The regulation of the personal - Individual data use and identity in the UK

The growth in the collection of individual level data and its use as a means of accessing services, tackling crime, informing policy making and marketing products is changing the nature of identity. As more information is collected, each of us leave larger 'identity footprints' in a multitude of contexts. Though the streets we live in may be less personally connected, neighbours, colleagues, employers, service providers and the state are all able to know more about who we are and what we do. Consequently, the ways in which we see others and ourselves is changing. Recent legislation specifies a number of good practices in information handling but implicitly accepts the construction and use of massive individual-level record-keeping systems. There is only limited regulation of the use and monitoring of the accuracy of the information held on individual-level databases. Moreover, by linking data and using knowledge discovery techniques it is possible to impute additional information. Using an innovative form field analysis methodology, this article provides an insight into the scope of information gathering in the UK and considers its impact on identity formation. It argues that there is a pressing need for a wider public and academic debate about the impact of the growth in the use of individual level data.