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Children and the UK database culture

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Two reports in the press highlight the database dangers the UK is sleepwalking into.

The Guardian reports (DNA details of 1.1m children on database) that the details of over a million children remain in the national DNA database,  despite over half of these individuals having no criminal convictions.

The figures, revealed in a parliamentary answer to the Liberal Democrats, show that 1.09 million DNA profiles of people aged under 18 were held on the database with 337,000under 16.

The Met police has added by far the largest number of profiles to the register, 117,000 boys and 33,000 girls. The second biggest number is in the West Midlands force area, 49,000 and 17,000 respectively.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against the Government's policy of retaining DNA profiles of individuals found not guilty of any crime: despite this, the collection of DNA data on unconvicted people continues to grow.

The Times reports (Parents urged to guard children's data) that the Independent Schools Council is recommending that parent should ask for their children's data to be "shielded" in the Government's ContactPoint database.

David Lyscom, chief executive of the ISC, wants schools to write to all parents warning them that ContactPoint "will put some children at risk through data theft or loss". The ISC also warns parents that the database will contain such poor-quality data that it may create a "misleading or unhelpful" impression of their child.

ContactPoint is a £224million child-protection directory that contains the names, addresses, dates of birth, GPs and schools of all 11 million people aged under 18 in England. It will also hold the names and contact details of any professional, such as a social worker or mental health specialist, working with a child.

ContactPoint is one of the databases that will be linked up if the Coroners Bill is passed.  Clause 152 of this bill enables the linkage of databases on instruction from Ministers.  

And given the appalling data security record of the Civil Service, Government Ministries and other agencies, who would want their details passed around between Government Departments?

Lux Interior RIP

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The Cramps' Lux Interior died earlier this month.  There's a story at the Mojo website (Lux Interior: October 21, 1946 - February 4, 2009)

I've inserted a video of my favourite Cramps track below the fold

 

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owF1iSVi8KA 425x344] 

Team Sky - A British road cycling team for 2010

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Cyclingnews.com has a newsflash story concerning a new professional road cycling team to begin racing in 2010 (Britons announce professional road squad), Team Sky.  Clearly building on evidence of success on the track over the last few years, British Cycling have moved to set up a British-based road squad.  Sponsorship for four years is from Sky, who already play significant role in the development of UK cycling.

Dave Brailsford clearly has a number of riders targeted for the 25 man squad:

Brailsford was reluctant to disclose the make-up of the roster, but he did confirm that non-British riders would be part of the set-up. "I can't go into the names of staff or riders at this time. I know there's a lot of speculation but we can't go further than that at the moment.

"There will be a core of British riders but the team will not just include home-grown talent," he added. "We'll need international riders and I don't ever envisage us having only British riders, but at the heart of the team will be a very British ethos: a British HQ, British staff and a British core."

An initial squad of around 25 riders will be recruited during the 2009 calendar year. They will be supported by a team of coaches, technicians and support staff from across the sport, many of whom already work throughout the year with British elite and developing riders.

The aim is to start racing at the 2010 Tour Down Under.  Perhaps this is the beginning of a new era for British cycling.  I do wonder whether the skills that have been employed in developing track success lie mostly in the more controllable forms of the sport, such as pursuit, time trial, olympic sprint etc, and making such a huge impact in the more rough and tumble forms of cycle sport might be harder to achieve, particularly set against high media expectations (it seemed to me that Brailsford was trying to pre-empt the usual "Tour de France questions").  

A curious deep sea fish

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 This cute little fish is Macropinna microstoma. The green objects under the transparent carapace are its eyes: the dark blobs above its mouth are olfactory organs.

 [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM9o4VnfHJU 480x295]

Is social networking bad for kids?

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Here's a clip from Newsnight, in which Jeremy Paxman chairs a debate about the dangers of social networking.  Baroness Greenfield doesn't come out of it too well.

 [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg8LlUME-IM 480x295]

 Follow up: "Facebook causes cancer"

 

 

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