Which is More Important: Child Protection or Civil Liberties?

An estimated 11.3 million people – including some teenagers – will have to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority by the time it is fully operational.

Anyone who wants to carry out any sort of work in schools or health care, together with most sports coaches, clergy and charity staff must have their backgrounds checked out before they start their jobs to see if they pose a risk.

Apart from the fears that the red tape and cost (£64 each unless you’re an unpaid volunteer) will deter good people from these essential roles, there is growing criticism of the impact the scheme will have on society at large.

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Straw Scraps Plan for 'Big Brother' Database

Sweeping "Big Brother" plans to give officials and police unprecedented access to the sensitive personal data of millions of people have been scrapped after an outcry from campaigners, doctors and lawyers.

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But you watch them as they will try and get it in another way!

Spy Centre Will Track You On Holiday

THE government is building a secret database to track and hold the international travel records of all 60m Britons.

The intelligence centre will store names, addresses, telephone numbers, seat reservations, travel itineraries and credit card details for all 250m passenger movements in and out of the UK each year.

The computerised pattern of every individual’s travel history will be stored for up to 10 years, the Home Office admits.

The government says the new database, to be housed in an industrial estate in Wythenshawe, near Manchester, is essential in the fight against crime, illegal immigration and terrorism.

However, opposition MPs, privacy campaigners and some government officials fear it is a significant step towards a total surveillance society.

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Hundreds of Children's Details Added to Database Every Day

Many young people come to the attention of police when they are stopped during stop and search operations aimed at finding those carrying weapons.

In London the number of "at risk" children identified by the authorities has increased 10-fold to 7,000 every week.

More than 30,000 people across the capital have been trained by police to contribute information.

Scotland Yard has spent £4 million upgrading computer systems and bringing in extra staff to handle the deluge of information.

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Private Firm to Run Communications Super Database

The Home Office claims the new database, which can track phone calls and emails, is necessary in an advancing digital world to allow it to tackle terrorism and serious crime.

But Sir Ken MacDonald, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, said the multibillion pound behemoth would prove a "hellhouse" of personal private information that would inevitably leak into the public domain regardless of the stringent safeguards promised by Government.

"This database would be an unimaginable hellhouse of personal private information. It would be a complete readout of every citizen's life in the most intimate and demeaning detail. No government of any colour is to be trusted with such a roadmap to our souls."

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