Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that consumers' personal and private data is not gathered, bought and sold by third parties.

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is administered and enforced independently of Government by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO has published guidance on the buying and selling of personal data and the safeguards available to individuals. This can be found at:https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/business/

The Government has regular discussion with key stakeholders, including regulators and businesses to discuss matters relating to the protection of personal data.The Government keepsthe powers of the Information Commissioner under continual review, so that they remainsufficient to deal with the most serious breaches of the DPA.