Eric James Howe CBE (born 4 October 1931) is a British former business executive who in September 1984 became his country's first Data Protection Registrar.
[1][2][3][4] Eric Howe was born at Stretford in the registration area of Barton-upon-Irwell, on the western edge of Manchester, the fourth of his parents' five children.
[6] He attended the nearby Stretford Grammar School and worked for two years in the textile industry before moving on to Liverpool University from which in 1954 he emerged with a degree in Economics.
The NCC was part of Harold Wilson's "White hot technological revolution" and was charged with promoting the efficient use of computing in the United Kingdom.
[10] A report in the Daily Telegraph described him as having the "soft cotton accent and open joviality of a Manchester corner grocer" and went on to say this could be "dangerously deceptive".
It also introduced new obligations for computer users processing personal data who needed to be open about their activities by putting details of these on a public register.
The Registrar was responsible for ensuring individual's rights; establishing the Register; interpreting the Principles and assisting and encouraging the adoption of appropriate good practice; enforcing the legislation and the jurisprudence which would ensue; raising awareness of data protection throughout the United Kingdom; and engaging with data protection developments in the European Union and worldwide to contribute a United Kingdom view and learn from experience in other legislations.
In his First Report in June 1985, Eric Howe listed over fifty group organisations representing all aspects of public, commercial and individual interests, with whom he had held discussions on the operation of the Act.
As part of his Fifth Report he set out the results of a wide-ranging survey of experience of the Act and proposed a number of changes which would benefit both individuals and computer users.
In a Personal Note to his Ninth Report in June 1993, Eric Howe said that data protection represents a massive long term educational exercise to change the attitudes and practices of a Nation.