McFines
Remember this story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2225434,00.html
McDonalds fines people who park too long in their car parks. A camera records the registration plate and people who park too long receive a fine at their home..... wait, AT THEIR HOME? How come they can convert from car number plate to home address? Isn't that private information given in confidence to the DVLC?
"If they stay too long, the details of the registered keeper of the vehicle are obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), and he or she is billed."
Wow, they release your private records to civil entities on request. What next, inland revenue releasing tax records on request from loan companies? Hospitals releasing health records to insurance companies?
Since when has McDonalds agent had the right to request PRIVATE information handed to the government to enforce their McFines?
If I have a dispute with McDonalds employees can I obtain THEIR car registration home address? How is this any different? All men are created equal, but McDonalds agent are more equal than me in the eyes of the law?
The DVLC takes the word of this agent at face value and releases your private data based on that word? Are they insane? If you can't release the number plate information of McDonalds employees to ME but you can release MY plate details to THEM, then there is something very very wrong here with releasing that information..... since we are all equal under the law.
Again it's a classic information leakage problem, data trusted to the government is selectively revealed to private entities with no legal process, and no prosecution possible if that data is misued, passed on to other people or obtained under false pretence.