Friday, March 27, 2009

Advocacy group: UK databases illegal

An advocacy group says almost a quarter of British government databases are illegal under human rights or data privacy laws. The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust said on Monday that 11 out of 46 major government databases breach laws intended to protect personal details of British citizens.

Britain uses databases to store information including DNA profiles, biographical details of all children, hospital records and details of welfare payments. The country's justice ministry says the trust's report offers no evidence that laws have been breached, or that the government's policy is flawed.
The trust says it has identified problems with a further 29 British databases. It says only 6 databases are both necessary and legal.

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