The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has launched an inquiry into why most of its security recommendations have been rejected by the government.
The committee is writing to those who gave evidence in its first inquiry and to those that expressed views after the government’s rejection. A follow-up report will be published in early summer.
The Lords made recommendations for new security policies in a report called Personal Internet Security, published in August 2007.
They made radical calls for vendors to take liability for flawed products, data breach notification laws, increased resources and skills for the police to deal with internet-based crime, and the reversal of the requirement that victims of online card fraud report crimes to banks rather than police.
The Lords expressed concern when the government responded in October 2007 dismissing most of the report’s recommendations, but with new circumstances, the Lords believe there is even more reason their proposals are recognised.
“The committee was disappointed with the government’s response to its report. We felt they had failed to address some of our key concerns about people’s security on the internet,” the committee's chairman, Lord Sutherland, said in a statement.
A spokesman for the committee said one of the most important points made by the Lords is the data notification law, which would mean authorities would have to disclose any data breaches. “The fact that the government changed its mind on the powers held by the Information Commissioner after the HMRC discs went missing shows the government has room to agree to more security commitments,” he said.
The loss of confidential data by HM Revenue and Customs had caused the government to increase the powers of the Information Commissioner's Office to inspect organisations holding sensitive data on members of the public.
Recommendations include the introduction of data security breach notification law in the UK 10 Aug 2007
Current efforts to improve security fail to prevent thousands of new threats emerging every day 24 Apr 2007
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee is to examine how current IT security risks affect society 01 Aug 2006
Fraud should be reported to police, not banks and consumers must have more protection, says Committee 08 Jul 2008
House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will not take Government's " No" for an answer 21 Feb 2008
Report claiming solar panels take over 100 years to recoup their value is just plain wrong, say manufacturers 05 Sep 2008
New hybrid hatchback designed to make dual-drive vehicles more affordable 05 Sep 2008
Republican attempts to highlight differences over energy policy as both candidates pledge to deliver US energy independence 05 Sep 2008
More news
Once your company has gathered up all the low-hanging fruit, what comes next? Sarah Fister Gale finds that the answer lies in everything from multi-million dollar energy efficiency programmes to printers powered by exercise bikes 03 Sep 2008
Slow journey times mean airships are highly unlikely to replace passenger jets, but, as Danny Bradbury discovers, a flotilla of new companies are convinced that low-fuel costs mean the old-fashioned aircraft could have huge appeal to freight operators 02 Sep 2008
Recent claims from the oil giant's chief executive suggesting tar sand extraction is required to slow the shift to coal may have caught the eye, but as BusinessGreen.com discovers they do not make much sense 28 Aug 2008 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
