The requirement for a co-ordinated industry response to expected Government moves aimed at tightening procedures dealing with the handling of access control data is to be addressed by the British Security Industry Association (BSIA).

The Association’s newly-appointed Access Control Section chairman Phil Redcliffe has identified the need as a major issue to be overseen during his two-year term in charge, writes Ian Drury.

Speaking exclusively to SMT at the Securex Exhibition, the Bewator business development manager explained that he anticipates Home Office moves to tackle areas that aren’t presently covered by the Data Protection Act. “With various initiatives being brought into play, such as the phased introduction of ID cards from 2007-2008, we believe that additional regulation will be involved sooner rather than later,” said Redcliffe. “That regulation will cover, for example, what sort of data you can keep concerning a given individual, who you’re permitted to distribute that data to and what types of technology you’re allowed to use.”

Redcliffe commented that, in the UK, it’s currently permissible under Data Protection legislation to print a standard access control system log file of who has gone where and when at any time. “By comparison, safeguards in Norway mean that you must have two people logged on to the system simultaneously in order to print such a file,” he added.

In the wake of 9/11, stricter access control measures – encompassing the use of biometric technology in passports – will involve the retention of increased amounts of data on a variety of different storage media.

Redcliffe intends co-ordinating a unified response to the Government’s likely moves which could then be presented to officials during any anticipated future consultation exercise that would inform the drafting of regulations.

Source

SMT