Access to public registers has to date been primarily through physical observation of the printed record, thus allowing only the most basic searching and recording of that information. This is clearly changing with, for example, property sales information being commodified and made available over the internet, and a more open attitude to the re-use of government data. Is this ‘open data’ path the one that all registration agencies that handle publicly accessible records should follow? Or are there limitations – self imposed perhaps – that the agencies should rely upon to constrain the use of such data for any number of reasons? How far should this access be allowed – an online version of the printed register, or should something more powerful be offered to the public? In this article I look to one register which is particularly relevant to this discussion – principally because the register is held by the organisation with a responsibility for making public information accessible to the UK public – the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). I will argue that an extended right of access to public registers should be enabled which allows processing and analysis of the data contained within the register. In terms of the ICO, this ‘right to process public information’ is essential that we may better understand the privacy and data protection debate.
