---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 09 Jul 1997 12:08:13 +0100 From: Ross Anderson <Ross.Anderson@cl.cam.ac.uk> To: ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk Cc: prz@pgp.com Subject: Controversy over UK escrow proposal This may be of interest, as the first news report that a government department is going on the record to oppose the escrow proposals of another government department. Ross Encryption: NHS FIGHTS TO BE EXEMPT FROM TTP Service claims key data access would breach patient confidentiality (Network Week v 2 no 41 (9/7/97), front page lead) By Daryl Wilcox The NHS has demanded to be exempt from proposed regulations requiring encryption keys to be lodged with a trusted third party (TTP). The NHS said it was concerned that if keys to medical data were held by TTPs, as proposed by the DTI for access by law enforcernent agencies, patients would lose confidence in the service's commitment to confidentiality. A source close to the DTl confirmed last week that the NHS had called for an exemption from TTP rules in a submission to the DTI on its proposals. The NHS is keen to be free to adopt encryption to allow the electronic movement of patient records between hospitals and GPs. The move looked likely to fuel widespread objection to the proposals from commerce and civil liberties groups, who would interpret the NHS position as a blow to thc credibility of a compulsory TTP system. Marion Bain, hcad of data protection issues at the Common Services Agency of the NHS, raised the NHS's concerns at last week's annual conference of data protection professionals' club Privacy and Business. ``The NHS concerns are different to business con- cems,'' she said. ``Patients would be resistant to the electronic transfer of their information if they thought access to it was available to a third party. The NHS would welcome being exempt from TTP rules.'' A source close to tlie DTI said: ``The NHS wants no part of a TTP rule. They have fought hard for patient data to only be made available to clinical practitioners and they want to preserve this.'' (ends)