back to article Scotland to get National ID system 'by the backdoor', campaigners mull challenge

Moves to introduce a national ID database in Scotland could be subject to a legal challenge, a data privacy group has warned. On Wednesday, Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) voted narrowly in favour of opening up the country's NHS register to hundreds of public bodies, including HMRC. Critics say the introduction of a …

  1. Enrico Vanni

    League Division Two Politics

    When I voted against the formation of a Scottish parliament and was accused by friends and family of being unpatriotic, my argument to them was that we already had a bunch of incompetent politicians running things, and the last thing Scotland needed was all the Scottish politicians who weren't good enough to get seats at Westminster finding jobs with ultimately even more power in Holyrood.

    Fast forward 16 years.....

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: League Division Two Politics

      Similar to Catalonia, their politicians argue they need to 'replicate state structures' for when independence day finally comes. At the moment that appears to mean duplicating everything and jobs for the boys at enormous cost. As if they couldn't do it when independence day does finally come because it's going to take years to untangle the two anyway.

      Note for Catalans: The fact I said this does not mean I don't also think the current national government is nostalgic and misty-eyed for Tío Paco.

    2. Warm Braw

      Re: League Division Two Politics

      Make that "not good enough to get seats at Westminster or even Brussels/Strasbourg",

      Though I think that's changing. The talent is heading for Holyrood, partly out of a sense of misty-/swivel-eyed patriotic fervour and partly because they can actually get things done.

      And that's where the problem lies - politicians that can actually do things are dangerous. Scotland is looking at being one nation under one party with a coercively collectivist outlook as evidenced by this issue. If that's what Scots want, then fine. I'm just not convinced they will when they get it.

      1. Someone Else Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: League Division Two Politics

        Yes, I know I'm an unapologetic Yank, but am I the only one who reads "Holyrood", and sees "Hollywood"? (And am I really that far wrong?)

  2. Ken Hagan Gold badge

    "The UK's HMRC also wants access to the NHS database to check that individuals are not avoiding tax."

    I'm curious to know how that works. If HMRC are so bereft of information that they don't even know who is alive, then giving them the NHS database probably isn't the simplest solution to the problem. Beyond that (ie, existence), I can't see that medical records and tax liability are sufficiently closely correlated to make the exercise worthwhile.

    1. John Sager

      And why should HMRC be concerned about people avoiding tax, which is prefectly legal? Unfortunately the 'the answer to everything is tax' brigade have sufficiently managed to conflate aviodance & evasion in the public mind that perfectly legal strategies for arranging one's tax affairs are seen as evil plots.

    2. chris 17 Silver badge

      if you are registered as a non dom (i.e a British national that lives over seas and therefore does not pay UK taxes) frequently accessing the Scottish NHS will show that you are actually living in the UK and subject to taxes.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: non dom = a British national that lives over seas etc

        This is not what a non-dom is. Crudely - because domicle is a tricky thing to define - a non dom is someone whose "permanent home" is overseas. AFAIK It has nothing in particular to do with whether or not you are a UK citizen; although presumably it's quite easy to establish a non-dom status in the UK if you happen to be from another country ... and sustain intent to return there or somewhere else. Even UK citizens can be non-doms if (eg) they emigrated with & while dependent on their parents (because you can "inherit" your parent's change of domicile), even though you might return to the UK for a while ... even quite a long while. If you are the ordinary kind of wage/salary earning non-dom, it's not so hard to get stuck here because of family or (lack of) work opportunities, even though you still want eventually to return to where you grew up.

        Simplistically (because I'm no tax advisor, and my knowledge is limited to my specific situation), if resident in the uk they pay UK tax on all UK earnings. I'm paid an unremarkable salary, it gets taxed PAYE in the usual way. If the amount a non-dom earns overseas is small (<£2k or thereabouts) then if they leave it overseas they need pay no UK tax; if they earn more they do pay UK tax on overseas earnings unless they pay a significant fee. This fee is so large that I would think that most UK resident non-doms - who wont have overseas incomes which are all that large - will prefer to pay UK tax than the fee.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: non dom = a British national that lives over seas etc

            Non doms (UK citizens) don't get NHS services for free anyway - Thatcher brought that in.

            1. AndrewDu

              Re: non dom = a British national that lives over seas etc

              Of course they do.

