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UK: Census and confidentiality

01 May 1991

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The 1991 census conducted in April has raised a number of questions about its confidentiality. The British Computer Society said in a report that all it could do was to comment on plans and intentions but that it could not give "a definitive view of actual adherence in practice". This was especially so the report said because "not all the procedures had been defined, not all aspects of the systems had been designed, not all the equipment had been procured or installed nor had all accommodation been completed". In a short debate on the confidentiality of the census Harry Cohen MP said that the government should allow subject access so that people can see their own personal data, and complained that data was to be released for commercial sale based on postcodes which could contain as few as 16 households and 50 individuals. 1991 Census of Population: Confidentiality and Computing Cm 1447 HMSO 1991 £4.95; Census (Confidentiality) Bill [Lords] House of Commons debate 4.3.91 cols 72-78.

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