phone lookups (was:BBC News Online: 'Snoop' plans put on hold)

[Ian Brown]

> The electoral register has always been a public document and I
> firmly believe
> that it must remain so. If it is lost in its current form the UK
> would become
> about the only industrialised country (certainly the only one in
> Europe) not to
> have such a record available for uses such as the prevention of fraud.

A court case last year has forced the govt (under European data protection
and human rights legislation) to change the current practice of selling the
full register. Once put in place, the new arrangements will allow voters to
opt out of an edited version which will be available for sale. The govt has
proposed that the full version will still be available to credit references
agencies etc, which the Electoral Commission is non-too-pleased about (and
believes may still be illegal):
http://www.electoralcommission.gov.uk/registersresponse.htm

This is obviously an EU-wide issue.