This morning The Sunday Times revealed the existence of a ‘secret database’ holding information on 8 million schoolchildren. Information which has been uploaded by schools and social workers, and ranging from photographs to academic records and records of bad behaviour in school.
The database – named ‘One’, and created and operated by a company
named Capita – allows schools to upload information daily, which
councils can then share with ‘other agencies’, such as youth offending teams,
NHS staff and charities.
If you think this all sounds a bit déjà-vu-ish, then you’d be right. Labour’s ContactPoint database – created in 2005 as a reaction to the Victoria Climbié case in an attempt to improve child protection and cost £224 million to set up – was run along very similar lines. The database was intended to store the details of 11 million children, but was shelved in 2010 by the coalition due to security issues.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in