They can’t be trusted

Nov 22 2007 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

PETER Hood, a senior lecturer at Huddersfield University who is quoted in today’s Examiner, is not the first to talk about the massive implications of the loss of 25 million child benefit records.

The scale of the fiasco is huge – affecting the bank records of almost half the population.

And now they expect us to hand over our details for a hugely-expensive ID card system.

There’s no chance any of us are going to want to do that in the light of this week’s calamity.

It’s not the first time the Revenue and Customs has been found wanting in this area.

Sadly, it won’t be the last.

The truth is that the Government so doesn’t get it in the field of computers and new technology.

As well as blowing a hole in the proposals for ID cards, it also casts doubt on the huge NHS project where every patients’ record is being uploaded on to a central database.

The Government simply cannot be trusted with people’s information.

We should be giving as little of it as we can to the authorities.