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"If I wanted to create a surveillance society, I would start by creating dossiers on kindergarten children so that the next generation could not comprehend a world without surveillance." - Andre Bacard, author of 'The Computer Privacy Handbook'
ARCH has been dealing with all kinds of different issues that have a common theme: children’s independence and right to a private life. At the moment this is under attack from all sides. It’s easy to forget that children have a human right to privacy when the IT industry is so busy dreaming up ever more ways of tapping into the lucrative children’s market, and the Government uses the mantra of ‘child protection’ to promote its child-surveillance policies to the public. We decided to put these issues together on one web page so that you can see for yourself what’s happening. – although by the time you have finished reading, chances are that another gizmo or database will have been invented to ‘protect’ children from this apparently very dangerous world.
Tracking SystemsIf parents want to know where their child is, a variety of tracking systems using GPS can relay his exact location. That’s the theory, anyway. What’s our problem with this?º They lull parents into a false sense of security. If your child isn’t responsible/old enough to go out without a tracking device, maybe he shouldn’t be out alone
º They are no substitute for discussion, and for trust
º They only give the location of the gizmo that emits the signal. Even if the (very unlikely) worst happened, they could only tell you where your child was when his device was switched off or thrown away
º The child who doesn’t want to be ‘found’ will simply find more elaborate ways of deceiving parents – as some of ARCH’s young people have pointed out, there’s a fortune to be made from babysitting other people’s tracking devices
º They give children the message that the world is a fearsome place
º They exaggerate the dangers that children face from other people
º They take away from the child the sense of responsibility they need in order to stay safe
º Independence is an important part of growing up
º Learning to trust and to let go is an important part of parenthood
Some of the tracking systems operate on mobile phones. To mention just a few: No mobile? No problem! http://www.easylocate.net/default.asp
Or how about a trackable school bag? http://ubiks.net/local/blog/jmt/archives3/002604.html
In case you thought that tagging was only for criminals, there’s the ‘Wherify Watch’ http://child-tracking-devices.com/features_benefits.html Or the ‘Sentinel’ http://www.cursor-system.com/cps/news_detail.asp?ID=119 And ‘Verikid’ demonstrates that micro-chipping isn’t only for lost dogs (although in fairness, that doesn’t have GPS – yet) http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,60771,00.html Alternatively, you could buy your child the latest in game technology: http://www.gizmondocentral.co.uk/
Biometric Data SystemsWe are receiving regular complaints about the use of children’s biometric information (eg fingerprints or iris scans) in schools. What’s our problem with this? Given the growing emphasis on biometric information as a means of proving identity, we are concerned that:
º Biometric data is being used for trivial purposes
º Children are being taught by example to regard such data as being of little importance when they should be learning to protect it carefully
º Schools are not secure buildings and computers present an easy target for anyone breaking into them.
º There may be implications for the future integrity of a child’s data if the computer containing it is stolen
º A thumbprint or iris scan cannot simply be replaced like a PIN number – identity theft is for life
Thumbprints are being used in school libraries Iris Scans are being used to check school dinner entitlement Fingerprints are to be used for a new school registration system (out of interest, Vericool is a subsidiary of a US company called ‘Anteon’ – you might be surprised by what else they make)
During the Summer, the Metropolitan Police – with the warm approval of the National Association of Head Teachers – announced its intention to make Rapiscan 1000 Scanners available to schools. These machines are nicknamed ‘the virtual strip-search’. In conjunction with Liberty, we have recently written to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to remind him of the law, and we await his response. What’s our problem with this?
º The scanner sees right through clothes, leaving nothing to the imagination
º It is against the law to make an indecent image of anyone under 18
º The US Transportation Security Administration has decided not to use the scanner at airports for the time being because of the extent of the detail revealed
º It is unnecessary - a simple metal detector can detect knives
º It is degrading to a child, especially at an age when many are very sensitive about their bodies
Some images from Rapiscan Secure 1000 body scans can be seen here: http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/rapi_scan_lg.jpg http://archive.aclu.org/issues/privacy/BodyScanner.jpg http://www.retrogrouch.net/MT/archives/contentimages/rapiscan4.jpg
Children’s DatabasesWe now have a new Children Act that will put the details of every child in England and Wales on to a database (the ‘Information-Sharing and Assessment’ or ‘ISA’ system) and allow a wide range of agencies to register ‘concerns’ about all kinds of issues that are not about whether a child is at risk of harm. These agencies will be able to share information without the knowledge or consent of the child or his/her parents. There is a great deal more information about the campaign we mounted against this legislation here. A second database (the ‘Integrated Children’s System’ or ‘ICS) will hold the records of every child who comes into contact with social services for any reason. This database will be able to communicate with many other databases containing children’s records. See our press release here. What’s our problem with this?First of all, we should say that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has a problem with this! Their report can be seen here. They believe that the information-sharing powers contained in the new Children Act 2004 may breach the Human Rights Act.
º Government databases have a dreadful track record. Should the database become overloaded and fail, children in urgent need of protection may be missed entirely
º Widespread information sharing could compromise the safety of all children. The greater the number of agencies involved, the greater the risk of corrupt use or disclosure of children's data
º Violent ex-spouses, or abusive parents whose children are now fostered or adopted, could use corrupt disclosure to track down families
º Children already at risk of harm may be overlooked in a welter of information
º Some families may experience unwanted and unnecessary intervention simply because of the subjective views of inexperienced ‘professionals’, or those who disapprove of unconventional lifestyles
º There is currently a serious shortage of child protection social workers, and many Local Authorities are already fully stretched in coping with referrals. Increasing the potential workload to include issues that are not related to children's safety may bring the entire system to breaking point
º As caseloads increase, there is a real danger of over-dependence on the computer system with an associated risk that the duty of care will, in practice, be given to the machinery
º High levels of entries on the database increase the likelihood of human error when inputting data, impairing the accuracy of the records. Inaccuracies could lead either to time-wasting, unwarranted intervention, or to failure to identify a child at risk of harm
º Children may be reluctant to seek help or advice when they fear that their confidence will be breached
º Parents may be deterred from seeking advice from GPs or other agencies for their own problems at an early stage, instead delaying requests for help until they are at crisis point. This could only aggravate problems within the family and increase the possibility of harm to children
In addition to the ISA and ICS databases described above, here are some of the others that contain information about children, and with which the ICS system will be interoperable:
Ryogens A system used to identify children who are thought likely to offend And what about the proposed ID database? Well, we don’t know yet. We do know that the Government resisted an amendment to the Children Act that would have required them to delete information from the ISA database when a child reached 18, and so it seems to us that they are keeping their options open. see also the No2id campaign.
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