Lib Dems set up Commission on Privacy

The Liberal Democrats have set up a group to examine the use, abuse, and retention of private data.

The Commission on Privacy was announced on Tuesday. Chairing the group will be Lib Dem MP David Heath, shadow leader of the house. Other members of the Commission will include Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, and Simon Davies, director of Privacy International.

Heath told ZDNet UK on Tuesday that he and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg had felt the need to set up the group due to "the current extent of intrusive technology."

"Nick and I feel this issue is of increasing importance," said Heath. " [The Commission will examine] the privacy of the individual against the increasing demands for more information from the state."

Heath said that the first order of business for the group would be to produce "a hard-hitting, practical report", due in the Spring. When asked whether the report would coincide with the Liberal Democrat Spring conference, Heath declined to comment.

The other members of the Commission are: Baroness Sue Miller, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson in the House of Lords; Observer journalist Henry Porter; Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at the University of Cambridge; barrister Richard Rampton QC, who specialises in libel; and Richard Allen, Cisco's UK head of government affairs.

Heath spoke to ZDNet UK at a Commons Select Committee hearing into the work of the Information Commissioner on Tuesday.