Government sells your identity

One of the ways that New Labour was claiming that their precious ID cards would not be ruinously expensive was because they where going to sell access to the data to private companies. Looking at the horrified faces when this was suggested they said that 'No! No! This isn't the largest privacy hole you have ever seen. They won't be sold to nasty people for nasty purposes. Trust us.'

Being sensible most people didn't. With good reason, despite the 'protection' of the Data Protection Act the government is happily selling access to the DVLA Database to anybody that can think even the remotest connection between their business and motorcars.

Nor does DVLA check that it is not selling the list to people with criminal records: it deals with Aquarius Security — clampers whose management were found guilty of blackmail at Bristol Crown Court and given prison sentences. One of them was already on an ASBO after being accused of driving his truck into a 60-year-old man, breaking his knee. They clamped one young woman’s car in the middle of a three-point turn. But the DVLA saw nothing wrong in selling that company addresses for £2.50 each so that they could find other citizens to harass.

Of course we can trust the government with even more data from the ID Card, amounting to a complete profile of your life if they work as advertised. The nice Labour Party won't do anything bad with it will they?