To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will assess the effects on privacy of Google's Latitude tracking system; and if she will make a statement. (265562)

I have been asked to reply.

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) apply to location based services including Google Latitude. Regulation 14 requires that traffic data can be processed only for a value added service with the user or subscriber’s consent. Possible breaches of privacy should initially be reported to the service provider and failing this to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO can investigate as they have responsibility for enforcement of the regulations.