Tag Archives: contactpoint

3..2..1…and ContactPoint is gone

By Iain Roberts | Fri 6th August 2010 - 12:00 pm

ContactPoint, the Government database holding information on every single child in the country, was turned off at noon today.

Critics argued that the huge national database was disproportionate and the money spent on holding that information on children could better be spent on something else.

Supporters saw it meeting a need and if just one child was saved, who could say that was wrong.

Whether you think it’s the right or the wrong decision (and I’m in the “right” camp, on balance) there’s no denying it shows political bravery.

As an incoming government, it would have been easy to fudge the issue. …

Posted in News | 53 Comments

The database state and the true cost of Labour’s free lunches

By James Graham | Mon 23rd March 2009 - 9:55 am

During the Unlock Democracy debate at the Convention on Modern Liberty last month, Justice Minister Michael Wills defended the growth of the database state by arguing:

“We’ve heard a lot of about datasharing today. But that datasharing, that so many here today say is an unacceptable intrusion of privacy by the state, can actually help thousands and thousands of children who are eligible for free school meals but don’t get them at the moment… Look, it’s all very well for you to sit here. You’ve probably all had a hot meal in the last week. One

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