Prime Minister Gordon Brown is demanding to scrap changes to the Data Protection Act that would see journalists jailed for buying information obtained by breaking the Act, according to The Guardian.
The amendment to section 55 of the Act is currently with the House of Lords and would see increased penalties for private detectives and journalists who obtain information such as telephone records illegally.
Information Commissioner Richard Thomas told The Guardian: “Losing half the country’s child benefit records looks to have been a serious mistake, but at least it was accidental. If there is a change of heart on legislation aimed at deliberate security breaches, the government will find it hard to convince people that measures aimed at preventing data loss need to be taken seriously.”
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