England Continues to Ask for Calamity

Hot on the heels of news that gun crimes are up since Britain banned guns comes this controversy:

The database, which goes live next year, is to contain details of every one of the 11 million children in the country, listing their name, address and gender, as well as contact details for their GP, school and parents and other carers. The record will also include contacts with hospital consultants and other professionals, and could show whether the child has been the subject of a formal assessment on whether he or she needs extra help.

It will be available to an estimated 330,000 vetted users. Some of those allowed to check records, such as head teachers, doctors, youth offender and social workers, are uncontroversial, but critics have questioned why other potential users, such as fire and rescue staff, will have access to the database.

The concern is that, with so many children listed, and with so many people able to access it (with however many more able to find ways to break into it, I'd add), this database will be ripe for misuse. Apparently, the government already gets that, though:

The security fears are fuelled further by the admission that information about the children of celebrities and politicians is likely to be excluded from the system.