* From Kable: The Department of Health has announced the membership of the National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care (NIGB). The NIGB, which will report annually to the secretary of state for health, has been set up to provide leadership and promote consistent standards for information governance across health and social care. It will also arbitrate on the interpretation and application of information governance policy and give advice on matters at national level, the DoH said on 22 October 2007.

* From the category of ‘usual suspects:’ “Eight companies have got through the first stage of the Identity Card Scheme procurement process. Accenture, BAE Systems, CSC, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, Steria and Thales have been given the go ahead to enter a competitive dialogue with the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) for places on the National Identity Scheme Strategic Supplier Framework.” Pity they didn’t appoint a national information governance board for this scheme beforehand.

* An official review says that “most CCTV images cannot be used in criminal investigations. More than 80% of the CCTV footage supplied to the police is of a poor quality and not fit for the purpose of identification, according to a strategy report by the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers.”

* The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)” has urged local authorities in Scotland to take a cautious approach to residents’ personal information. It issued a statement on 17 October 2007 advising council to restrict the amount of personal information, such as phone numbers and signatures, that is published on their websites. ”