Today's most viewed
| LIFE'S A BEACH |  | | | SUMMER WASHOUT | | | | VIEW FROM THE HILL | | | | WHEELS | | |
|
|
|
Big Brother fear over data-share pact
A CAMPAIGN group has expressed fears of an "Orwellian dystopia" after councils, police and fire chiefs signed the first information-sharing agreement of its kind in the UK.
The Dorset Over-Arching Information Sharing Protocol allows data to be passed faster and easier between the county's public sector bodies including the police, fire service, education chiefs, social workers and housing staff.
It is the first generic agreement of its kind in the country and was signed by bosses from six district and borough councils, the two unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole, Dorset County Council, Dorset Police and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service on May 8.
Supporters of the agreement say it aims to stop tragedies such as the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by Ian Huntley or Victoria Climbie by the woman entrusted to care for her.
But Simon Davies, director of campaign group Privacy International, said such claims had no substance and added: "The history of information sharing is a history of failure."
Problems could arise if the wrong information was circulated and repeated between partner agencies, or if information was corrupted due to flaws in the system, he said.
Mr Davies said it was a "fundamental right" for each individual to control the way their personal data was used, and added: "It shows disregard for the rights of voters."
He also said: "There is a contract expected by people that requires authorities to have regard for the rights of individuals, to ask their opinion and to tell them precisely what is proposed and then to set limitations on what is proposed so it cannot creep into an Orwellian dystopia."
The agreement follows the controversy over the case of a family who were tracked covertly in Poole, Dorset.
Jenny Paton and her partner Tim Joyce were spied on for nearly three weeks after Poole Borough Council wrongly suspected they had lied about living in the catchment area for Lilliput First School.
The same council has made similar checks on two other families in the last year under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
Pam Donnellan, chief executive of Bournemouth Borough Council, said: "Sadly, public safety can be compromised by breakdowns in communication and a lack of timely sharing of information.
"Such failures have often been highlighted in many of the tragedies that led to loss of life for vulnerable children and adults.
"Good systems and clear protocols for all public agencies to follow are vital and Dorset needs to be at the forefront of these developments."
Martin Baker, chief constable of Dorset Police, said: "In order to protect the public, it is vital that partner agencies are able to share accurate, timely and relevant information swiftly, efficiently and securely."
David Wilson, data protection officer at Dorset County Council, said: "It's the only generic information sharing protocol that I'm aware of. All the others tend to be either service specific or agency specific."
7:00pm Monday 12th May 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: laurie marsh, australia on 10:49am Tue 13 May 08
THERE IS ALWAYS SOME WOULD-BE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO WILL JUSTIFY STEALING AWAY YOUR RIGHTS A BIT AT A TIME.
GIVE THEM ENOUGH ROPE AND THE TATTOOS WILL START APPEARING ON WRISTS!
"VE HAFF VAYS!" WAS THE CATCH CRY IN NAZI GERMANY!
DONT GIVE THEM THE CHANCE BECAUSE THESE CREEPS WILL TAKE IT!
IF WE DONT LEARN FROM HISTORY WE WILL SUFFER A REAPEAT OF IT!
THERE IS ALWAYS SOME WOULD-BE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO WILL JUSTIFY STEALING AWAY YOUR RIGHTS A BIT AT A TIME.
GIVE THEM ENOUGH ROPE AND THE TATTOOS WILL START APPEARING ON WRISTS!
"VE HAFF VAYS!" WAS THE CATCH CRY IN NAZI GERMANY!
DONT GIVE THEM THE CHANCE BECAUSE THESE CREEPS WILL TAKE IT!
IF WE DONT LEARN FROM HISTORY WE WILL SUFFER A REAPEAT OF IT!
Posted by: Mark, Bournemouth on 11:25am Tue 13 May 08
This is no surprise. There is a 'charitable' organisation with influence in high places that most readers may not have heard about.
'Graduates' include policemen, lawyers, councillors, BBC workers and public sector workers.
Their aim is to prepare the UK for 'post-democratic' EU rule.
'Graduates' are trained to promote just this sort of information sharing, they all have this one common purpose - clue, look it up!
This is no surprise. There is a 'charitable' organisation with influence in high places that most readers may not have heard about.
'Graduates' include policemen, lawyers, councillors, BBC workers and public sector workers.
Their aim is to prepare the UK for 'post-democratic' EU rule.
'Graduates' are trained to promote just this sort of information sharing, they all have this one common purpose - clue, look it up!
Posted by: PokesdownMark, Pokesdown on 12:32pm Tue 13 May 08
Is this about existing agency employees working more closely with other existing agency employees when doing their work?
Or is it about agencies granting other agencies employees direct, remote access to their databases?
I really hope it the first one. The second one would be ineffective, detremental, expensive and hazardous to health.
Is this about existing agency employees working more closely with other existing agency employees when doing their work?
Or is it about agencies granting other agencies employees direct, remote access to their databases?
I really hope it the first one. The second one would be ineffective, detremental, expensive and hazardous to health.
Posted by: Jerry, poole, dorset on 6:24pm Tue 13 May 08
So what is the interest of Dorset Fire and Rescue in this? Is this yet another deviation from their core business?
If this system HAS to be in place, why are the people who deal with "at-risk" people more than anyone else not involved... The Ambulance Service!
Much of the work done by the Ambulance Service is social care involving the young, elderly and those who are at risk.
So what is the interest of Dorset Fire and Rescue in this? Is this yet another deviation from their core business?
If this system HAS to be in place, why are the people who deal with "at-risk" people more than anyone else not involved... The Ambulance Service!
Much of the work done by the Ambulance Service is social care involving the young, elderly and those who are at risk.
Posted by: PETE WOODLEY on 6:30pm Tue 13 May 08
Still "shouting",give it a rest.
Still "shouting",give it a rest.
Posted by: RM, Poole, Dorset on 8:07pm Tue 13 May 08
Mark, Bournemouth - I assumed you meant 'look up Graduates on the Internet' I could only find one charity, it seemed to be concerned with women Graduates - is this the one you meant? Seems like a good idea to report the whole thing to the Information Commissioner & get him to investigate.
Mark, Bournemouth - I assumed you meant 'look up Graduates on the Internet' I could only find one charity, it seemed to be concerned with women Graduates - is this the one you meant? Seems like a good idea to report the whole thing to the Information Commissioner & get him to investigate.
Posted by: a.p.harris, expat on 6:07pm Wed 14 May 08
There was this bloke called Kropotkin who said,"never trust anybody who are in authority,(specially those nazis down at the council)",and that was a 150yrs ago.Seriously though folks,there's 3,000,000+
cctv cameras in the UK these days apparently,so what happened there then.I bet the guys that think up all these scheme's and devices have shares in the companies that make 'em.Still if your not doing anything wrong what are you afraid of,I'm afraid of the ones that are watching you,following you around and not asking you if thats what you want,am i being unreasonable.Your welcome to it or do something about it.
There was this bloke called Kropotkin who said,"never trust anybody who are in authority,(specially those nazis down at the council)",and that was a 150yrs ago.Seriously though folks,there's 3,000,000+
cctv cameras in the UK these days apparently,so what happened there then.I bet the guys that think up all these scheme's and devices have shares in the companies that make 'em.Still if your not doing anything wrong what are you afraid of,I'm afraid of the ones that are watching you,following you around and not asking you if thats what you want,am i being unreasonable.Your welcome to it or do something about it.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
