The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has asked for European Data Protection law to be upadted to reflect technological and social changes. The privacy watchdog believes the increase in social networking is making the current law outdated and ineffective.

Independent think tank RAND Europe has been assigned to review the current data protection laws and the any of issues surrounding it. A study of the findings will be made public in spring next year which may be too late at the current rate of new users.

At the annual Privacy Laws and Business conference the UK information commissioner Richard Thomas said, “European data protection law is increasingly seen as out of date, bureaucratic and excessively prescriptive.

It is showing its age and is failing to meet new challenges to privacy, such as the transfer of personal details across international borders and the huge growth in personal information online.”