Information Commissioner appears before Select Committee

On 21 October 2025, Information Commissioner John Edwards appeared before the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee to give evidence regarding his role overseeing information and data security across government. The session, chaired by Chi Onwurah, was interesting and, at times, somewhat uncomfortable for the Commissioner, but it is definitely worth watching.

During the session, Committee members challenged the Commissioner about his office's decision not to launch an investigation into the 2022 personal data breach by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which exposed the identities of 18,700 Afghans applying for relocation to the UK.

The session also highlighted a gap between the Committee's expectations of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and its actual regulatory approach. There appeared to be an expectation from MPs that the ICO would undertake significantly more in-depth audit and inspection work than is currently standard practice. It will be interesting to see whether the concerns raised by the Committee will be acted upon.  

The Commissioner also briefly addressed questions about the government's intentions to launch national digital ID cards and plans to expand the use of facial recognition technologies in law enforcement. 

Additional reporting by The Register.

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