Category: Data Protection

As you know I love the ID Card; in fact I love the idea so much I think I will try and get two. However, today’s blog is inspired by my reading of the document “Identity Cards Act Secondary Legislation: a response to the Consultation”, published by the IPS in May 2009. Within a discussion about safeguards it says: “It has also been asked whether the National Identity Registration Number will be considered a 'general identifier' and accordingly an order

I want to return to the claim that “security versus privacy is a false dichotomy” made by Dr. Ann Cavoukian in her Seven Principles (see last week’s blog). The reason: I am beginning to think that this dichotomy is alive and well and the Principle that asserts a “false dichotomy” is wrong. I want to explore this issue in the context of CCTV cameras but I think the problem I raise could apply to many Privacy Enhancing Technologies or Privacy

During the following week of the Labour Conference I am taking a keen interest as what Charles Clarke MP, serial critic of Gordon Brown, says. Whether, for example, he talks about “integrity”, “transparency” or “accountability” – that kind of stuff. “Ahhhh”, I can hear you say, “this is proof positive that Chris really needs to get out more”. But you would be wrong; the issue affects us all as it strikes at what Parliamentary accountability really means. One example should

Ten days ago, the new Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, was given a difficult time by MPs of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee. The reason: he admitted to the Committee investigating “Press Standards, Privacy and Libel” that he did not have the resources to enforce the Act against the three hundred or so journalists who had used private investigators to obtain personal data unlawfully. He also said that Parliament and the Courts had let him down in

The brouhaha surrounding the vetting undertaken by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) with respect to the safeguarding the vulnerable has tended to overlook that such volunteers are likely to “volunteer” to obtain their ID Card. In addition, the link to ID Cards may increase the cost of “volunteering” to about £170 (the vetting fee of £64 and the ID Card cost of £100 plus). Although such a prospect has not been discussed by the press or by Ministers, in my

In July this year, the Times reported a Whitehall briefing paper that discussed the use of portable equipment that provided the police with a DNA analysis within one hour, rather than the three days it currently takes. In ten years time, it easy to envisage that DNA checking will occur in real-time,  raising the spectre of instant DNA checks for those stopped in connection with road traffic offences or with street incidents. If we are really lucky, such DNA checks