Child database delayed because of 'technical issues'

A new Government database containing details of every child in England has been dealt another blow.

This week, ministers announced that the launch of the £224m Contactpoint database would be delayed from Autumn until January for technical reasons.

Privacy groups and political parties have said the database, carrying personal information about all under-18s, should be “buried” and “scrapped”.

In a letter to Barry Sheerman, chair of the Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee, Kevin Brennan, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families said the “deployment of Contactpoint will not begin in October 2008 as originally planned”.

He said this was because the Government had “identified some issues as a result of recent system tests which we are working urgently to address”.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said that the delay was not due to security issues, but technical problems with aspects of the database such as dropdown menus.

The spokeswoman said: "We are working hard to iron out glitches before it goes out to users. This is not about security issues."

However, this has angered privacy group No2ID, which has said citing technical issues is “ridiculous”.

“Blaming dropdown menus is like considering whether a grenade is pink or green before handing it to a child.

“The Government is going to expose the details of children and their parents to the country and dropdown menus are all it is worried about.”

He pointed out that this was the second time the database had been put back following concerns over data security.

“This database shouldn’t just be delayed it should be buried,” he added.

The Liberal Democrats agreed. David Laws, children's spokesman for the party, said: "Instead of delaying the launch of the database, this intrusive project must be scrapped altogether.”

"A recent independent review has already undermined all of the Government's assurances that the database will be secure.

“The discovery of further technical issues does not bode well for the future. The Government has proven itself untrustworthy with large databases containing sensitive data," he added.

The news of the delay follows fresh privacy concerns after it was announced this week that the police would also be able to access children’s records.