The House of Lords Constitution Committee has launched an inquiry into the impact that government surveillance and data collection have on the privacy of citizens and their relationship with the state.

The inquiry, which is set against a backdrop of the creation of the national DNA database, the new NHS Spine, and the proposals for ID cards, wants to discover if increased surveillance and data collection has fundamentally altered the way it relates to its citizens.

'The broad constitutional implications of these changes have not thus far been sufficiently closely scrutinised,' said Lord Holme of Cheltenham, chairman of the Constitution Committee.

'As a Committee we hope to get to the bottom of how these changes are altering the relationship between individuals and the State, and to ascertain whether necessary protection is in place.'

The Committee will look at what forms of surveillance and data collection might be considered constitutionally proper or improper and whether the Data Protection Act is sufficient to protect citizens.

The committee is currently calling for evidence.