slinkydevil Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 A council has used powers intended for anti-terrorism surveillance to spy on a family who were wrongly accused of lying on a school application form. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../11/nspy111.xml What a cock up, didn't any sane person in Poole Council think this was a bit over the top? And then to get it wrong.... oops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Firstly the local council have nothing to do with school placements, that's the prerogative of the county council Dorset in this case. Secondly, the Torygraph is right to state they committed no actual offence. What they did was take their house off the market when they realised little johnny wouldn't be able to go to Uppity junior school if they moved. Once the forms were filled out they then put the house back on the market and moved outside the catchment area. I can only assume that any child moving into their old house can not go to UJS because a kid from outside the catchment area is there instead. Also their carbon footprint has increased as they now ferry three brats to a school over a mile from their house in a "large vehicle". All round winners, aren't they? Not only that but the school colluded with them! Wonder how it would have gone if they'd been working class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 What else do people expect in a country: Ranked by Privacy International as the worst Western democracy at protecting individual privacy That's legislated for ID cards with 50 categories of registrable facts That has one CCTV camera for every fourteen people, and cameras to track vehicle registrations across the country Legislated 266 powers allowing officials to enter a private home as of right clicky That has let the terorists 'win' by legislating against the civil liberties of it's own population - some of whom are now suddenly 'surprised' at what the state can do with those powers etc. etc. Perhaps it's just simply time for a few more people to 'wake up and smell the coffee'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Perhaps it's just simply time for a few more people to 'wake up and smell the coffee'. I quite agree Albert. Here in the Isle of Man we are one stage removed from surveillance issues. Until people get their fingers burned by the UK Big Brother culture the debate seems too abstract to engage people. The biggest change that I see affecting the Isle of Man is E-Borders with it's requirement to hand over travel and personal information to the UK authorities before travelling off the island. What does seem to engage people is the prospect of having the UK lose their data. The PAG meeting on personal information moved that the Government should pay you £25,000 if they lose or abuse your information. This reinforces in peoples minds that personal information is just that - personal. The Government does not own the right to harvest your data and spread it accross Government. The idea that your own data has a monetry value is a powerful one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.