ContactPoint: Massive government database projects always work out brilliantly well

What's in a name? ContactPoint sounds kinda nice. Perhaps it's a telephone box or some kind of new technology that makes it easier for us to talk to each other and give strangers and trees hugs.

Well it's not. It's another fucking government database - of every new person in the UK, or "every child" as the government puts it. It's received scant attention despite it's constant growth, because it's all warm and fuzzy and nice. It was recently announced that up to 390,000 people have access to the database (authorised access, that is) and "From late October, local authorities will start training users across England" so the number is going to get much higher.

Of course, those 400 thousand people are all vetted by the government (i.e. vetted by other people within the same group) and it isn't like the government already "lost" the details (including bank account information) of 25 million people. or misplaced a USB stick with 4 million criminal records. There aren't dozens of other examples of lost data.

But don't worry. If they lose the data again, our humble politicians have processes and procedures in place should anything go wrong. They will say sorry to other MPs and add in a lot of reasons why they shouldn't really have to apologise. And thus, justice will be done. And seen to be done, no less.

Have you ever seen the systems that will monitor a person's movements via their mobile phone. If I ever felt the need to monitor my child with such a thing, I would know that I was an utter failure as a parent. Just as our fearless leaders are an utter failure as a governing force. I look forward to someone picking up the data, unencrypted lying around on public transport somewhere.

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