Kablenet reports that a new consultation has been launched to investigate data-sharing within the public sector. What makes it (possibly) a little bit more interesting is that "In particular, the consultation will seek real life examples of data sharing, and views on current data protection legislation and safeguards". So anyone affected by the HMRC fiasco - or any other of the Government data breaches that seen to be coming out of the woodwork with alarming regularity at the moment - can presumably pitch in their two pen'worth.
Having said that, I am a little surprised. It would seem that this is part of a wider review of "the use and sharing of personal information" announced by the Great Bottler back in October - i.e. prior to the HMRC mess. Now, call me a cynic (which I am) but such reviews are only really ever organised when their instigator is pretty certain of the conclusions that they will come to and that therefore they will be supportive of the desired/intended policy direction. Currently we have to assume that policy in this area is pretty settled - ID cards, serial weakening of the checks and balances on data sharing within government that have existed up to now (as with, for example the Serious Crime Bill of the last session), the whole Transformational Government agenda, &c. So, what is the point of the review. Is it to achieve post-event endorsement of the already established policy direction? Or is this a coded signal that ID cards really will be for the chop down the line? You choose.
As an aside, I can't help thinking that so many reviews are tumbling from the Great Bottler's fertile/fevered imagination at the moment that it's almost an echo of Bliar's first term in office. If you recall, he - ably assisted by his partner in crime (can't resist that one!), the Chancellor - set up review after review, task force after task force, to investigate just about everything under the sun. It may have created a bunch of cosy sinecures for the supporters but it got bugger all done governmentally or legislatively. In fact I vaguely remember it being said of NuLabour (if a little quietly) that they had been a superb opposition but they didn't have a clue what to do with power once they'd got hold of it - and, if you ask me, they still don't, other than to be comprehensively incompetent dip-sticks. Be that as it may, now that his back is (increasingly) up against the wall, are these the burgeoning signs that the Great Bottler is lapsing back into that mind-set? Could it be that, having finally got hold of the top job that he has craved for so long, he really doesn't have a clue what to do with it? It looks like it to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment