Row over LibDem letter (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Row over LibDem letter

4:00pm Friday 20th November 2009

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Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for St Albans Sandy Walkington has denied a resident's claim that his party broke privacy laws.

David Atkinson claims he has never given the party his details, yet he was contacted by the party.

The email, encouraging people to fill in a rail user survey, has raised questions over how the party obtains people's email addresses.

Mr Walkington said:"Any emails we have are obtained through returned survey data or from people who have directly emailed us.

"Mr Atkinson must have been in touch with us, though it may have been some time ago."

But Mr Atkinson is adamant that he has never had any contact with the party.

He told the Review: "I am concerned that the information might have been passed on to them or found by them.

"How many other people in St Albans in the same position as me received this original email?"

Roma Mills said parties and organisations should make it clear to people when asking them to support a campaign, or fill out a survey that their details will be kept on file.

She said: "Anything that's inviting you to put your information down should be told that it's going to be held by that organisation or party - That hasn't happened here. It's about being very transparent.

"It causes a huge worry about data protection if people don't understand that's what's happened to their details. They are going to be worried if they find themselves contacted out of the blue."

The complaint comes on the same day that Lib Dem politician Chris Huhne called for stiffer penalties for those involved with data breaches.

The Review revealed this week that a laptop containing the personal details and signatures of more than 14,673 St Albans residents had been stolen from the district council.

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