PRESS NOTICE FROM ACTION ON RIGHTS FOR CHILDREN
29TH OCTOBER 2004
'THE BIG BROTHER OF ALL DATABASE SYSTEMS'
While attention has been focussed on plans for the
universal database of children proposed in the Children Bill, work on a
second, far more intrusive system has reached an advanced stage.
The 'Integrated Children's System' (ICS) is creating a network centring
around a database that will hold the entire record of every child in contact
with social services for any reason. This, in turn, will be interoperable
with several other databases including Connexions, Sure-Start, Ryogens and
the NHS Information System.
It is envisaged that the Child Protection Register will be abolished by
December 2005, with social care staff instead reliant on the ICS machinery
to identify children at risk of abuse from amongst the 4 million said to be
in need of services.
Children's rights campaigners have joined the Shadow Minister for Children,
Tim Loughton, in expressing incredulity that no mention of the ICS database
was made by Children's Minister Margaret Hodge during committee stage of the
Children Bill.
"This is the most complete surveillance system that we have ever
encountered," says Terri Dowty of Action on Rights for Children. "It is the
Big Brother of all database systems, allowing a huge range of agencies to
share information about a third of the children in
England and Wales,
potentially stripping them of any human right to a private life whatsoever.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has already expressed
serious concerns about the Information Sharing and Assessment (ISA) system
proposed in the Children Bill; the ICS system goes far beyond that, and if
the Children Bill becomes law it can all be done without the knowledge or
consent of families.
"We do not even know that this system is safe, or that it will fare any
better than other government IT projects. Less than a fortnight ago, the new
Head of e-Government told the BBC that "Plans for how we share information
is in the early days." (sic) So why is the Government practising on children
- potentially the most vulnerable group in our society?
"We want to see the Children Bill halted, and details of the full range of
government information-sharing plans for children made public. Parliament is
being asked to approve broad legislation that does not reveal the full
extent of the Government's intentions. The Children Bill is only the tip of
a very large iceberg; it's time we were allowed to see just what's under the
water."
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NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Contact Information:
Terri Dowty
ARCH Office Tel: 020 8558 9317
Archrights@aol.com
Interview with Ian Watmore, Head of e-Government, is at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3739684.stm
ARCH - Action on Rights for Children -is an Internet-based UK-wide network
of families committed to the rights of children. Through its network, ARCH
disseminates information to families, and gathers opinions on issues
affecting children in order to represent them to policy-makers at both local
and national level. For more information see:
www.arch-ed.org