              EVERYBODY gets NHS services for free. Citizens, non-citizens, migrants, refugees, legal or illegal - all welcome. If you can get to the UK you'll get free treatment, no limits, no questions asked.

              The policy may be to charge those who are not entitled, but it's never enforced.

        2. Trigonoceps occipitalis

          Re: non dom = a British national that lives over seas etc

          Non-dom, not resident and not tax resident all mean different things. As a British subject the latter two are relatively easy to establish, the first can be quite difficult and actual domicile not clear until death and the final tax bill sort it out, in court if necessary.

          (I am not a tax advisor etc etc etc.)

      2. Hans 1
        Thumb Up

        @chris 17

        +1

        The downvoters are either tax avoiders or lemmings. We are paying more and more taxes because an increasing number of ***** are avoiding taxes by making false declarations ... e.g. Honest, I moved to Singapore in 2007, sir, and I pay taxes there![...] Naah, I cannot stand Liverpool, I follow <football_team_of_choice>, even got a season ticket, have not missed a fixture since 2002.... shit, no, I have missed plenty, sir, honest ... I only come over once every ... 2/3 months, sir, no I do not keep flight tickets ...

        Those same people then complain when the roads are not maintained ... from their fat SUV's ....

        1. phil dude
          FAIL

          devils advocate...

          It doesn't matter how much tax the govt collects, it will always spend more...

          The same way it doesn't matter how much profit a company makes, it is never enough...

          P.

        2. chris 17 Silver badge

          I wasn't conveying an opinion just my understanding of why HMRC wanted access to medical information.

  3. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Big Brother

    Coming soon.,...

    An ITT to build a wall along the border (oh wait....)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Coming soon.,..I.

      Isn't there already a Kickstarter project?

  4. ratfox

    Why the fuss?

    Not being from a common law country, I only have a vague idea of the feelings of people about this. Surely in this age of computers, the government has a pretty good idea of who's living in the country anyway. What's the big deal with having a national ID register?

    Again, I'm from the continent, where we all have ID cards; from my point of view, the complaining feels as strange as Americans fighting for their gun rights…

    1. Peter2 Silver badge

      Re: Why the fuss?

      That's exactly the point, we don't want ID Cards. A national ID Register will through scope creep eventually lead to ID cards, which will then lead to a requirement to carry them, which will lead to our police being distorted even further to the point they end up demanding "Papers!", which as a protest nobody will carry. Which in turn will lead to not carrying ID papers being a crime, and then criminal punishments for not carrying them. At which point you'll be required to produce papers all the time and we will be well along the way to becoming an authoritarian state and ending up like George Orwells 1984.

      In short it would hugely change the relationship between the individual and the state. At the moment our system of law functions on a very different principle than yours, namely that you are free to do anything you want, unless restrictions are placed on those freedoms via law. We like this, wish it to remain so and fight any attempt to introduce creeping change.

      1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

        Re: Why the fuss?

        That's it indeed. What is *required* is a mechanism by which one can prove one has the right to certain facilities (e.g. medical care, social security) and perhaps the right to be in certain places (this person is over 18 years old), but without the need to identify the person and emphatically without the need to carry the mechanism unless and until one wishes to use it.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why the fuss?

        It took a dozen posts before "1984" was brought up in relation to a unique personal identifier scheme. You guys are slipping.

        1. ratfox

          Re: Why the fuss?

          See, that's what is strange to me. What with all the CCTV cameras, the UK look a lot more 1984 than any other country in Europe, even without the ID cards.

          I'd like to add that even though people have ID cards over here, it is not mandatory to carry them around.

          1. BongoJoe

            Re: Why the fuss?

            When I lived in Belgium I noted that it was a device used by the police to harrass those of somewhat darker skin colours by randomly stopping and demanding the papers of Moroccans looking for those without ID cards.

            As someone with a high albido index I was rarely bothered. It's just a way to control and harrass law abiding citzens.

            The one I had in Norway had my date of birth as the 32nd February, 1900. It broke every scanner trying to parse it. I was requested to get a new one but, for some reason, I declined.

          2. Fink-Nottle

            Re: Why the fuss?

            > What with all the CCTV cameras, the UK look a lot more 1984 than any other country in Europe

            In Scotland, the CCTV cameras have been removed from their housings because local Councils can't afford their upkeep.

