The Big Brother State
Posted by IanWhickham on Monday, 15 January 2007 22:09:17
Before I start, well done to Oliver Heald for pointing out the civil liberties implications of the latest New Labour data wheeze. "Big Brother state" is exactly what Blair seems to have set his heart on.
The Whitehall data sharing plan is the thin end of a huge wedge, suggesting as it does that data from existing databases e.g. at the Inland Revenue, Department of Work & Pensions, DVLA will be effectively combined to enable a much more detailed profile of an individual to be built up.
It is when this relaxation of privacy-protecting rules is considered in the context of other New Labour IT projects such as the NHS Spine,which if the Department of Health get their way will hold all NHS patients' detailed medical records, and the Children's Index of all under 18s in England, that the dangerous implications it will have become clear.
The Government has proven incapable of keeping personal data secure (Private detectives 'stole' data from the Police National Computer and DVLA database among others - Iain Dale), and even appear to have difficulty in making sure data is accurate and up to date (Criminal Records - Sunday Mirror).
David, will you pledge to halt the march of the Big Brother state, and commit to a course of action that will protect privacy and civil liberties, including repealing the Identity Cards Act 2006?
Ian
SELECT Privacy
NO2ID
Data Sharing, Civil Liberties, Privacy, NHS Spine, ID Cards, Big Brother, Database State