Personal information in UK public registers: its availability and use

Abstract

Focuses on concerns in the UK regarding the possible abuse of personal information that can be found in lists that are required to be made available to the public under statute or regulation. Cites examples of such possible abuse including a murder case where the victim was allegedly identified as a target by the murderer by means of the Electoral Register (which shows details of people living alone) and directors of pharmaceutical companies targeted by animal rights activists. Describes research undertaken to identify the scale of such public registers, the nature of the information held within them, the use to which they were put (often in addition to their intended function) and interviews with a number of the controllers and users of such registers. A taxonomy of registers was derived in which the criteria applied were: size of list, in terms of number of records; distribution of list, in terms of statutory outlets; sensitivity of list, judged on a scale of 1 to 4 and subjectively determined.