Government has insisted individuals’ privacy and security will be protected as it launched a consultation on making smarter use of our data.

The Cabinet Office consultation seeks views on the principle of reducing the number of times people input personal data when dealing with government.

A ’tell us once’ approach will make it easier for the public to deal with government and reduce bureaucracy.

Because government departments are separate legal entities, customer information such as change of address is not automatically passed between services.

Multiple notifications can be required to update personal information, which can be inconvenient and time consuming for both customers and departments.

Previously plans for a central database of information have sparked concerns from civil liberties campaigners who fear such information could be abused or leaked.

A solution is now being considered which could develop applications that allow changes made to personal information in one system to be communicated to other systems across government, where there is explicit consent to do so.

Applications could also be developed for other purposes such as generating demographic information which could help government plan services better.

The consultation document states: ’A citizen’s data privacy should be at the centre of any solution.’

At this stage the consultation is about the principle of data sharing. The next stage will look at how this can be done in practice.

The consultation is open until September 29 and is available online at: https://consult.gov.im/

Paper copies of the consultation can be obtained from the Welcome Centre and local authority offices.