Moved by
Lord Holmes of Richmond
197A: After Clause 103, insert the following new Clause—
“Oversight of biometric technology use by the Information Commission
(1) The Information Commission must establish a Biometrics Office.
(2) The Biometrics Office is to be constituted by a committee of three appointed commissioners with relevant expertise.
(3) It is the function of the Biometrics Office to—
(a) establish and maintain a public register of relevant entities engaged in processing the biometric data of members of the public;
(b) oversee and review the biometrics use of relevant entities;
(c) produce a Code of Practice for the use of biometric technology by registered parties, which must include—
(i) compulsory standards of accuracy and reliability for biometric technologies;
(ii) a requirement for the proportionality of biometrics use to be assessed prior to use and annually thereafter, and a procedure for such assessment;
(iii) a procedure for individual complaints about the use of biometrics by registered parties;
(d) receive and publish annual reports from all relevant entities, which includes the relevant entity’s proportionality assessment of their biometrics use;
(e) enforce registration and reporting by the issuing of enforcement notices and, where necessary, the imposition of fines for non-compliance with the registration and reporting requirements;
(f) ensure lawfulness of biometrics use by relevant entities, including by issuing compliance and abatement notices where necessary.
(4) The Secretary of State may by regulations add to the responsibilities of the Biometrics Office.
(5) Regulations made under subsection (4) are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
(6) For the purposes of this Part, “relevant entity” means any organisation or body corporate (whether public or private) which processes biometric data as defined in Article 9 GDPR, other than where the biometric processing undertaken by the organisation or body corporate is otherwise overseen by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, because it is—
(a) for the purposes of making or renewing a national security determination as defined by section 20(2) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, or
(b) for the purposes set out in section 20(6) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.”