National Childrens Database

Flash · 12-04-2007, 19:44

As I am sure many of you will be aware a national database is currently under construction- target completion date 2008 which will hold the name, date of birth, school, parents names and occupations, address, Doctor's details and the name of any professional involved with the family (Social worker for example) for EVERY under 18 year old in the country.
The intention of the database is to enable 'secure' access to professional agencies (Social Services, Probation Service, Youth Offending Teams, Schools, CAMHS etc etc. ) to have access to these details should they have involvement with the child and wish to verify if any other professional has been involved.
The motivation for the database follows from cases such as Victoria Climbie (apologies for the spelling if incorrect) and the governments Every Child Matters strategy.
Looks like George Orwell was about right just got the year wrong!
Any thoughts?

grego · 12-04-2007, 19:52

I have heard of this before and I'm not happy about it, what if this information fell into the hands of paedophiles. I also dont think it'll stop SS making the mistakes that were made in Victorias case.
What do you think of it Flash?

WillowTheWhisp · 12-04-2007, 20:09

That does sound a bit worrying.

Flash · 12-04-2007, 20:15

Its frightening on so many levels-
1. To claim that the database is secure is ridiculous- firstly because as we are well aware there are certain individuals within 'professional' settings with dubious reasons for being there, secondly if the Titanic taught us anything- nothing is absolutely safe.
2. An example of how this database will be misued- Firstly you look up an 11 year old girl- lets say my Daughter- you then find out her name and the school she attends. If you then google the name of her school you will now have a photo of her as well (she is on the school council and therefore the website)- You will also have my details, my address and my place of work. Might someone so inclined present themselves at the school with a letter from me (checked against school files looking genuine) explaining how I have asked this person to pick my Daughter up. I too firmly believe the vast majority of schools have better security in place than to allow this to happen but it only takes one- remember Soham and the fact that Police checks werent done (incidentally the Home Office themselves currently estimate that 50% of adults working with children do not currently have a valid Police check in place)

My other feeling about this as I work in this area is that anyone who has read the report about Victoria will know that she did not die because agencies didnt know that 'professionals' were involved but because insuuficient responsibility was taken by anyone to intervene more forcefully.

It is truly shocking that this is happening and I am increasingky ashamed of the Government I once heralded. Another example of how things are going at the moment- Did you know that Youth Offending Teams and Prison transfer agencies have had to invest in booster seats to fit in their cars as we are sending more and more children to prison!
I must now lie down in a darkened room TTFN

lancsdave · 12-04-2007, 21:11

Doesn't this database already technically exist albeit in a fragmented form. Child Benefit details, education details to name the 2 main ones, and many doctors records are now computerised.

Flash · 12-04-2007, 21:21

Yes there is currently extensive info kept electronically on a range of databases but this is the first time that every child under 18 will be recorded with this amount of information in one source.

lancsdave · 12-04-2007, 21:25

Whilst I understand the concerns the one good thing is that the government are actually making some sense of the billions wasted on disjointed IT systems.

Flash · 12-04-2007, 21:29

Yes apart from the hundreds of thousands they are spending on this database and the costs local authorities are being put to to train every professional involved with children in using it.

Margaret Pilkington · 13-04-2007, 08:28

I do not trust the governments ability to keep any of this information secure.

Margaret Pilkington · 13-04-2007, 08:30

And I do not think it will prevent another situation like the Victoria Climbie case. The people responsible for looking after children who need social care should talk to each other...not rely on databases....which at the end of the day need to be updated by humans...so there is still the potential for human error and neglect of duty.

grego · 13-04-2007, 08:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I do not trust the governments ability to keep any of this information secure.

Me neither Margaret, the more I think about it the more concerned I become.

lancsdave · 13-04-2007, 08:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

The people responsible for looking after children who need social care should talk to each other...not rely on databases....which at the end of the day need to be updated by humans...so there is still the potential for human error and neglect of duty.

We live in an age of technology though, surely the technology should be used for best purpose. Yes the communication between the people themselves should be first and foremost but any assistance technology can offer should be used as well.

grego · 13-04-2007, 08:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancsdave

We live in an age of technology though, surely the technology should be used for best purpose. Yes the communication between the people themselves should be first and foremost but any assistance technology can offer should be used as well.

What frightens me Dave is how easily these systems can be hacked and the information used by paedo's, also the system still requires the SS etc to use it correctly, I still think some children will fall through the net.

andrewb · 13-04-2007, 08:48

As Flash said, Welcome to 1984.

The database could easily be hackable and put childrens lives at risk. We also don't know what else this database could be used to store information about, perhaps DNA? :/

lancsdave · 13-04-2007, 08:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by grego

What frightens me Dave is how easily these systems can be hacked and the information used by paedo's, also the system still requires the SS etc to use it correctly, I still think some children will fall through the net.

No system is foolproof but I bet the neglect of parents and the use of Internet poses more threats to children by paedo's than the possibility of hacking an IT system.

Interesting about the SS using it properly too. At the end of the day the SS have to use their own knowledge and judgement as individuals, yet we know many of them get it wrong. Maybe the real problem is human failure ?