The law needs to provide more clarity on what actually constitutes personal data and must be clearer about what consent actually entails and whether and when explicit consent is necessary to use personal information. The ICO believes that there needs to be a common sense and modern day approach to data protection. These comments are part of the ICO's contribution to the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) evidence gathering exercise on current data protection law. This exercise is designed to help inform the UK’s position on negotiations for a new EU data protection instrument, which are expected to start in early 2011. A full copy of the ICO’s response to the MoJ’s call for evidence, which will be of interest to those working in the area of data protection in FE and HE, can be viewed here - http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/notices/response_to_moj_dpframework.pdf.