Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

We touched briefly on these amendments when we went through the clause stand part debates, but I turn now to a very important aspect, that of information which can be passed on by a designated customs official, and to whom. The amendments would impose a statutory obligation on any person listed in subsection (2) to have grounds to be satisfied that the disclosure of customs information to any other person is ““reasonable””. That is a fair test of what one would want to limit this to. It would require consideration of the need for disclosure and the sensitivity of the information. My concerns have been raised because the Government’s track record on keeping a hand on personal data is not very good, if not to say abysmal. We are therefore concerned that strict controls should be placed on information that is being recorded and computerised, as well as data giving personal information about people who come into the orbit of these officers. I beg to move.