Friday, 14 May 2010

Organisation:

NO2ID


THE TASK AHEAD

Dear supporter, 


After six hard years of campaigning, the publication of the Conservative & Liberal Democrats coalition agreement [1] is a moment to pause and celebrate
person who has fought to change the hearts and minds of their friends, family what we have achieved so far. NO2ID's success is a tribute to each and every
y and colleagues, local and national media, politicians, parties and 
  Guy Herbert, our General Secretary, and I would like to express our deep
government - and to everyone who has given so generously in money to allow us to run an office, send mailings, and produce briefings and leaflets
gratitude for everyone's continued support and hard work, particularly the dozens who have volunteered in some way to keep all the invisible parts of a 
r too many aspects of our everyday lives for it to simply wither and die, ev
national campaign running. But I'm afraid we cannot afford to be complacent: NO2ID's work is far from done.  The database state has insinuated itself into f
aen were some of its more visible tendrils to be lopped off or pruned back. Even during the election, despite the parties now in government being skeptical about it, Connecting 
ures to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Lab
for Health was pushing forward with its vast plan [2] to nationalise and centralise all medical records in England.  The new government's commitment to "a full programme of mea
sour Government and roll back state intrusion" is reason to be cautiously optimistic. But the promised repeals and reforms MUST be worked out in detail, if they are to have the necessary effect. Pressure MUST be maintained for them to be 
l, commercial and media proponents
enacted... and properly enforced.   Don't imagine for a moment that Whitehall will give up its pet projects, empires or agendas without a fight - battles for which we know it has been preparing for years. Nor should we expect the politic
a of database state initiatives to stand quietly by. The official obsession with identity and information-sharing, the very idea that "personal information is the lifeblood of government" still remains.   Stopping the database state is not just a matter of scrapping a few 
may change, as it becomes even more a matter of education and forming publ
high-profile databases - as welcome as this will be. It means changing the culture of showing "ID" at every turn [3], embedding proper protections in law, in institutions and technology, and achieving real control over our own information. The nature of the campaign, too,
ic policy and less of organising direct resistance.  The new government says it will take the first steps towards protecting our privacy and autonomy, and needs to be held to that. Rolling back the database state will involve further long and difficult battles, but what we 

have proved is that - working together - this is a war that very definitely CAN be won.   Phil Booth, National Coordinator, NO2ID  --  1) To read the full text of the coalition agreement, see:  
) Connecting for Health (CfH) has sent out 30 million 'Patient Information 

2Packs', but no opt out forms. It is desperate to achieve a 'critical mass' 
edical confidentiality, please opt out now - 
of records so it can argue the system can't be scrapped. If you care about
call for an immediate and complete suspension of uploads to Summary Care
Records, pending a full enquiry.  
tine checks on British citizens' identities is as crucial as takin
3) 'Challenging the culture of ro
ug on the ID card scheme': 
cards-passport-checks

Posted by Britannia Radio at 20:14