Clause 152 – government and personal data

The Open Rights Group are calling us to write to our MPs as part of their campaign against Clause 152 of draft Coroners’ and Justice Bill. This clause allows for extensive sharing of personal data between government departments. I won’t repeat the arguments here – see the ORG’s Refuse consent for information sharing and Privacy International’s Blackzone report ‘Sharing the Misery’ for that.

The ORG have also suggested we blog our correspondence with our MPs. So, first, I try MySociety’s writetothem.org, as ORG suggest. I get the response:

Sorry! Something’s gone wrong.
Colin Burgon MP has told us not to deliver any messages from the constituents of Elmet. Instead you can try looking them up on the Parliament website. There you will get a phone number, a postal address, and for some MPs a website or way to contact them by email.

Hmmm… someone seems a little cagey about their own data. So, off to the Parliament web site, as suggested. Here, I can fill out a web form which doesn’t go to Mr Burgon, but will be forwarded to him once a day. It includes a link to his web site: http://www.colinburgon.co.uk/. A couple of links down (deeper than, say contacting the Labour Party or subscribing to his newsletter) I find his address: burgonc@parliament.uk.

To be continued…