far they fall short? And they’ll try harder in future? Or that we’ve switched to a “business as usual” groupthink in which suggesting there’s no problem is a good starting point? They go on

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) sets out the framework for data protection and any enforcement action that may be taken by the Information Commissioner and the Courts.

That’s one of those statements that manages to be both true and unhelpful. A man screams to you from a burning house; to tell him about the contents of a leaflet about fire prevention officers would similarly miss the point. The Information Commissioner isn’t given the resources or the powers to give reality to the assertion that as a nation we take protecting data seriously. That’s why we have a serious problem about which we seem to be doing nothing (even if Perm Secs are showing agitation at the thought that after Paul Grey they might be next).

The response then says

The Government does not discount the idea of a data breach law.

Hurrah! But goes on

However, it is not convinced that it would lead to an improvement in performance by business in regard to protecting personal information.

In present circs that’s just arrogant and obtuse. As the King James Bible memorably translates Matthew:

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Hey, guv: this isn’t about you the master improving the performance of business. It’s about you the servant putting your own house in order so you can show people some respect.Is that fair? I think we’re all feeling a bit touchy at the moment. (and I wonder what it feels like to have a beam in one’s eye. They get up to some weird stuff in that part of the world)