Only for our Children, not theirs!

Big Brother Society comes another step closer next year when a new government register goes live that will store the name, address, family, medical and school details of (almost) all the 11 million under-18’s in the UK. The “almost” is because the children of celebrities and politicians are likely to be excluded from the system.

The data base will be available to an estimated 330,000 users such as head teachers, doctors, social workers, fire and rescue staff. The system is costing £224 million to build and £41 million a year to run. Regulations covering its setting up were rushed through parliament without publicity last month. Children’s rights campaigners have already given warning that when you have more than 300,000 people accessing this database, it will be very difficult to stop information falling into the hands of potential abusers of children and traders of such information. Computer security experts say that the fact that the system allows for a “shielding” mechanism to keep information on the offspring of politicians and celebrities off the main database amounts to an acknowledgment that the database will not be secure.

The government is happy to make it compulsory for the children of ordinary people to appear op the register but the politicians don’t want their own private information available to all and sundry. As with pensions this government shows it operates one rule for themselves and another rule for the ordinary person in the street.