Data sharing shake-up on the cards

A shake-up of the way organisations share personal information could be on the way following the publication of a new set of guidelines by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

The ICO's framework code of practice for sharing personal information - both between and within organisations - has been made available for public consultation until 1 October this year.

The framework is designed to help organisations achieve good practice and comply with the Data Protection Act as more and more personal information is shared between organisations.

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The code addresses what the ICO says are the main data protection issues of information security, accuracy of information and retention periods.

The ICO is encouraging organisations to use the guidelines to make well-informed decisions about information sharing and even produce their own codes of practice.

Iain Bourne, head of data protection projects at the ICO, said organisations must share information responsibly or risk losing individuals' trust.

He added the code should reduce "uncertainty that can surround information sharing".

The framework is designed to be flexible to cater for the needs of different organisations, depending on the kind of information sharing they're involved with.

The ICO said organisations could adopt the framework entirely while others may wish to adjust it to fit with existing policies or use it to evaluate existing procedures.