Database of every child is approved - News - Evening Standard
       

Database of every child is approved

Ministers today approved a database containing the personal details of every child in England.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls announced that the £224million ContactPoint system will be rolled out over the next two years.

More than 400,000 social workers, police, health and charity staff will have access to the data. It will contain the names, dates of birth and addresses of 11 million children and details of their schools, doctors and social workers.

The database is designed to stop children falling through the gaps between police, health and social services. It has provoked outrage from civil liberties campaigners, who have described it as "almost certainly illegal". There are fears that it will be open to abuse.

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