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Scottish Government expresses serious concerns about principles of Communications Data Bill
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The Scottish Government has told ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One's Panorama itÌýhas serious
concerns about the principles of the Communications Data Bill
proposed by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
Ìý
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: "We want the
police and law enforcement agencies to have the tools they
need to tackle crime and protect the public but we would have
serious concerns about any proposals which might involve the
wholesale retention of data relating to the communications
records of private citizens, both in terms of the
implications for civil liberties and in terms of the security
of such information – given the number of well-publicised
breaches of data security which have occurred."
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The programme, to be broadcast on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One at 8.30pm tonight (Monday 27 October), looks at the potential implications of the proposed
database which will hold all of our communication "traffic"
and whether, even now, it is still possible to hide in the UK
in what critics allege is fast-becoming a surveillance
society.
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Lord Erroll, who sits on the All Party Group on
Communications, also told Panorama that Jacqui Smith's new
Communications Database proposal would be at real risk from
being "mis-used".
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Lord Erroll said that the database – which would be
centralised and accessed by the Home Office – could be "a
useful target for criminals" who operate in the illegal
selling of personal data but also could be used by the Home
Office themselves to "trawl for minor offences" against
every day citizens.
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He added that the proposed checks and balances to manage it
would be in place only through self-authorisation from the
Home Office itself, not through external checks, and said
that if UK society becomes totally controlled in this way, "we will make old communist Russia look quite free by
comparison".
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The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said that "the way we
intercept communications and collect communications data
needs to change" to catch up with the communications
revolution and that access to the database would be limited.
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The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, tells the
programme the plan is "a step too far".
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Panorama's reporter Simon Boazman also learns that his own
personal data is far from safe when it is easily accessed by
a "blagger" who gets copies of six years of his tax records.
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Panorama: You Can Run., ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One, 8.30pm, Monday 27ÌýOctober 2008
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CC3
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