Poll: Child Database in the UK

[Zombie_Fish]

This wasn't looked upon much due to all of the news about MP expenses but it still is fairly interesting:

Following the death of the child Victoria Climbie, a children database containing information about every child up to the age of 18 in England has now become accessable to childcare professionals to "make it much easier for child co-ordinated services".

This £224 million database called "ContactPoint" will contain information on over 11 million children and will be available to 390000 people, starting with 17 local services in the north before allowing access to services all over the country.

However, despite the database supposedly going through "stringent security changing", there have already been two delays with it, based on fear of the information being leaked and getting into the wrong hands. Also, there has been over various delays, dues to "issues in testing" in summer 2008. And despite the government saying that it will "enable more co-ordinated services for children and ensure none slips through the net.", a report by auditors Deloitte and Touche said that it could never be fully secure.

So, I ask you escapists, what are your opinions on this database?

EDIT:Here's two articles on it:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/18/0751255&from=rss
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8052512.stm

 

[baker80]

Christ almighty, why don't they just call it "Pedophile's Yellow Pages" and be done with it? There is no way an Orwellian nightmare like that isn't going to be abused and leaked. Also, I'm sure a lot of 16-18 year old "children" aren't going to be too happy to find themselves in a database like that.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

What kind of information would be on the database?

 

[LockHeart]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

This. Useless twats...

 

[Susano]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

Oh, that was funny, and slightly disturbing...
Anyway I think that no, they definitely don't need it. What possible REAL use could it have?

 

[bue519]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

Well I wouldn't call a fake monarchy brilliant but whatever. I think that this idea is good in theory, but it will only work in practice if the government agencies can work together.

 

[Gamer137]

Oh no. When is all the Big Brother crap going to end?

 

[Zombie_Fish]

What kind of information would be on the database?

Whilst specific information isn't mentioned I'd prbably guess stuff like there is on your birth certificate, health certificate, most likely the stuff that was proposed for the national ID database, so stuff like:

Full name
Other names
Date of birth
Place of birth
Gender
Address of main place of residence
Any other place they live
National Insurance number (For over 16s)
Driving liscense number (If they have one)
UK passport number (If they have one)

And other stuff as well. I'd guess they'll leave some stuff out that was to appear in the NIR database (Stuff like DNA, iris scans, fingerprints, photo of head and shoulders etc.) and whilst they have said that 51000 children deemed vulnerable have been "sheilded" for security reasons, that isn't even 1/100 of the people on the database.

 

[curlycrouton]

Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime is death.

It's the future people!

[small]Maybe...[/small]

 

[razer17]

What kind of information would be on the database?

Whilst specific information isn't mentioned I'd prbably guess stuff like there is on your birth certificate, health certificate, most likely the stuff that was proposed for the national ID database, so stuff like:

Full name
Other names
Date of birth
Place of birth
Gender
Address of main place of residence
Any other place they live
National Insurance number (For over 16s)
Driving liscense number (If they have one)
UK passport number (If they have one)

so it's all the stuff they already have on everyone anyway? this is what you would give to the bank if you create an account for your child, so why can't government agencies have it? the government gets it anyway so it makes no differences. i don't see how it can be abused. paedophiles now where children live? yeah kids live in every other house anyway, so it doesn't really help them.
in case no one has realised this list doesn't bother me. it's not a bad idea if it's well implemented and therefore helps stop child abuse (not sure how it would do that, but still, not a bad idea)

 

[razer17]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

This. Useless twats...

you realise that it was civi servants that left the information. these aren't technically part of the governing body. they would be there no matter what the government was. so no, the government are not useless twats, as they had nothing to do with the leaks.

 

[GothmogII]

What kind of information would be on the database?

Whilst specific information isn't mentioned I'd prbably guess stuff like there is on your birth certificate, health certificate, most likely the stuff that was proposed for the national ID database, so stuff like:

Full name
Other names
Date of birth
Place of birth
Gender
Address of main place of residence
Any other place they live
National Insurance number (For over 16s)
Driving liscense number (If they have one)
UK passport number (If they have one)

so it's all the stuff they already have on everyone anyway? this is what you would give to the bank if you create an account for your child, so why can't government agencies have it? the government gets it anyway so it makes no differences. i don't see how it can be abused. paedophiles now where children live? yeah kids live in every other house anyway, so it doesn't really help them.
in case no one has realised this list doesn't bother me. it's not a bad idea if it's well implemented and therefore helps stop child abuse (not sure how it would do that, but still, not a bad idea)

This, hell, I think I've given all that info and more 10 times over just online to various websites, it doesn't seem like something to worry about, even if it is specifically for children, given that one way or another they'll have it anyway.

I mean...don't you have to put almost exactly the same stuff on a census form?

 

[Skeleon]

Wow.
Yeah, this is great.
I think personal privacy is overrated anyway.
Do we get a free televisor with that?

 

[Nmil-ek]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

Yeah did they ever find that by the way?

 

[Zombie_Fish]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

Yeah did they ever find that by the way?

As far as I can tell, no.

 

[LockHeart]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

This. Useless twats...

you realise that it was civi servants that left the information. these aren't technically part of the governing body. they would be there no matter what the government was. so no, the government are not useless twats, as they had nothing to do with the leaks.

Well I beg to differ on the 'useless twats' point, but that's on a different matter. The fact is that it was the government who ordered the collection of this data in the knowledge that it would be handled by unsafe civil servants.

 

[razer17]

Think of it this way, this is England. We have a brilliant government. It isn't like they just leave discs with important top secret information lying around for other people to find and leak.

This. Useless twats...

you realise that it was civi servants that left the information. these aren't technically part of the governing body. they would be there no matter what the government was. so no, the government are not useless twats, as they had nothing to do with the leaks.

Well I beg to differ on the 'useless twats' point, but that's on a different matter. The fact is that it was the government who ordered the collection of this data in the knowledge that it would be handled by unsafe civil servants.

my point being that this is data the government has to collate, and would have happened either way. the only way to avoid it would be a dictatorship, and thats just not a good idea.

 

[puppydogvaan]

What happens to the entries in the database when people turn nineteen? Are they erased, or does the government just...hang on to them--for safekeeping, of course.

 

[-Orgasmatron-]

Oh no. When is all the Big Brother crap going to end?

When we storm the Houses of Parliment?