The Independent Schools Council is a politically independent, not-for-profit organisation representing 1,270 independent schools educating more than 500,000 children. It exists to promote choice, diversity and excellence in education, developing talent at all levels of ability and from all backgrounds.

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The Guardian publishes a response from ISC

6 December 2007

The Guardian has published a story following a letter from the Independent Schools Council in reponse to their 'Security checks for new childs database' story.

The letter calls for the government to suspend all plans for the database. The letter is signed by Dame Angela Rumbold (ISC), Peter Bodkin (SHMIS), Danny Cooper (ISBA), Professor Michael Edwards (AGBIS), Pat Langham (GSA), Joan Mumby (ISA), Michael Spinney (IAPS), Dr Bernard Trafford (HMC), and a number of high-profile privacy campaigners.

ISC's letter in the Guardian - published 6th December 2008
Security fears prompt call for scrapping of childrens database - Story in the Guardian following ISC's letter.

Letter to the Guardian:

Sir,

We believe the independent Byron Review investigating child safety online must urge the Government to suspend all plans for ContactPoint, a database of all children in England while it carries out an official security analysis of the system, announced last week by Ed Balls. To continue to insist that the scheme will still go ahead before the outcome of this review is ludicrous. A system accessible by some 300,000 users via the internet is NOT adequately securable to ensure the safety of our children. From the outset of the ContactPoint proposals, the Government has been consistently warned that from a security perspective, the system would be unmanageable.

In Parliament this summer, Lord Adonis made a commitment that the DCSF would provide the estimated £41 million needed annually to secure the operation of the system. Even this sum seems inadequate in relation to ContactPoint's sheer scale. The DCSF's announcement this month of a funding settlement considerably below this, falling from £40 million this year to £15 million by 2010, only adds to concerns about the low importance attached to security. Since the security of the system relies on the resources of local authorities to investigate system abuse, this lower level of funding means an increased likelihood of abuse going unchecked. Any benefits of this system are likely to be heavily outweighed by the dangers - and these recent issues only serve to underline this.

Dame Angela Rumbold Independent Schools Council
Ross Anderson Foundation Information Policy Research
Peter Bodkin Society of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Independent Schools
Phil Booth No2ID
Danny Cooper Independent Schools Bursars Association
Gareth Crossman Liberty
Simon Davies Privacy International
Terri Dowty Action on Rights for Children
Professor Michael Edwards Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools
Becky Hogge Open Rights Group
Pat Langham Girls' Schools Association
Joan Mumby Independent Schools Association
Michael Spinney Independent Association of Prep Schools
Bernard Trafford Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference