PI response to ICO Call for Views on a Code of Practice for the use of personal information in political campaigns.
In December 2018, PI responded to the UK Information Commissioner's (ICO) Call for Views on a Code of Practice for the use of personal information in political campaigns.
The consultation followed on from the ICO's policy report Democracy Disrupted?, published in July 2018, which recommended that the Government should legislate at the earliest opportunity to introduce a statutory Code of Practice under the Data Protection Act 2018 for the use of personal information in campaigns.
Although not legally binding, statutory codes may be used in evidence in legal proceedings and compliance with such a code can be taken into account by a court or tribunal when reaching its decision. They provide further clarification of the existing law and have the approval of Parliament.
Amongst other matters, our response highlights the need to apply a broad definition to political campaigning to ensure that the Code applies to the multiplicity of actors involved in data exploitation in this context.
