Speeches by Darlington.

“You don’t believe that, but what is your role as Information Commissioner to take that from, “you don’t believe,” to, “you are sure”?”

“To other people in other countries.”

“Public sector data is being held in many cases by non-sovereign third-party providers such as Palantir, AWS and Microsoft services. How do you, as Information Commissioner, ensure that that public sector data is secure, continues to be owned by and the property of Government and public services, and is not being exploi…”

“Really quickly on the digital ID point, we have some major concerns in terms of identity theft, of financial fraud and of third-party providers verifying our ID and us not being clear about where that data ends up, even though they claim they erase it. Do you think there is a role for Government-issued digital ID in cu…”

“Could you share that with us? I am not confident about that.”

“It is not for us to debate what is in there.”

“Who reviews if they are adequate steps? Is that not your office?”

“It was rather a dystopian view.”

“I am really pleased to be able to introduce our innovator today. This links really well with the work that we are doing on science diplomacy, particularly in the area of space, and how our space research and the things we do give us some real international influence. In fact, Professor Mahesh Anand, of the Open Univers…”

“It happens all the time.”

“The law will not pick it up because the only action within the post is personal data, though the intention is obvious.”

“I can give you an example. Somebody calls Experian claiming to be an individual and wants a credit report on them. That credit report gets returned with their home address on it. That is a data breach.”

“It does not happen quickly.”

“There are other ways, particularly around domestic abuse, where people share somebody’s data. It is not necessarily a data breach, but they share the personal data of someone they may know. We see this with some of the more prolific misogynists online. They will know the home address of their accusers because they will…”

“I have a final question about personal data. There are two activities that happen online, unfortunately, on quite a nefarious basis. One is doxxing—publishing of personal details for people then to take their online attacks offline and be able to target people’s homes. That continues to be a problem for people trying t…”

“Okay. We await the final outcome of the initial £12 million fine and the further investigation of TikTok. What is the timeline for that?”

“I meant it has been forthcoming. It has not disputed that it has needed to provide this information.”

“Has it been happy to give that to you?”

“Okay. You have investigations into TikTok, Imgur—I never know how to pronounce it—and Reddit in terms of their use of data and AI algorithmic targeting of children. Imgur, however you pronounce it, has pulled out of the UK. It has been clear that that is not necessarily as a result of this investigation. TikTok and Red…”

“What more could you do to increase confidence that, when people are proving they are over 18, that data is secure?”