The Government has announced that it intends to levy fines of up to £500,000 (yes, £1/2 million) for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).

Worrying as that may be for businesses, a recently-launched consultation could have a greater negative impact on many firms. It proposes to abolish or reduce the right of access to the edited version of the electoral register maintained by councils. This is widely used as a source of information for the construction of databases for direct marketing purposes.