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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.
Reader views (7)
How long before all DNA is taken at birth? A disgrace!
- Lance Johnson, Canterbury, Kent
Why doesn't this government just come clean and say that this database is a way of collecting details of everyone in this country?
The collection of data regarding the children has NOTHING to do with the ability to be enabled to protect children who are vulnerable and who are at risk.
This government should just say that all babies born in this country must be micro-chipped at birth so that everything about them can be recorded and tracked, on a National Database ! !
- Darnthesafetynet, London W11 1NR
How apt that this is aaproved on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event that signalled the demise of the hated Stasi. Perhaps if the East-German secret police had posesssed such a database, the German "Democratic" Republic might exist today.
- John C, Leatherhead, UK
Oh very worthy! Actually this is a database of 11 million future adults - and for that matter, all future adults in the UK. It is also a relational database of all the adults linked to one of the 11 million children. Look at what the Nazis did with a database of the population of Germany and you have a glimpse of what this database could be used for at some point in the future.
- Roz, France
Life under labour....Scary aint it...makes you wonder how we did when we did not have this computer stuff.....How did we survive........
- Themanoftruth, United Kingdom
the benefit services should have access to this to so they know not to give money for children who dont live and attend school here.. could save us millions
- Cassandra, London
Will this glorified state database include the details of all children belonging to the 40,000 illegal immigrants which the Home Office cannot trace in the UK?
- Reuben Camara, Plot 1, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
