HMP Britain

Charles Clarke—the sacked former Home Secretary—has written an absurd piece in the Guardian about the public’s insatiable desire for more databases and how Labour can win the next election through the fear of crime. Do read a brilliant critique over at the Surveillance Society blog.

Sadly, Clarke’s piece contains a few factual errors :

[We passed] the Regulation of Investigatory Practices [sic. read: Powers] Act, which for the first time regulated surveillance by public authorities.

RIPA was passed mainly to comply with the Human Rights Act and surveillance was regulated before RIPA’s appearance. RIPA allows a huge range of authorities (local councils, NHS, etc) the power to read email headers, get mobile phone location data, use covert surveillance, etc. RIPA liberalised surveillance; not restrict it.

We passed the Data Protection Act

No you didn’t! The Data Protection Act was passed in 1984. It was updated in 1998 to bring it into line with EU law but this removed many of its safeguards. Over New Labour’s time in government, the Data Protection Act has been watered down as these amendments made since 1998 show.

There is an understandable public demand to establish more databases to strengthen protection, for example against sex attacks on children

No there’s not; these databases already exist. Sex Offenders Register, List 99, PoCA lists, PoVA lists, CRIMINT, PNC and many others. The debate is around whether the public should have access to these databases.

The government needs to establish a coherent data regime that places the individual at the centre, with the practical right to see the data held on them and correct it if necessary.

This already exists as Section 7 of the Data Protection Act.

Godwin’s law Bingo

9/11: 3 times
7/7: 1 time
Paedophiles: 1 time

Clarke’s Majority: 3,653

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