Consumers protest over security of offshore data

Consumers opposed to the current wave of IT and call centre jobs being transferred overseas have started lobbying the UK's data protection watchdog, asking it to stop firms from transferring their personal data abroad.

Much of the opposition to offshoring has come from the unions concerned at jobs being lost because of cheaper overseas labour, but it seems some consumers are now taking matters into their own hands.

Iain Bourne, senior policy development and quality manager at the Information Commission (IC), told silicon.com that most people either aren't bothered or aren't aware that their data may be processed thousands of miles away, but that other people are trying to turn it into a political issue.

"We don't actually receive many complaints about this at all. It suggests that organisations transferring data overseas already are making sure it is properly protected," he said. "But we have had some letters from people complaining about British data being processed overseas in places like India and asking us to stop it."

Bourne said the IC is aware of some large UK firms running parallel processing facilities with some data held back in the UK as a result of protests from customers.

The revelation supports the assertion by analyst house Gartner last week that 2004 will see a short-term increase in the backlash against companies moving operations to low-cost overseas bases such as India over concerns at domestic job losses.

Concerns over the security of data processed in developing countries have been raised before because data protection laws are often not as strict as they are in the UK. The Indian government is, however, reported to be looking at introducing its own version of the EU-US 'safe harbour' agreement to guarantee the protection of overseas data processed on the subcontinent.

In the meantime, the IC's advice to firms transferring data abroad to be processed is simple. "They should make sure that information sent overseas is as well protected as if it stayed in the UK," said Bourne. "If not it should stay in the UK. Companies should also do a proper audit of where the data goes and who is processing it. They will probably be surprised at the results."