Them and us child register: Politicians and celebrities can keep their details off a controversial new database



Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti says there are serious security doubts about the Government's child register

Tens of thousands of politicians, celebrities and local bigwigs will be able to keep their addresses and details about their families off the Government's new children's database, it was revealed yesterday.

They will be allowed to withdraw everything but their children's names, sex and ages from the controversial computer record.

Powerful and influential parents who believe they will be in danger from others who may be 'hostile' will have their details struck off the ContactPoint database along with domestic violence victims and those in witness protection programmes.

But the great majority of ordinary families will be compelled to display their contact details alongside information about their children and their schools, doctors and social workers.

News of the 'get-out' clause will only add to the anger and suspicion that has greeted the £224million project. It has already has been hit by a string of delays over concerns over the security of the highly sensitive data it holds.

Ministers released details about the numbers likely to be able to take advantage of the 'get-out' rules as they launched the database.

Officials estimate that hundreds of parents in each local authority will be included in a 'shielding' system which will limit information about them on ContactPoint because they are judged to be 'at risk of significant harm'.

Across all the 150 town halls that will run the database, that adds up to at least 50,000.

The scale of the get-out provoked further concerns about the security of the database.

Nearly 400,000 individuals will be able to look at information on ContactPoint, including council staff, health workers, police officers, and even staff of voluntary groups and charities who have passed criminal records checks.

Jill Kirby of the centre-right think tank Centre for Policy Studies said: 'This is a clear admission by the Government that ContactPoint will not be secure.

'It is not surprising that public figures will not want their addresses or details about their children on it. But why should they have different rules from the rest of us?'

According to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, 'some people may need to have some of their details hidden to prevent their location being identified'.

Anyone who wants their address kept off the database must apply to their local council. Town hall officials will then make a choice based on national guidelines.

Some authorities have published their rules on shielding. Somerset, for example, has said that shielding 'may be appropriate where a parent/carer whose child's record appears on ContactPoint may be at risk were the address to become known to...a hostile adult'.

Opposition MP Michael Gove says the controversial database must be scrapped

It acknowledges that some members of the public who have no involvement with police or social workers and whose children have no illnesses, injuries or school problems 'will wish to apply for their child's case to be shielded'.

The county guidelines add: 'this may include celebrities, politicians and other high profile members of the public'.

Council officials may also be able to escape seeing their addresses listed on the database if there are special circumstances, for example if the worker concerned is going through a difficult divorce.

Opposition politicians said ContactPoint must be scrapped. Tory children's spokesman Michael Gove said: 'This will look like MPs are yet again creating one rule for themselves and one for everyone else. Creating more bureaucracy with sensitive information accessible to millions of people will do nothing to improve child protection.'

Liberal Democrat children's spokesman David Laws said: 'The fact that celebrities and politicians can have their children's records shielded will hardly inspire confidence among other parents.'

Shami Chakrabarti of the Liberty pressure group said: 'If you feel you need to shield one group of children, it throws doubt over everyone's security. Every child should be shielded from this database.'

Henry Porter of the Convention on Modern Liberty said: 'This gives the lie to every claim they make about security. It is going to be insecure.

'We have a government that wants to track our every move, store and share our data, fingerprint our children, retain our DNA, hack our computers, log every email internet connection and phone call.'

Ministers say ContactPoint will help teachers, doctors, police officers and social workers find out rapidly whether other organisations have involvement with a child.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: 'All ContactPoint records are extremely secure whether or not they are shielded.' Decisions on shielding 'will be taken on a case by case basis'.