Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans for clause 187 of the Investigatory Powers Bill to apply to (a) class bulk personal datasets and (b) specific bulk personal datasets; and if she will take steps to ensure that the protection provided under that clause will encompass all types of warrants, as specified in the Investigatory Powers Bill, in the case of medical records.

Mr John Hayes

Clause 187 of the Investigatory Powers Bill applies to specific BPD warrants and provides that, where one of the purposes of the warrant was to authorise the retention or the retention and examination of health records, the warrant may only be issued in exceptional and compelling circumstances.

On 5 July the Government tabled an amendment to the Bill which would make clear that class BPD warrants could not be used to retain, or retain and examine, bulk personal datasets that consist of, or include, health records.

Protections for other parts of the Investigatory Powers Bill relating to medical professionals and confidential information relating to an individual’s health will be provided for in the statutory codes of practice made under the Bill. Draft codes detailing these protections were published on introduction of the Bill in March 2016.