          3. phil dude
            Stop

            Re: Why the fuss?

            they had concentration camps in Europe, so y'know, there is some (recent) historical precedent for distrusting the Govt's intentions.

            Not that we need a reason to distrust Govt.

            A child with a bazooka comes to mind...

            P.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why the fuss?

      The amount of distrust people have in the UK government and police force to run this scheme properly is hilarious....and you guys KEEP voting for these people...no wonder the Kilroy party is doing so well.

      FYI I too live in a country with a national ID card/number scheme, and have no issues with it at all...They can track me easier from my credit card purchases and travel card than with my ID card and the government already know all about me anyway as I gave them the info when I moved, so I really don't know what peoples problem is, other than being paranoid.

      To me it just means that when I get a new bank account I don't have to run around with all my paperwork, I just bring my card, same with the Doctor, A&E, picking up a package from the post office, getting a travel card, getting a loan and so on. There is a central e-mail system too, which is linked to your number and that means people from organisations such as the treasury (tax), payroll, council etc can send me mail without actually needing my current e-mail address...Which helps avoiding the spam which in itself is worth having the scheme for (when I was in the uk the amount of crap the governments "partners" sent me was near as makes no different harassment).

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why the fuss?

        One trouble with a national ID number is ultimately simply *knowing* someone's ID number will be tantamount to providing evidence that you *are* that person.

        You'll be required to enter your number in a website when you apply for a loan or make a purchase(*) and on that basis alone it will be assumed that you *are* that person. Your ID number is then like a credit card number that you can never change, even if it's used fraudulently.

        The obvious antidote: *publish* the entire ID database. Then everyone knows everyone else's ID number. I don't suppose anyone will like that though - better not to have the number (or the database) in the first place.

        (*) A friend who lived in Chile but wasn't born there found it was impossible to buy things on the web.

        Every web site requires you to enter your ID number. ID numbers are allocated sequentially, so most websites use your ID number to decide if you are over 18 or not. Since his number was allocated when he gained residency, not when he was born, the sites would refuse to sell him stuff.

        This is an example mis-use of the number for properties it does not have. Antidote: give everyone a uuid not a sequential number.

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Why the fuss?

        " I really don't know what peoples problem is"

        It's a point of principle.

    3. Captain Mainwaring

      Re: Why the fuss?

      Well we already have several large nationwide registers here in the UK, covering most if not all of the population. DVLA driving licence database, Passport database, NHS patient database, HMRC taxpayer database to name but a few. I don't think we really need to spend any more money in creating yet another nationwide database with all it's associated cost and bureaucracy. Perhaps the existing NHS number could be used as a common identifier across all registers, but I can well understand people's concerns over the desirability of using this in a blanket fashion. As far as ID cards are concerned, well again not really needed, as passports and driving licences are already very widely used to carry out ID checks on individuals. With around 50 million UK passports and some 45 million driving licences in circulation, most people these days have some form of official identification.

    4. Kubla Cant
      Big Brother

      Re: Why the fuss?

      It's a matter of classes of citizenship.

      It's certainly the case that I am identified by various primary keys, that I'm spied on by cameras all over the place, and that my progress through the world leaves a messy financial spoor. But all this is optional. I surrender my anonymity in return for social benefits. A person who chooses to could, in theory, live totally anonymously in Britain, though it would be hard work. More realistically, he can selectively avoid identification as long as he's prepared to forego the asscociated benefits.

      By contrast, in a country with mandatory national databases and identity papers, if you aren't in the database you are an un-person, not a citizen.

    5. EUbrainwashing

      Re: Why the fuss?

      Civil liberties stand as a defence from whatever future holds. To assure an enduringly free society the balance must always be; government must trust people and not demand legislation that requires the people to trust government.

      1. asdf

        Re: Why the fuss?

        >Civil liberties stand as a defence from whatever future holds.

        Civil liberties are always one gdamn 9/11 away from disappearing forever and the only defense against that is education which sadly takes money so Minority Report here we come.

    6. AndrewDu

      Re: Why the fuss?

      No doubt you have nothing to hide, and therefore nothing to fear.

      Those of us who live in the real world, and have some knowledge of 20th century history, may possibly see things differently.

  5. Corinne

    I thought everyone DID have a National Identity number, aka a National Insurance number (NINO)? What would they need another one for?

