Nothing to hide, nothing to fear? Not quite...

Earlier this week, Alan Johnson performed his latest u-turn and announced his intention to retain the DNA of innocent people on the DNA database for six years, on the grounds that doing otherwise might "undermine" crime detection.

Today we find a story that exemplifies why the Home Secretary has got his priorities the wrong way round.

A city lawyer and mother-of-three was fired from her £150,000-a-year job earlier this month after a routine background clearance check revealed her DNA was held on the national database.

The kicker is that the DNA record exists due to a false allegation made against her.

And what's more, that allegation was made because someone suspected her of forging a signature on an application form to a nursery - an offence which certainly didn't warrant the fingerprinting and DNA swabbing she had to consent to. 

So, in the future, if someone should blurt out the truism 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear', remind them of Lorraine Elliott - the high-flying lawyer who now works as a stable hand.

By Dylan Sharpe

Comments

[Jen]

Ms Elliott was just about to take up working on the government's national identity card scheme which is why the checks were being made on her. Rough justice? That irony to one side it is clear that the dna database is being used beyond it's original remit of a criminal intelligence database to be one that is contributing to justice outside a court of law.

[Jen]

Just in case that wasn't clear I do not mean that this is a good contribution! The slide toward 'justice' outside of the judicial system via increased police powers and intetconnected surveillance systems is very worrying indeed.

[Denny]

It's kind of ironic that she was about to start working on the National Identity Register project. Bet she's not so keen on the database state right now.

[anonynous]

Are there any other details or links including about the incident which led to the DNA being taken originally?
How do we know that people ar not being "reported" maliciously as a pretext for the intended consequences ie being harassed or their life being wrecked? Also, are people being picked on so that others just do the right thing and keep quiet about wrongs otherwise they or their families may suffer unjust losses.
The guilty-until-innocent, trial by fine system as well as ISA type schemes will lead to a lot of false criminilzation as well as the fact that the haystack will be so large that people will not believe the little data which is correct.
Police/stasi-state-type techniques always cause chaos and increase corruption including blackmail, framing etc and always lead to chaos and reduce real community ie the ability of everyone, rich or poor, powerful or not, to choose to live their lives including the ability to find work, to have and meet with friends and family, to have choice not to have individual social workers who may be abusive or whom they dont trust 9for good reason - even if ISA cleared)thrust upon them by thw State. Re employment in professional and non-professional jobs: will only those lucky enough or natually machiavellian enough be empoyable. Will any employees, employers or civilians who criticize the government or have a dispute with someone higher up in the fodd chain conveniantly often find data about them changed, or the police or social services at their door? Will genuine whistleblowers or those who refuse to do the right thing under pressure meet a similar fate?
I do not know the circumstances of the above news items, but i do know what it is like to be framed in subtle and not so subtle ways, and the consequences, which is why I fear for the UK and other placse when ill-thought-out schemes, abuse of technology etc are introduced. Usually the only people who benefit are the ones who benefit financially - though they are naive if they think that the databse-state won't come back to bit them or their loved ones. Good security and justice requires thought and balance, not snake oil or totalitarian techniques.
My heart goes out to ms. Elliott - though I hope she never uses her talents to collaborate with anything which is evil - she has sadly only seen a taste of what these schemes cause. i suggest she check all data held on her if she has the money. Sadly, as the stasi know, most people do not have the energy or time or money or legal access to check and moniter the info they do have access to. And sadly most people assume that what professionals like doctors or social workers or officials as well as what companies write about customers or employees is true. Ditto items appearing on bills. All data on computers is subject to hacking. All data (written or otheriwse) is written though the eyes of the write, and is not impartial. Even doctors have motives, good and bad. They also dont have the time to write objective complete accurate notes. That is why a lot of data about people should be kept confidential and the people about whom the data is written should have access, and why innocent until proven guilty and access to lawyers is vital. Also why too much info should never be held. etc. etc.

[anon]

The articles link has disappeared.
The article also included details about some of the effects on her life like the difficulties she will have in finding an equivalent job, and how it affected her finances.
The article did not mention that fact that she might have problems getting jobs in other professions or working in jobs which need an ISA clearance, or any backgound check. Nor the effect if she wished to emigrate among other things.
The dangr of hearsay and not assuming innocent until proven guilty is huge.
Ditto any laws or the changing of schemes which block access for most people to justice before a jury of peers, or access to good legal help, or which increase the power of and data held by the state, while reducing the abaility of the indiviudal to access data about themselves or those in power or the decisions they make.
Why are some politicians "innocent until proven guilty" while others are "guilty until proven innocent" in effect?
Why are councils and everyone given RIPA powers - this creates 2 sets of people, those who can spy and ruin others' lives, and the those who don't.
Watch corruption go up during any election, whenever someone complains about the council or anyone with RIPA, POCA or any other kind of power or whenever someone wrongs or fails to corrupt someone in a weaker position - at work, in government, anywhere, and then frames or smears them so that the innocent are less likely "on the balance of probabiities" to be believed.

[richard]

can you refuse to consent to a DNA swab if you haven't been arrested?

[FTAC Watch]

The story is still on the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6563877/City-lawyer-fired-after-police-kept-record-of-her-innocent-arrest.html

Will the government ever understand that at this rate nobody in the UK will be allowed to work.

[Sebastian]

Telegraaph link has disappeared as well. Very suspicious.