Richard Thomas has called for the private sector to punish companies that don't respect customers' personal information. Breaking the government's 'culture of secrecy' while protecting the privacy of UK citizens is one of the key challenges facing the new Information . . .
Richard Thomas has called for the private sector to punish companies that don't respect customers' personal information. Breaking the government's 'culture of secrecy' while protecting the privacy of UK citizens is one of the key challenges facing the new Information Commissioner as he settles into his role.

Richard Thomas, 53, formerly the director of public policy at law firm Clifford Chance, took over from Elizabeth France in December 2002, and having got to grips with his new job, he on Tuesday stressed the importance of striking this balance between openness and privacy.

"We've got through to the government," he told silicon.com on Tuesday. "For example, Tony Blair wrote a preface to a recent data sharing report, which explores the scope to which public services can and should share data. But the prime minister said that any information shared must be protected. People must trust the government. It's not for me to say whether they do but we're getting that message across [to government]. That's the important thing."

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