On 26th November the Information Commissioner's Office published the Privacy by Design report, which can be downloaded here (6.5MB PDF).

Despite more than 20 years of data protection legislation in the UK and efforts to encourage the adoption of privacy friendly technologies and ways of working, progress has been disappointing and data protection and privacy safeguards are often bolted on as inadequate afterthoughts rather than built into new developments from first principles.

With the current drive for increased information sharing, large centralised databases and increasing use of biometrics, the ICO sees the concepts at the heart of ‘privacy by design’ as helping ensure that essential safeguards against potential unwarranted risks to individuals' information and privacy are put in place in new developments. The ICO wants to try to help bridge the current gap in both the public and private sectors.

The report sets out the privacy by design concept and mentions some of the privacy enhancing technologies and working methods that already exist. It then focusses on why there have not been better levels of adoption; the barriers to this and what can be done to improve the situation.