Minister for Information and Broadcasting illustrates the benefits and limitations of accessibility to data.

The Senate voted yesterday on the data protection amendment.

The original act passed in 2011, regulates the collection, holding, use, processing, correction and disclosure of personal information in a manner that recognizes the right to privacy of individuals.

Minister for the Public Service, Information and Broadcasting, Sen. Hon. Dr. James Fletcher, supported the notion of utilizing government data to inform the public but noted the pitfalls.

“If we are a government of the people, for the people, by the people, then as much information as is necessary for the provision of the public to be able to conduct their affairs in an informed manner should be provided," he said.

"Now as I stated earlier, there is a caveat. There is information that is sensitive for national security reasons that cannot be provided to the public at least not in its entirety, and there is information of a personal nature that should never be divulged to the general public for example, the health status of an individual."

However, Dr. Fletcher illustrated the benefits of accessibility to data on the health sector.

“In another job, in another place when I had responsibility for the health sector and trying to develop a profile for the impact of chronic non-communicable diseases in Saint Lucia, and looking at the morbidity and mortality factors with chronic non-communicable diseases, the most recent data I could find in 2010 on chronic non-communicable diseases was something that CAREC had put out in 2002.”

Dr. Fletcher also indicated the application of such data to various sectors such as finance and education.