Henry McDonald, Ireland editor Sunday January 12, 2003 The Observer
Politicians now have the right to pry into the personal lives and political opinions of tens of thousands of public sector employees across the UK - without the workers even knowing about it.
The Observer has obtained an internal civil service memo which warns that since Christmas elected representatives have been allowed access to 'sensitive personal data' about their staff.
Civil liberties groups last night expressed concern about what they said was an assault on workers' privacy.
The document, dated 9 January 2003, was circulated to civil servants at the Department of Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland. It deals with the implications of the Data Protection Act 1998. It says: 'The purpose of the Order is to allow sensitive personal data to be disclosed to elected representatives, i.e. MPs, MLAs, MEPs, acting on behalf of constituents, without seeking the individual's explicit consent.'
Veronica Bintley, the senior civil servant in Belfast, who drafted the memo, then goes on to define what 'sensitive personal data' actually are under the Act: 'Race or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious beliefs; trade union membership; health; criminal activity.'
A DEL spokesman in Northern Ireland confirmed that the Order applies not only in the Province but also Britain. He denied that it could be used by MPs, Assembly members in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and members of the European Parliament to gain information about a civil servant's private beliefs and lifestyle.
'This data will only relate to matters concerning the civil servant's work in a given department. If, for instance, Joe Bloggs writes up a memo to a Minister on an issue concerning an MP, acting on behalf of a constituent, everything that this civil servant has written from a report to a comment on a Post-it, will be disclosed to that politician,' the DEL spokesman said.
But a number of civil servants said they were worried about the powers of access the Order gave to politicians. One Northern Ireland civil servant who did not wished to be named described it as 'a charter for snoopers and interfering busybodies'.
Brice Dickson, the head of the Human Rights Commission in Northern Ireland, said: 'Given the political sensitivities in Northern Ireland of holding political opinions and religious convictions, the idea of giving politicians access to those views could be very seriously damaging to the individuals concerned.'