15 minutes of flame

[j4]

aldabra pointed out the news (via the No2ID blog) that from next year a new government database will store the address, school and medical details of all children... except the children of politicians and celebrities.

Don't you see? This is fantastic news. It means that all you have to do to prevent your kids being listed on the database is get a friend to make a short video of you getting drunk and shouting a bit, and put the footage on YouTube. Bingo! Instant celebrity status. Though if you want to make double-sure it counts, you'd probably best get started on that autobiography now (NB my ghostwriting rates are fairly reasonable).

I suppose for No2ID campaigners to appear on Big Brother just to protect their children's personal data might be an irony too far, though.

Comments

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

> appear on Big Brother just to protect their children's personal data

Exactly. (http://webofevil.livejournal.com/163552.html)

[j4.livejournal.com]

Oh! I'm sorry. It's so easy to lose track of who's mocked what already.

There is some ambiguity here, though, about whether the children have to be celebrities themselves, or whether merely being the child of a celebrity is sufficient.

Also, if you had the child while on Big Brother (is that the only thing they haven't done yet?) would it automatically be a celebrity? Enquiring minds want to know.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Baby-Born-In-Dutch-Big-Brother-10704.shtml

[j4.livejournal.com]

Oh dear oh dear.

And I love the way the phrase "The child will stay in an area where cameras are not allowed" appears next to a photo of, er, the child. Amazing what they can do without cameras these days.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

Ah, so the system is secure, the data can't be abused, but certain families are exempt in case the inviolable security is violated and the data are abused. Good good.

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

It's a non-starter. When does someone become famous or politically-significant enough to go on the 'privelege and privacy' list?

My point is that there's a before-they-were-famous period, and archived searches from this period will give all the private information you want. Or rather, all the private information the papers want, salesmen want, blackmailers, criminals and the curious want.

[kaet.livejournal.com]

Is this your doing? :)

http://www.oup.com/uk/booksites/content/0199296251/winamp3player/

[j4.livejournal.com]

No! But thank you. I mean, badger. :)

[kaet.livejournal.com]

I always think that this is a salutary lesson in these databases.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/4821810.stm

[j4.livejournal.com]

Well, yes: you can spend billions on super-secure databases and there'll always be some lackwit who's happy to give away their password / download the seekrit data for anybody who asks.