Government computers & privacy

Another vital issue we discussed was the timing of the pension plan. After my visit to Newcastle I’d insisted that we could save a whole year by speeding up the building of the computers

But they haven’t even begun to construct the computers yet & anyway they’re not sure that the machines can actually do all the complex tasks we are setting for them

So we are taking a very big risk in assuming they’ll be ready, but meanwhile we agreed we would go ahead on the assumption they’ll be ready in 1971

Richard Crossman Diaries III

So there is absolutely nothing new in Ministers, anxious to make their mark & secure their legacy, taking an optimistic view of what can be done with computers. At least Crossman was fully aware of the risk he was taking

I do not know what happened to the pension plan, but when I was involved in some dealings with Newcastle later in the 1970s I got the impression that the computer people were very much in charge – policy implementation could happen when they said it was feasible

One thing we all took for granted was that raw data could not be passed outside the department. We were dependent on their being able to find the time & the capacity to produce the statistical tables which were needed for our own department’s purposes

This lack of data-sharing within government is easily mocked & lambasted, by Ministers, & by the public who resent having to give the same basic information over & over again. But the implications of sharing data really do need to be carefully thought through, & safeguards put in place

With the latest loss of personal data by the Home Office it really is impossible to believe that these things happen neither just because they can, (masses of data can be stored on something the size of a packet of chewing gum), nor because a dopey civil service is too absent minded, not up to speed with technology or just generally unfit for purpose

Something has changed fundamentally since the days when it was an absolute given that personal data is private To illustrate the seriousness with which we guarded privacy: I was once involved in an incident where it was all hands to the mill one Friday afternoon. We had to tear a strip off the bottom of the last page of each of some 6000 questionnaires. Many of these gave a telephone contact number for the respondent – given voluntarily but at our request, to speed up the processing of any queries we might have. There were no names or addresses on the form, just a code number to which we held the single key. Problem was, the forms were now to be sent to an outside firm for keying on to the computer, & it was an absolute rule that no personal details should be seen by anyone outside

So what has happened? I

t is tempting to blame it in part on New Labour’s We are the masters now attitude combined with their lack of experience in running anything, but all Ministers with an eye to legacy are vulnerable to claims (often made by somebody they met at some official, but social event) that new technology can provide just what they are looking for – if only they all get a move on, stop wasting time with pettifogging rules & restrictions on action

The emphasis on delivery goes back at least to the days of Thatcher’s “Bring me solutions, not problems”

Joined up government – belief that one knows, all should know

The hiving off of tasks to arms-length agencies or outside private contractors makes control, & the inculcation of a collegiate respect for privacy more difficult, when performance bonuses & contracts depend on meeting deadlines

Freedom of Information (MPs expenses & other individual data not immune to release under this Act)

Celebrity culture - letting it all hang out – misery memoirs – crying in public - what have you got to hide?

Politicians desensitised to privacy because of their own wounding experiences – or just getting their own backs?