Wragge to keep bra sizes secret

Wragge & Co is to advise the UK National Sizing Survey on how to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 when collecting personal information.

Cinzia Biondi, a data protection specialist with the Midlands-based firm, will help the project preserve the privacy of the 15,000 people taking part in the survey.

Most of the leading UK clothing retailers are involved in the £3.4m project to produce a comprehensive and representative survey of the clothing size of the population.

The UK National Sizing Survey will use three-dimensional body scanners to automatically gather size data, which will then be stored in online databases, available to project partners. Future commercial exploitation of the databases is being considered.

Biondi says: "The act only came into force last year, and its full effect has yet to be realised. We've had to be extremely rigorous in establishing data processing functions and drafting agreements."