Big Brother and stuff
No, no, not the crap Channel 4 boreathon (pity they didn't do it like the book- human faces being stamped on by boots forever and helmets with rats) but 24/7 surveillance wherever you are. Like this...
It's not always good to share: A government plan for data sharing between public bodies threatens to further undermine civil liberties in the wake of the ID cards debacle
Michael Cross, The Guardian, Thursday August 24, 2006
Ministers are preparing to overturn a fundamental principle of data protection in government, the Guardian has learned. They will announce next month that public bodies can assume they are free to share citizens' personal data with other arms of the state, so long as it is in the public interest.
The policy was agreed upon by a cabinet committee set up by the prime minister, and reverses the current default position - which requires public bodies to find a legal justification each time they want to share data about individuals.
The officials behind the "transformational government" scheme say data sharing could present a more consumer-friendly face to government, and help tackle social problems such as prisoners re-offending.
For example, officials say, when moving house, a citizen would register the change online once with their local authority's "one stop shop". It would update its own records, that of the new local authority, and then of central government, including the electoral register, DVLA and Inland Revenue.
A destruction of liberty
Similarly, on completing a prison sentence, an ex-offender's details would be available to probation officers, local authority social services and the employment service, reducing the risk of people with criminal records disappearing from government records and re-offending.
Simon Davies, of the pressure group Privacy International, described the timing of the new policy as "sick", but said he was not surprised. "It's about the most blatant destruction of liberty we have seen for a while," he said.
Apart from the implications for privacy, widespread data sharing would enable different arms of the state to operate as one body - collecting fines and taxes on behalf of another agency, for example. This would be a major threat to civil liberty, Davies said. "Functional separation [between departments] is an important principle of justice and accountability, for example allowing you to fight a local authority on its own turf," he said. "This effectively dismantles that limitation."
Besides alarming groups concerned about the spread of the "big brother" state, the "transformational government" strategy, under which the new policy was drawn up, has already raised concerns about data protection from the information commissioner.
Contravenes data protection law
Presently, data sharing in government is regulated by several tiers of law. Like commercial companies, public bodies must comply with the data protection act. They are also subject to the common law duty of confidentiality, as well as statutes covering the release of specific sets of data: these can block data sharing even when the citizen concerned gives permission.
In November last year, the Transformational Government strategy drawn up by Ian Watmore, now head of the prime minister's delivery unit, set out proposals for government bodies to share IT systems and other infrastructure to enable public services to be designed around citizens rather than bureaucracies.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet Office revealed that the prime minister had set up a ministerial committee, called Misc 31, to examine data sharing. In early July, the committee, chaired by Hilary Armstrong, minister for the Cabinet Office, agreed to a new statement of the government's position: "Information will normally be shared in the public sector, provided it is in the public interest." Ministers are due to announce a policy based on this position in the week beginning September 11.
Davies said the new policy would end the current "truce" between the privacy lobby and government. "If the government want to play dirty, they'll find themselves staring down the barrels of something akin to the ID card debate. I would hope there's going to be a monumental row." Davies has been at the forefront of those opposing the ID card, which the Labour administration is seeking to introduce.
The new policy appears to contravene a key principle of the data protection act, which is that "personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes". Ministers are likely to argue that efficient public administration is not incompatible with other purposes.
The data protection registrar, Richard Thomas, would not comment on Misc 31's decision ahead of the formal announcement. He has, however, previously said that all government data sharing must be in accordance with the data protection act. Last month, he commented that while he supported "sensible" information sharing, the government risked losing public trust if "reasonable expectations of privacy are not met".
The official in charge of making Transformational Government happen, John Suffolk, the government's chief information officer, says there is no intention to create a free for all. "Not all information will be shared," he told the Guardian in an interview last week. Most frequently, data sharing will just be a matter of allowing access to names and addresses, he said.
"This is not about sharing your health record or criminal record. It's about basic data sharing to ensure that services to citizens are seamless." Government databases will still be subject to the data protection act, and accessible only by people who need the information.
