The Government’s own independent advisers on developments in human genetics have said there is “very little concrete evidence” of the usefulness of the Government’s controversial DNA database in investigating crime.
Speaking to the BBC, Human Genetics Commission (HGC) chairman Professor Jonathan Montgomery questioned the effectiveness of the DNA database, saying: “DNA evidence is important in the [...]

 
“ContactPoint database of 11million children’s details to go ahead despite security fears,” read the Telegraph’s headline on Saturday. “Every child in England will have their personal details stored on a controversial database despite fears over security and privacy.”
The article, by Martin Beckford and Graeme Paton, went on:
“Ministers are pressing ahead with the introduction of ContactPoint [...]

The Government has finally recognised people’s concerns about a creeping surveillance state by announcing checks on council spying powers. However, these changes do not go far enough.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act was supposed to help tackle terrorism and other serious crime, but has notoriously been used to by councils to spy on people for [...]

The European Union could take the UK to court over its failure to protect the privacy of British citizens, it was announced on Friday. The European Commission is unhappy because the Government is not meeting its EU commitments regarding online privacy.
The EU’s 2002 ‘e-privacy’ directive guarantees confidentiality of electronic communications such as emails and internet surfing. The Commission received complaints [...]

The amount of money the Government pays communications companies to store and retrieve data is expected to increase from £56m over five years to £1bn – an increase of nearly 1,700%.
Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: “At a time of tough spending choices, it cannot be a justified response to the problems we [...]

The Government was yesterday forced to drop plans that would have given ministers sweeping powers to decide on the retention of innocents’ DNA.
Despite the Government suggesting elsewhere that there would be a time limit of up to twelve years, the Bill itself did not specify any such limits and instead would simply have empowered ministers to [...]

Professor Sheila Bird, a vice-president of the Royal Statistical Society and member of the Medical Research Council’s Biostatistics Unit, criticised the way in which the Home Office used DNA and detection statistics in its consultation paper Keeping the right people on the DNA database: science and public protection.
Professor Bird said that there were “myriad problems” with [...]

Lib Dem proposals would protect children

Civil liberties have always been at the heart of Lib Dem philosophy. We defend civil liberties on principle, not shallow attempts to chase votes. From opposing the ID cards scheme and national identity register right from the outset to calling for an end to the retention of innocent people’s DNA, [...]

Liberal Democrats have reaffirmed their commitment to civil liberties, embedding the principles of the Freedom Bill in party policy.
At the Liberal Democrat party conference in Bournemouth this week, the party backed a civil liberties motion inspired by the Freedom Bill, as well as calling for an end to aggressive tactics used by police at a [...]

Speaking at an event hosted by Liberty at Liberal Democrat party conference, Nick Clegg outlined why only the Liberal Democrats will stand up to protect the civil liberties of British citizens.
Speaking in conversation with Shami Chakrabarti, the director of civil rights group Liberty, Mr Clegg criticised Labour’s authoritarian measures and said that the Conservatives were [...]