    1. auburnman

      On top of that there's definitely already an NHS unique number, I had to go through all my old records to find mine when registering for a new GP.

      1. NJS

        ...already an NHS unique number

        Em, yes and no - what you may find is you (depending on where you've lived in the UK during your lifetime) have many unique NHS Numbers, all of which are hopefully/loosely tied together with whatever one is supposedly current.

        NHS Number as primary key, you're having a laugh.

        1. Julz

          Re: ...already an NHS unique number

          The same is true of NINO's there not unique either.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        In Scotland you'll have a CHI, which although unique ironically contains your day, month and year of birth, whether you were born male or female and a handful of random digits shoved on at the end.

        Right now the NHS is pretty strict about who gets access to the information linked to a CHI, however as someone who's been loosely involved in what the Scottish Government are doing I'm extremely worried, those safe guards will only be in place to a degree, but the number of people with access will go through the roof quickly and be completely uncontrollable.

        The truth is NHS boards in Scotland have dodged the bullet when it comes to monetary penalty so far, but that's not going to last - with so many staff who frankly don't give a shit about IT security it's going to happen much faster as things are shared electronically.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          .....CHI Numbers and uniqueness

          CHI Numbers were introduced many years ago in relation to the Community Health Index, and was based around the fact that when you go to the gp they ask for your DoB and Surname, so it seemed pretty obvious. There was no such thing as Data protection. It is anonymous as long as you don't live in a town with only 30 people and are the only person born on that day and are female/male. Then ....everyone knows who it is.

          NHS Boards have not dodged a bullet, they have discussed with the ICO and come to an arrangement to allow them to transition to a Unique Number, which is currently being worked on. Which will replace your CHI and NHS number and will be (so far) the same as the english 10 digit number

      3. Jonathan Richards 1

        What goes around, comes around.

        > there's definitely already an NHS unique number

        Ah, yes. And at the birth of the NHS, what did it use for the person-ID? The National Identity Card number, as introduced during World War II to keep track of the population1. Although born after the war, I had one with the same pattern as a National Registration number, and my mother, on seeing her old National Health card immediately said "But that's my Identity Card number". So, using NHS numbers for person-ID has a certain satisfying symmetry, don't you think?

        1http://www.1911census.org.uk/1939.htm

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      NINOs aren't perfect

      A friends wife was issued with an identical NINO to someone who shared her name. (Luckily) it was only discovered when she had to sign on (in the 1980s).

      The total lack of surprise, interest (or indeed help) from the DWP suggested it was not a unique, nor particularly shocking occurrence.

  6. albaleo

    It's for the addresses (maybe)

    "I can't see that medical records and tax liability are sufficiently closely correlated to make the exercise worthwhile."

    I don't think it's the medical records that are of interest, but people's addresses. Under new income tax arrangements, Scottish residents will pay income tax to Scotland. I'm guessing the NHS register is considered the most accurate database linking people to their current address.

  7. Christoph
    WTF?

    Your relationship with your Doctor is based on trust

    You trust your Doctor with extremely personal information so that Doctor can keep you healthy. You expect that data to be kept confidential.

    Where does that trust go when you know that anything you tell your Doctor will be passed round every bureaucrat who feels like having a look?

    What will happen to your health when you dare not tell things to your Doctor?

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: Your relationship with your Doctor is based on trust

      The easy way to stop that is to 'gently' reming the politicians that even going to their doctor to get treated for a mild STD will become common knowledge in a few hours.

      "My dear chap, we can't have the PM being treated for mild dose of the clap appearing on the front page of the Sun/Mirror now can we?"

      "I take it that we should put a stop to this bill then?"

      "Yes Minister!"

      1. AndrewDu

        Re: Your relationship with your Doctor is based on trust

        They're ahead of you.

        The proposed ID database for the whole country (defeated in parliament, but it'll be back, as many times as it takes) ALREADY contains a feature to ensure that the records of "those and such as those" would not be accessible to all and sundry - unlike your record, or mine.

        So your suggested threat would be empty, and they would know it.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Your relationship with your Doctor is based on trust

      Except medical records aren't privileged (hello RIPA !).