Such statements are unlikely to satisfy critics. Even some government IT chiefs have concerns about the new policy. "Who defines the public interest?" asks Glyn Evans, head of business solutions and IT at Birmingham City council, which was well ahead of central government in making its services electronically available. Preserving trust is especially important in local government, says Evans. "These aren't anonymous civil servants viewing your data, they could be your next door neighbour."
Thomas criticised the Transformational Government programme's intention to make wider use of the national insurance number to identify citizens. He "has significant concerns" over whether the existing national insurance number is robust or secure enough to be used as a single identifier for all government transactions.
Originally generated for use in connection with benefits and taxation, the NI number has limitations, he says: "There has been no tradition of individuals keeping the number secure. If the number becomes a single reference to gain access to a wider variety of personal information held by government this poses a significant security risk."
Suffolk says that while no decision has been made, the national insurance database is the most likely candidate to become a central repository of citizens' names and addresses. "They have done a tremendous amount of work on data cleansing."
Whatever policy decisions emerge, Transformational Government's approach to data protection and privacy will face widespread critical scrutiny in the light of the identity card controversy. The new data sharing policy is likely to be set out in terms that emphasise its use in improving the accuracy of information and protecting privacy.
But Evans advocates taking one step further - letting citizens decide which public body has access to which pieces of personal data. While the idea is being tested in local government, "it may be a step too radical for Whitehall," he says.
What the hell's "the public interest"? "Hey, look, you know, its truly is the People's Public Interest..."
Blogging late tonight, 20 to 4 in the morning here in not so sunny London town. Being busy writing articles for the New Statesman. Hopefully they will think them good, publish them and even pay me. Nothing that regular readers (yes, just your good self I'm afraid- again) will be surprised at. One is a critique of "New Britishness", the other a sort of review of Tom Nairn's The Break-Up of Britain, one of the most important political books I've ever read, which was published 30 years ago next year, and had a second edition with a Postscript anticipating New Labour published 25 years ago this Autumn. Originally the two articles were really one, but I managed to disentagle them.
It's not always good to share: A government plan for data sharing between public bodies threatens to further undermine civil liberties in the wake of the ID cards debacle
Michael Cross, The Guardian, Thursday August 24, 2006
Ministers are preparing to overturn a fundamental principle of data protection in government, the Guardian has learned. They will announce next month that public bodies can assume they are free to share citizens' personal data with other arms of the state, so long as it is in the public interest.
The policy was agreed upon by a cabinet committee set up by the prime minister, and reverses the current default position - which requires public bodies to find a legal justification each time they want to share data about individuals.
The officials behind the "transformational government" scheme say data sharing could present a more consumer-friendly face to government, and help tackle social problems such as prisoners re-offending.
For example, officials say, when moving house, a citizen would register the change online once with their local authority's "one stop shop". It would update its own records, that of the new local authority, and then of central government, including the electoral register, DVLA and Inland Revenue.
A destruction of liberty
Similarly, on completing a prison sentence, an ex-offender's details would be available to probation officers, local authority social services and the employment service, reducing the risk of people with criminal records disappearing from government records and re-offending.
Simon Davies, of the pressure group Privacy International, described the timing of the new policy as "sick", but said he was not surprised. "It's about the most blatant destruction of liberty we have seen for a while," he said.
Apart from the implications for privacy, widespread data sharing would enable different arms of the state to operate as one body - collecting fines and taxes on behalf of another agency, for example. This would be a major threat to civil liberty, Davies said. "Functional separation [between departments] is an important principle of justice and accountability, for example allowing you to fight a local authority on its own turf," he said. "This effectively dismantles that limitation."
Besides alarming groups concerned about the spread of the "big brother" state, the "transformational government" strategy, under which the new policy was drawn up, has already raised concerns about data protection from the information commissioner.
