28 Feb 2008
The government is under pressure to scrap its planned national children’s database after a report from consultants warning it can never be made totally secure.
The ContactPoint scheme is intended to help childcare professionals, medical staff and teachers share information on vulnerable young people, to stop potential cases slipping through gaps between the different services. The £224m project was launched following the Climbie inquiry.
The scheme is due to go live in the autumn, but both opposition parties are
calling for it to be stopped after a review by consultancy Deloitte questioned
its
security.
“It should be noted that risk can only be managed, not eliminated, and therefore there will always be a risk of data security incidents occurring,” says the report.
Children’s minister Kevin Brennan is refusing to publish the findings in full “to minimise the kind of security risk our procedures are designed to prevent.”
Tory shadow families minister Maria Miller said the report reveals a series of significant problems, and is demanding full details.
“Plans to launch the database in under 12 months are totally unrealistic,” she told the Commons last week.
“What little we have been allowed to see of this report will not allay the fears about this project, and fuels yet more concern about the necessity of creating a database containing the details of every child in the country.”
Liberal Democrat children, young people and families spokeswoman Annette Brooke said: “The review undermines the government’s assurances that the database will be secure. With doubts about security remaining, this project should be scrapped.”
The scheme was originally designed in 2003 following the inquiry chaired by Lord Laming into events leading up to the death of Victoria Climbie.
The plan is for a national network of databases, so that any official can flag up potential concerns to other agencies.
But the programme has been dogged by problems, including delays in rollout of related local authority systems and continuing security concerns.
The concept of information-sharing platforms that allow vast quantities of sensitive and personal data to be shared across state departments and between caring professions appears to strike an obvious appeal for the government. It is evidently not possible to secure networked information, however. In the past, we have relied upon sensitive data being protected by being kept in protected 'silos' in GP surgeries, etc. and shared by professionals only on a need-to-know basis.
The idea of confidential, medical information being shared unnecessarily with social workers is in itself disturbing and appears to endanger patient - doctor confidentiality. The potential value of the information to the Shadow Economy of such an integrated database should it be hacked, stolen or lost in the post might well stimulate unprecedented interest in attacking the system, and such a breach would compromise citizens' rights more than every other scandal that has broken to date.
Since large, networked databases comprising large quantities of diverse confidential data are therefore unethical, insecure and must be abandoned by the government for all citizens, not just children.
Posted by: David E Bennett 28 Feb 2008
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