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20 Jul 2010 Michael Holloway New Government

ORGCon: Dismantling the Database State

 

The coalition government’s pledge to roll back the database state will be debated by a panel of the most vigorous privacy crusaders at a conference for digital rights in London on Saturday 24 July.
The new government has pledged to reign in the worst excesses of the database state, including ID cards and Contact Point. But privacy advocates warn such promises will not be fulfilled without more hard campaigning work. And there are more battles ahead to embed meangingful protections in law, in institutions and technology, and achieve real control over our personal data.
Phil Booth, who has headed up NO2ID’s fight against the database state since 2004, said:
“In past weeks we’ve had to fight harder than ever for freedoms and privacy. Despite some great headlines, the Coalition has fallen short in the execution – which is the only thing that counts. Keeping the pressure up is vital. Stopping the database state was never going to be easy, and it’s certainly not something we can leave up to politicians alone.”
Phil will be joined on the panel by Ross Anderson (Foundation for Information Policy Research), Terri Dowty (Action on Rights for Children) and Alex Deane (Big Brother Watch)
ORGCon is a low-cost conference where campaigners can find out about and take action in support of their digital rights. Other speakers confirmed for the conference James Boyle, Tom Watson MP and Cory Doctorow. ORGCon takes place in London on 24 July.

The coalition government’s pledge to roll back the database state will be debated by a panel of the most vigorous privacy crusaders at a conference for digital rights in London on Saturday 24 July.

The new government has pledged to reign in the worst excesses of the database state, including ID cards and Contact Point. But privacy advocates warn such promises will not be fulfilled without more hard campaigning work. And there are more battles ahead to embed meangingful protections in law, in institutions and technology, and achieve real control over our personal data.

Phil Booth, who has headed up NO2ID’s fight against the database state since 2004, said:

“In past weeks we’ve had to fight harder than ever for freedoms and privacy. Despite some great headlines, the Coalition has fallen short in the execution – which is the only thing that counts. Keeping the pressure up is vital. Stopping the database state was never going to be easy, and it’s certainly not something we can leave up to politicians alone.”

Phil will be joined on the panel by Ross Anderson (Foundation for Information Policy Research), Terri Dowty (Action on Rights for Children) and Alex Deane (Big Brother Watch)

ORGCon is a low-cost conference where campaigners can find out about and take action in support of their digital rights. Other speakers confirmed for the conference James Boyle, Tom Watson MP and Cory Doctorow. ORGCon takes place in London on 24 July. There are still a few tickets left.