A technology workshop, which is part of a "major inquiry"
into how public services could and should look in 2020 took place
in central London this week under the auspices of theRSA.
Whether the public should have a right of opting out of their
personal information being given to the government for the benefit
of citizens generally was a key theme. A Computer Weekly journalist
was asked to speak on privacy, technology and security.
The meeting was part of the
2020 Public
Services Trust and Commission on 2020 Public Services, which
aims to set out the challenges problems facing public services. It
will suggest practical solutions which have cross-party
support.
These are some of the points made at the meeting, some of which
are conflicting:
People share information, sometimes with abandon, on Facebook
and on other social networking sites. So they may be happy to share
their information with the government to help provide better public
services.
Millions of people have sent e-mails to the government,
particularly to Downing Street. The government could use those 11
million e-mail addresses to inform people about public services and
information they may find useful.
The ability to
opt out of the NHS Care Records Service could make it difficult
to identify the most suitable people for clinical trials.
Publicity over data losses and the
database
state, are creating a risk-averse culture which could stop
citizens getting information they would find useful, such as
statistics on the performance of schools and particular parts of
the health service.
- Linking benefits data held by the Department for Work and
Pensions with NHS information could pinpoint the GPs who are too
easily signing sick notes.
- With more data sharing there could be a government portal which
enables citizens to check the data held on them by the state.
- When citizens give personal information to the state they
should be able to control its use and what it says about them.
- The risks you take when you give your private information to
your bank are acceptable for the benefit of receiving an online
banking service. Giving private information to the government for
unclear benefits is a different proposition.
- When citizens give confidential information to
social workers, schools and their GP they do not expect it to
be widely shared. One attendee who works in the NHS said that
patients with erectile dysfunction would not want that information
uploaded to a central "spine" database. If personal information is
shared widely, parents will deliberately withhold information from
social services and GPs.
- A fear of the state aggregating personal information on
individuals is not confined to privacy campaigners but to some
attendees at the RSA meeting; and they are among those who are
influencing the future of what is known as digital Britain.
- Citizens may sacrifice the right to confidentiality of their
personal information for the public good.
- When the public complains about the health service on
NHS Choices, it
is to no purpose because directors in the NHS are not given details
of the complaints to rectify weaknesses.
- When Downing Street officials ask the Department of Health to
reply to a popular e-petition on say, proposed hospital closures,
the Department is unlikely to give a thoughtful response. This can
discourage interaction between citizens and the Statel.
2020 Public
Services Trust >>