Contravenes data protection law
Presently, data sharing in government is regulated by several tiers of law. Like commercial companies, public bodies must comply with the data protection act. They are also subject to the common law duty of confidentiality, as well as statutes covering the release of specific sets of data: these can block data sharing even when the citizen concerned gives permission.
In November last year, the Transformational Government strategy drawn up by Ian Watmore, now head of the prime minister's delivery unit, set out proposals for government bodies to share IT systems and other infrastructure to enable public services to be designed around citizens rather than bureaucracies.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet Office revealed that the prime minister had set up a ministerial committee, called Misc 31, to examine data sharing. In early July, the committee, chaired by Hilary Armstrong, minister for the Cabinet Office, agreed to a new statement of the government's position: "Information will normally be shared in the public sector, provided it is in the public interest." Ministers are due to announce a policy based on this position in the week beginning September 11.
Davies said the new policy would end the current "truce" between the privacy lobby and government. "If the government want to play dirty, they'll find themselves staring down the barrels of something akin to the ID card debate. I would hope there's going to be a monumental row." Davies has been at the forefront of those opposing the ID card, which the Labour administration is seeking to introduce.
The new policy appears to contravene a key principle of the data protection act, which is that "personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes". Ministers are likely to argue that efficient public administration is not incompatible with other purposes.
The data protection registrar, Richard Thomas, would not comment on Misc 31's decision ahead of the formal announcement. He has, however, previously said that all government data sharing must be in accordance with the data protection act. Last month, he commented that while he supported "sensible" information sharing, the government risked losing public trust if "reasonable expectations of privacy are not met".
The official in charge of making Transformational Government happen, John Suffolk, the government's chief information officer, says there is no intention to create a free for all. "Not all information will be shared," he told the Guardian in an interview last week. Most frequently, data sharing will just be a matter of allowing access to names and addresses, he said.
"This is not about sharing your health record or criminal record. It's about basic data sharing to ensure that services to citizens are seamless." Government databases will still be subject to the data protection act, and accessible only by people who need the information.
Such statements are unlikely to satisfy critics. Even some government IT chiefs have concerns about the new policy. "Who defines the public interest?" asks Glyn Evans, head of business solutions and IT at Birmingham City council, which was well ahead of central government in making its services electronically available. Preserving trust is especially important in local government, says Evans. "These aren't anonymous civil servants viewing your data, they could be your next door neighbour."
Thomas criticised the Transformational Government programme's intention to make wider use of the national insurance number to identify citizens. He "has significant concerns" over whether the existing national insurance number is robust or secure enough to be used as a single identifier for all government transactions.
Originally generated for use in connection with benefits and taxation, the NI number has limitations, he says: "There has been no tradition of individuals keeping the number secure. If the number becomes a single reference to gain access to a wider variety of personal information held by government this poses a significant security risk."
Suffolk says that while no decision has been made, the national insurance database is the most likely candidate to become a central repository of citizens' names and addresses. "They have done a tremendous amount of work on data cleansing."
Whatever policy decisions emerge, Transformational Government's approach to data protection and privacy will face widespread critical scrutiny in the light of the identity card controversy. The new data sharing policy is likely to be set out in terms that emphasise its use in improving the accuracy of information and protecting privacy.
But Evans advocates taking one step further - letting citizens decide which public body has access to which pieces of personal data. While the idea is being tested in local government, "it may be a step too radical for Whitehall," he says.
What the hell's "the public interest"? "Hey, look, you know, its truly is the People's Public Interest..."
Blogging late tonight, 20 to 4 in the morning here in not so sunny London town. Being busy writing articles for the New Statesman. Hopefully they will think them good, publish them and even pay me. Nothing that regular readers (yes, just your good self I'm afraid- again) will be surprised at. One is a critique of "New Britishness", the other a sort of review of Tom Nairn's The Break-Up of Britain, one of the most important political books I've ever read, which was published 30 years ago next year, and had a second edition with a Postscript anticipating New Labour published 25 years ago this Autumn. Originally the two articles were really one, but I managed to disentagle them.
posted by Anglonoel | 3:36 am
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