Surveillance State UK

Hot on the heels of the good news that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that DNA fingerprint records of individuals that were not convicted may not be retained in police (or other) databases, comes less welcome news of the developing Surveillance State.

The Independent reports that the Government is to push through legislation to permit a variety of public bodies to share and exchange sensitive data they hold on us.

The new legislation would deny MPs a full vote on such data-sharing. Instead, ministers could authorise the swapping of information between councils, the police, NHS trusts, the Inland Revenue, education authorities, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, the Department for Work and Pensions and other ministries. 

This news, coupled with Wacky Jacqui's bonkers bill to eavedrop on all our communications (which was not in the Queens' speech, but which will be part of a "consultation exercise") is really rather worrying.  It's a shame that we need to rely on the European Court of Human Rights to protect us from the excesses of a Government for whom increasingly draconian measures to spy on its population seem to come naturally.

See also The Register's take on this story.