@Fluffykins
Probably the 'liberty idiots' have got a well grounded view on how this government consistently mismanages and abuses personal information they compel the citizenry to give.
The governments' own reports CONFIRM that CCTV does not reduce crime or the fear of crime. It has limited use in prosecutions, particularly with older CCTV systems. 'Personal CCTV' evidence is usually 'straight to bin' as far as courts are concerned.
The 'Police, Camera Action' type programmes (which i suspect you watch) contain just about all the useful stuff they deliver out of how many hundreds of thousands of cameras? For such a vast network, it's not much is it?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7384843.stm
Ironically, you wouldn't be so concerned about 'Mrs NoseyKins' if this government hadn't effectively dismantled your basic position before the law from 'innocent until proven guilty' to 'guilty and now prove you're innocent'.
I don't think anybody wants to deprive you of your 'right' to have your identity stolen, sorry confirmed on a huge central database. As AC @ 14.04 has pointed out, you can volunteer your DNA. Great, go ahead.
BUT, in the interest of being equitable, please respect those of us who want to exercise our right NOT to go on a national DNA database. I would not have problem with this db if the defined scope was ahered to (convicted criminals) or if it was entirely voluntary.
And that leads me to another point about 'scope creep'. Just about every one of these systems has drifted far away from the original stated purpose. Some examples:
DNA database: from convicted sex offenders only to anybody arrested
APNR system: from catching VED evaders to being implented along the entire network of motorway cameras and now local authority CCTV - without any accountability
Congestion Charge Cameras: from CCC compliance and revenue enforcement to 24/7 number plate monitoring with unrestricted access for police and security services.
With that kind of creep, it's not outwith the possibilities of imagination to expect the Ministry Of Health to sell the information on the DNA db to private companies, while the Ministry of Truth tells us it's for our benefit.
Oh wait, they've already started doing that.
So Fluffykins, go ahead and exercise you 'right', but leave the rest of us the f**k out of this totalinarianism.
Yours,
A 'liberty idiot' and proud of it.