Crime Solicitors

Proposals by HMRC to share the data of British taxpayers has provoked a backlash among some MPs and civil rights campaigners, who claim sharing personal tax details could make individuals vulnerable to fraud.

BBC News reports that if the plans are approved, HMRC would share anonymous tax data with public organisations, companies and researchers. HMRC has said it is, however, “committed to confidentiality” ? and as yet, no final decisions had been taken about sharing public tax details with third parties.

Emma Carr of civil rights group Big Brother Watch said:

“The ongoing claims about anonymous data overlook the serious risks to privacy of individual level data being vulnerable to re-identification.

"Given the huge uproar about similar plans for medical records, you would have hoped HMRC would have learned that trying to sneak plans like this under the radar is not the way to build trust or develop good policy."

Plans by the NHS to share patients data anonymously with third parties such as research groups and pharmaceutical companies have been temporarily shelved over concerns about patient confidentiality and the potential for fraud, as the proposals did not make it clear which areas of patient data would remain anonymous.

The Guardian has reported that HMRC might charge third parties to access the tax details of private individuals if sharing taxpayers’ details “would generate clear public benefits”.

Treasury Minister David Gauke is currently overseeing plans to relax the laws on data sharing for HMRC. A consultation was launched last July and HMRC said further consultations would take place.

The former Conservative Shadow Home Secretary David Davis MP has called the proposals to share tax data with third parties “borderline insane”.

Mr Davis told The Guardian:

"Our forefathers put these checks and balances in place when the information was kept in cardboard files and data was therefore difficult to appropriate and misuse.

"It defies logic that we would remove those restraints at a time when data can be collected by the gigabyte, processed in milliseconds and transported around the world almost instantaneously.

“The officials who drew this up clearly have no idea of the risks to data in an electronic age.”

A spokesman for HMRC said:

"Last year's consultation made it very clear that there would be a rigorous accreditation process for anyone wanting access to the data ? and that any access would take place in a secure environment.

"Those accessing data would be subject to the same confidentiality provisions as HMRC staff, including a criminal sanction for unlawful disclosure of taxpayer information.

“HMRC would only share data where this would generate clear public benefits, and where there are robust safeguards in place.”

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