Plans to share confidential NHS information could infringe civil liberties, say campaigners
Civil rights groups have blasted big brother style moves which could amount to the introduction of ID cards by stealth.
The Scottish Government wants to create a new database which would allow public bodies, including tax authority HMRC, access to private data about every adult.
This would be done using the country’s central NHS register, using the unique citizen reference number which everyone who accesses health services is given.
The register is the most complete and authoritative record of individuals in Scotland, holding the basic demographic details of everyone who is born, who has died or is, or has been, on the list of a GP in Scotland.
Anyone with a liberal bone in their body will find the super ID database plans worrying
Scottish Government proposals would enable data on the register to be shared with over 100 public bodies, with the aim of assisting the tracing of people, enabling secure and easy access to government online services and allowing the identification of Scottish tax payers.
It is thought the latter is linked to a new Scottish income tax system, which will come into force in April 2016 as Holyrood’s tax powers increase.
Public consultation on the proposal ended last week and Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group (ORG), said the database could allow the accessing of personal data and open a door to future data mining and profiling.
The Scottish proposals would be similar to those which made up the national ID card system plans, which were scrapped in 2010.
Killock said: “The Scottish Government should reject these proposals and review their entire identity and data sharing systems to safeguard the privacy of the Scottish people.”
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Social Enterprise Scotland, the Electoral Reform Society, Democratic Society and Dr Oliver Escobar, lecturer in public policy at the University of Edinburgh, have all written to the Scottish Government, expressing their misgivings.
Meanshile, the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland has said appropriate safeguards must be put in place, while Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has spoken of his unease.
He said: “Anyone with a liberal bone in their body will find the SNP’s super ID database plans worrying.
“Expanding access to the central register to 120 public bodies and assigning each person with a unique reference number would be intrusive, costly and would increase the power of the over-mighty state.”
The Scottish Human Rights Commission has said it would monitor the plans closely.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We have an unequivocal commitment to protecting and respecting individuals’ privacy and will respond to the consultation adhering to that,” she said.
“In England, verification of identity for online services is being handled by private companies under contract to the UK government. We do not agree with this private sector approach. In Scotland, we have consulted on extending our existing approach to the central government sector.
“If we take these proposals forward, data provided by individuals to service providers would be verified against a trusted existing source managed by the public sector.”
