Friday 29 February 2008

The latest NO2ID news

• The right of the police to keep DNA records of individuals who have been proved innocent has been challenged in the EU Court of Human Rights by two such gentlemen. They rightly contend that is a breach of their right to privacy.
• Out of the 4 million people whose DNA is held on the government’s database, 550,000 samples have been found to have the wrong individual’s attached to them or that they are misspelt.
• Despite this blunder and countless others regarding the lack of security employed in keeping citizens’ personal details secure, Home Office minister Meg Hillier has stated that there will be stringent security and no risks of ‘disks flying round’ when the National Identity Register comes into being. Oh yes!
• Medical professionals have been raising concern that the government will profit by allowing pharmaceutical and insurance companies access to 60 million patients’ health records. According to one Labour MP, Kevin Baron, this view is ‘palpable nonsense’. With the government continuously lobbied by big pharma, who knows what kick-backs there might be. But that doesn’t get away from the fact that in a moral sense, releasing confidential patient records to commercial organisations is wholly wrong.
• Biometric ID is to start in earnest in Britain with airport workers. Unite union members are asking for full consultation with the airport group BAA after it was found out that BAA was quietly in talks with the Home Office over the plan.
• Students may be forced to hold ID cards if they want to apply for a student loan - and just how many students don’t?