Public consultation on privacy legislation to protect personal data could begin in the spring, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

A draft bill is almost ready to go before Cabinet, according to Government, and will be released for wider consultation within the community if approved by Ministers.

Government has long promised a law to protect against the misuse of personal information, with a discussion paper released in 2003 and a pledge in the 2008 Throne Speech.

A spokeswoman told this newspaper yesterday: "The Department of eCommerce, within the Ministry of Business Development and Tourism, has been working on developing privacy legislation.

"The intention of the legislation is to protect personal information held electronically or in manual records.

"The first phase of developing a draft model for privacy has nearly been completed and part of this phase has included some initial stakeholder consultation.

"It is expected that public consultation will begin in the spring of 2011, subject to Cabinet approval of the draft model."

The spokeswoman added: "While reflecting international best practice, Bermuda's privacy model will be unique, as it takes into account Bermuda's economic ties to North America and Europe, both of whom have very different privacy regimes."

Cabinet Minister Walter Roban referred to the proposed legislation at an information and communications technology conference in Trinidad on Monday, suggesting that the increased use by young people of social networking sites such as Facebook was one impetus.

Mr Roban, Minister of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy, gave a presentation on the Bermuda Government's efforts to protect youngsters using the internet, including an anti-grooming and anti-child pornography law passed in 2008.

"We are also working on developing privacy legislation," the Minister said. "Our youth often don't understand the potential long-term harm that they may be doing to themselves by the kind of information they are sharing online.

"Photos or comments posted may impact their college or career aspirations. Privacy legislation does not solve all the issues of social networking, but our objective is to at least put protections in place that require that users and providers be clear about what and how information is being used and shared.

"The requirements will also ensure that users have the ability to provide informed consent about what they agree to have disclosed and released to third parties."

Governments around the world are seeking to strengthen internet privacy protection, with the Wall Street Journal reporting last week that the Obama administration is planning new laws and an oversight office.

Earlier this month, the European Union said it wanted stronger rules to give people more control over how their personal details are used by online companies such as Facebook and Google.