subject: Children fear intrusion of national database, report finds posted: Fri, 08 Sep 2006 23:38:57 +0100
[Frankly, I can't believe this idea is being seriously proposed. It
just underlines how little understanding there is of IT in decision-
making circles. Don't they know what a target such a database will
become? Or don't they care? Why is is that celebrities' children
are able to remove some details? Is a rich kid's privacy worth more?
Or is it so the politician's own children are not tracked? This
scheme is either part of "Blair's legacy", or some bureaucrats need a
new white elephant to pay for their retirement - it sure has nothing
to do with responsible data management. - Stu]
Children fear intrusion of national database, report finds
David Batty
Friday September 8, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Children fear that the government's national database of every child
in England will expose rather than protect them from harm, according
to a report published today.
Young people were suspicious of the motives behind the creation of
the children's index, which will allow professionals to share
information about 11 million children, a study by the children's
commissioner for England said.
Many of those questioned believed the system would be "incredibly
intrusive" and deter them from using sexual and mental health
services for fear this would be disclosed to their school or parents.
The study found that children feared the £224m index, which allows
professionals to flag up concerns on an individual's file, could be
misused by unscrupulous or abusive staff, with particular concern
raised that child abusers could use it to conceal abuse.
Older teenagers were concerned that the index was a Big Brother-style
means of keeping track of young people and some pledged to try to
evade being entered into the system, the researchers said.
Many of those surveyed also did not trust the government to keep the
information on the index safe and secure, with many concerned that
the system could be hacked.
The study warned that children's mistrust of the system represented
"a major challenge" for the government.
It is the latest in a series of setback for the database, devised to
address the failure of care staff to share information about the
murdered child abuse victim, Victoria Climbie. Last week it emerged
that the children of celebrities would be able to remove some of
their details from the database, prompting questions over how secure
the stored information would be.
Parliament's information commissioner is due to publish a report on
the database later this month. It is expected to warn that the
database is causing serious concern and is possibly unlawful, with
fears it breaches the Data Protection Act and does not comply with
the European Convention on Human Rights.
Young people raised similar concerns in the study published today.
They opposed the index being used to share information without their
consent except in exceptional cases, for example, if a child was in
danger of harming themselves or others.
Concern was also raised that the database would be a permanent blight
on their character. Young people were worried about the accuracy of
information on the index and sceptical - given the system's size and
scale - that it could be kept up to date.
One said that outdated data could "be potentially damaging and serve
to mark them out and label them". Many wanted access to their
electronic file to check its accuracy.
The researchers also found that the database risked aggravating many
children's lack of trust in the professionals who worked with them.
They were adamant that teachers should not get access to the
database, regarding them as very different professionals to social
workers or doctors. Teachers had no right to know about their
personal lives, the children said.
