Latest editorial
THE Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been rumbled after trying not once but twice to access school pupils’ personal details in order to target them with recruitment propaganda.
A “Tier 1” request for pupils’ most sensitive data was first made on behalf of the MoD last year but was only exposed when the Department for Education (DfE) routinely released details of all requests for access to the National Pupil Database (NPD).
Information requested included the name, exam number, home address, date of birth, ethnicity, primary language, special educational needs, disabilities and absence and exclusion data of pupils and whether their parents were in the armed forces.
Digital ID means the government could track anyone and then limit their speech, movements, finances — and it could get this all wrong, identifying the wrong people for the wrong reasons, as the numerous digital cockups so far demonstrate, warns DYLAN MURPHY
