Tuesday 2 September 2008

Won't somebody think of the children?

Oh Lawdy:

A ground-breaking computer system that stores and monitors allegations made against adults working with children has been created by Hertfordshire County Council.

The county's child protection unit and information systems team have pooled their knowledge and experience to design the Allegations Management System (AMS) to streamline the way information is collated and recorded.

Launched earlier this year, AMS is already attracting interest from other local authorities keen to replicate the system themselves.

... allegations found to be false will stay on the system for ten years and are free to be read by future employers.


Your council money, well-spent on more busy-bodying that could ruin your life for utterly no reason.

Cunts.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

How is this type of database supposed to be compatible with the DPA....?

They'll be inundated with requests and challenges to the veracity of the data! They'll have to take on extra public servants just...to...

Oh.

I see. ;)

Mark Wadsworth said...

This is one for my 'Junior spies' series.

Anonymous said...

Julia - the Data Protection Act gives you the right to know what is held on a database but not the right to stop the council from holding that info.

There is also a provision that allows the "prevention and detection of crime" as an excuse to hold data for long periods and (I think)to disclose it to other government bodies without telling you.

That's why so many people are still on the DNA database.

Tomrat said...

Simple solution - lets put in a few anonymous tip offs to Hertfordshire County Council with the AMS' designers names on them.

Anonymous said...

Julia,

This sort of thing is explicitly exempted from *any* rule of common or statute law: see Children Act 2004, s12
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/ukpga_20040031_en_3#pt2-pb1-l1g12

Anonymous said...

"the Data Protection Act gives you the right to know what is held on a database but not the right to stop the council from holding that info."

Doesn't it also allow you to challenge inaccurate information?

Although if anon at 17:17 is correct, it isn't going to matter anyway.

Dr Evil said...

Allegations found to be false and retained are:

Defamatory
Libellous

I would sue such bastards if this ever happened to me. However, an allegation, even a false one, can have you in a cell and almost stitched up like the Hamiltons case.

Anonymous said...

Just a baby brother of - and perhaps set up to help the local facilitation of - the far more sinister ISA:
http://tiny.cc/REGoc

http://tiny.cc/70pu2