Our data sharing commitments
Surrey County Council encourages information sharing. In fact, many organisations around Surrey are already routinely and successfully sharing information and data. The Multi Agency Information Sharing Protocol (MAISP) itself is proof of Surrey County Council's commitment to encouraging the safe and lawful sharing of information.
The Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations (UK-GDPR) do not prevent data sharing. They provide a framework so that organisations can be confident that when they do share data it is done lawfully, safely and that the people whose data is shared have access to all their rights.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) provide some useful information to help bust some of the common myths and the misconceptions surrounding data sharing and data protection law.
The Government has also made commitments to improve how it uses data to drive better public services. It devised a framework for sharing personal data, for defined purposes across specific parts of the public sector, under the Digital Economy Act 2017.
A good example is recent work by the Electoral Canvas Reform that successfully linked recent data transactions across public data sources including the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, HM Passport Office, HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency to ensure much better electoral representation and improved Electoral Registers. Electoral Registers are the corner stone of many public sector services, including recently as an invaluable source of information in the battle against Covid: Test & Trace Efficiency.
