The children's database

[emmaagain]

Not feeling so splendid about the prospect of HM government having a new massive database containing our children's names, DoB, address, school, GP, any contact with HVs or social services, inside leg measurements, favourite snacks...?

THere's a petition here

petitions.pm.gov.uk/Databases/

Spread the word. It'd be great if this one snowballed into being an enormous message to the politicos :-)

'partnership working'? Fine in theory, but take it from someone who's been there & has over 20 years experience of trying to facilitate partnership working - it never works in practice.

exactly, so won't this help or is it still down to attitude of service providers as it has been for the last 12 years I've been involved myself?

Oh I agree totally that it's down to the attitude of service providers. Many of them are extremely reluctant to share information. Although there are many who fit-the-picture' (including local authorities) the most territorial culprits that I've come across has been Sure Start. I initially thought it was the one that I first worked with, but have now had exprience of working with Sure Start in 6 areas across the country, and it was all of them.

Interesting...why do you think they have such an issue with it?

Absolutely no idea. It appears to be part of their remit to gather all the data they can about the children in their area. The ones that I was involved with, insisted that each other organisation/agency whom they worked with should hand over the information that thay had, yet they were not willing to reciprocate - any of them. In fact, I saw them pull two service agreements and funding from smaller organisations simply because the orgs used their (Sure Starts) same argument as to why they weren't going to share info.

These databases are such a bad idea. Some might say it's just another method of control - we are all little pawns soon to be under constant monitoring with the myriad databases and CCTV, national curriculums for babies etc etc.

We are a surveillance society. Very worrying state of affairs.

Looks like there are those in goverment who appreciate at least some of the concerns some of us proles have - they are delaying the database (and the conservatives are opposing the universal database altogether... when did they suddenly become the party of good sense?!)

bbc story here

Good - let's hope they rethink the whole thing.

There's no way a database with 330,000 users can be secure - it's downright dangerous. I certainly wouldn't want my children's details going on there.

Hmm. Good-ish news. But I wonder what terms of reference they have set for the review. And why is it always bloody management consultants who are called in to do this?

I bet they won't go back and bite the hand that feeds them by saying 'abandon the whole idea'.

questions to those who aren't signing the petition:

Do you think your children have the same right to privacy as you do? (I am assuming that most of you are as furious as me at the State bureaucracy posting your bank details to gawd knows where)

Are you anxious about the potential for violent ex's to trace their ex-families through such a database? (I am assuming that security will not be fail safe. There are simply too many people who will have access to the database for it to be secure)

If this database was applied to adults (full name, DoB, address, work place, previous employment, salary, any contact with any state agencies, including health care, counselling, maybe arrests (whether or not charges were brought), social services), would you feel comfortable?

You may be happy with your 6 year old being monitored in this way. How do you think your 18-year old is going to feel? Any differently from a 19-year old who is supposedly beyond the age to be included? And yet, do you think the government will simply delete them from the database when they reach 19? How would you feel about being on such a government database as an adult?

dividedself wrote: "Of course security of the system is vital but with consent I think it is invaluable to many of us."

Consent is the key isn't it? We are not being invited to consent to it, it is being foisted upon us whether we will or no.

I've signed the petition, btw, hope others who have posted here will do the same.

its big bro gone mad the probably have all this info on us anyway and this is there way of breaking it to us gently

the petition is almost at 1000 signatures now :-)