Lords calls, government ignores
E-commerce
31 October 2007
The government has disagreed with the House of Lords over its assessment of personal online security.
The peers recommended a central enforcement agency, incentives to improve data security for banks and online traders, as well as a 'kite-mark' to identify those providing secure services.
Despite welcoming the report by the Science and Technology Committee, the government failed to believe that the public has lost confidence in the internet and made no obligation to carry out any of their suggestions.
The government did acknowledge some of the Lords' recommendations, saying they will consider the proposals to create a law enforcement unit to tackle crimes involving computers.
In the response to the recommendation that banks be liable for electronic fraud losses, the government said: "Imposing legislation on banks to be held liable for losses incurred as a result of electronic fraud does not seem to be the appropriate approach in ensuring that banks maintain their customer information securely."
The response angered one member of the Lords, the Earl of Errol, who said: "Unfortunately, the government dismissed every recommendation out of hand and their approach seems to solely consist of putting their head in the sand."
Apacs, the UK payments association, said that compared with 2006 figures online banking fraud fell by 67 per cent in the six months to August, and fraud on UK issued cards rose by 26 per cent this year.
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