Unnecessary

The British government has decided that it desperately needs to bring into being an Orwellian database containing detailed information on every child under 18 in the country, because the death of one child was blamed on a "lack of communication between professionals", whatever that was . This database will not only contain the children's name and address, age, school and parental contact info, but will also

"include contacts with hospital consultants and other professionals, and could show whether the child has been the subject of a formal assessment on whether he or she needs extra help."

In other words, highly sensitive information about every aspect of a given child's life, all conveniently collected into one location. Gives a whole new spin on having something put on one's "permanent record", as any information, once collected by a government, is never deleted or destroyed, only filed away for further use as it sees fit.

Now, given the potential for abuse of this massive database by child predators, as well as marketers, snoops, people who have an axe to grind with someone's parents, and anyone else who wants a look-see, surely the number of people that are going to be able to access this trove is quite small and will be tightly regulated, right? Remember, this is England, so sadly, no.

"It will be available to an estimated 330,000 vetted users. Some of those allowed to check records, such as head teachers, doctors, youth offender and social workers, are uncontroversial, but critics have questioned why other potential users, such as fire and rescue staff, will have access to the database."

Sounds like Leak City to me. Of course, since some people over there are more equal than others, their precious kids won't be included in the database, unlike the peasantry, whose kids will be required to be listed:

"Concerns have been intensified by the admission that, while every child under 18 in England will have a record, ministers have allowed some children to be given extra protection. The “shielding” mechanism will mean that information on the offspring of some politicians and celebrities could be left off the main database."

If this information is so vital to "the children's" well being and safety, how come the "special" ones' info isn't going to be able to be accessed as easily as all of the others? What if Lord Fauntleroy's son gets sick, or is kidnapped, or has some sort of psychopathic episode? Won't that defeat the whole purpose of listing everyone, if some are able to slip through the cracks? Why do these kids need extra privacy, anyway, if the system is so secure, and the access so limited? This lady came up with the same idea:

“The Government acknowledges the risks by instituting these protocols on celebrity and vulnerable children but all children are potentially vulnerable,” Terri Dowty, of Action on Rights for Children, said."

Just how much are the peasants going to have to pay for this massive invasion of their privacy, anyway? According to the article, approximately $500 million to set up, and another $80 million annually to fund this mess. Well spent.

One wonders if it is possible to use the bathroom over there these days without someone filming it, or the time and place being recorded on a database, all for your "safety", of course.