      Also [some] doctors have a habit of imposing their morality on others. I know one person who told their GP they used cannabis for their MS (muscle spasms). Two weeks later they got a letter from the DVLA advising them that their license was suspended under medical grounds, and they needed to arrange a drug test before it would be reassessed. It was a wasted gesture, as this person hadn't actually driven for years.

    3. Sarah Balfour

      Re: Your relationship with your Doctor is based on trust

      It should improve immeasurably. Remember, if your quack is an NHS quack, they're nothing more than Big Pharma sales-droids. You actually attempt to practise anything remotely resembling medicine whilst employed by the NHS and you won't be employed by it very much longer. The NHS does NOT exist to make the sick well, NHS Choices is testament to that, but merely to keep people 'unsick' for long enough for them to BELIEVE they're well, so they can sell 'em whatever poison they're currently getting fat commission wads for the next time they pitch up.

      Look at the primary ills affecting the UK these days: obesity, diabetes, CHD/CVD, dementia - ALL could be eliminated, or dramatically reduced, if the NHS was to do a 180° about-turn on its dietary policy, the evidence that a low-fat/high-carb, calorie-restricted diet is the CAUSE of - and NOT the cure for - all of the above has been around for almost 40 YEARS, yet kids are STILL being taught that, and that saturated fat and cholesterol are the primary causes of CHD/CVD at med school TODAY, they must seek the truth on their own and, if and when they find it, they've no choice but to enter into private practice because, as I've already stated, the NHS doesn't want real doctors.

      That's why statins are so popular, to the point that the DoH is considering making prescription to the over-50s MANDATORY. Statins cause all of the above, because all of the above are affected by cholesterol and dietary fat intake - the lower both are, and therefore the higher carb intake - the greater your risk. Statins lower overall cholesterol and high overall cholesterol is caused by elevated HDL, so the lower overall the greater your risk of heart disease!

      Statins also have many side-effects (or, as I prefer to term them, serious adverse health events) including, but not necessarily limited to: diabetes, obesity, dementia, increased risk of some cancers (prostate, testicular, breast, ovarian, pancreatic, liver, gastric and bowel, to name but a few). Your quack will downplay these SAHEs but, the truth is, they're incredibly common, and you're likely to go from never needing to pop any pills a day, to being on a cocktail of up to a dozen - sometimes more - toxins a day. THAT'S why statins are so popular - worth $29bn per annum in the US alone. That's just what Big Pharma rakes in from selling the statins, take the drugs required to counter all the SAHEs and you can easily quadruple that figure.

      Http://www.29billion com - Statins: The Great Cholesterol Cover-Up

      Http://www.cerealkillersmovie.com - Why The Standard Western Diet Is Killing You

      Both are now crowd-funding via Kickstarter for sequels; I've bought in, if you value your health, you should too.

      1. Maverick

        Re: Your relationship with your Doctor is based on trust

        "Remember, if your quack is an NHS quack, "

        what an ill informed post, doctors in General Practice are either self employed or (2) employed by another doctor who is self employed already

        they work in a private business, simple

        I didn't read the rest of the post as I expected it to be full of the "don't vaccinate your kids / herd immunity" rubbish that infests the internet

        1. Viv Fletcher

          Re: Your relationship with your Doctor is based on trust

          They're still box tickers.

      2. phil dude
        Boffin

        Re: Your relationship with your Doctor is based on trust

        I suspect though this is cherry picking. My primary care physician here (sort of a GP), is an active guy. He know's my athletic streak and the evidence on weight gain is overwhelming, and he relates his general perception of patients presenting worst symptoms. I interact professionally with a number of clinicians and surgeons and they all say the same - lifestyle choices are the greatest contributor to the majority of conditions.

        These medications are developed because the *majority* of people are in terrible shape after the age of 30, and 2 decades of metabolic decline causes a great many ancillary problems. Hence, mass prescription of statins to prevent deterioration of blood vessels. I have a section in my thesis on "cancer side-effects", which would make your eyes water...there are many worse places to be than needing statins.

        All drugs have side-effects. An astonishing motivation to do everything possible to avoid needing them....perhaps?

        The sale of playing fields and the dearth of swimming pools in the UK suggests the govt does not have the peoples best interests at heart...(no pun intended).

        P.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wrong Acronym!

    Surely this should be Citizens Unique Numerical Tag ...?

    It's what our overlords (politicians and top admin both, servants my arse) think of us all anyway, why not formalise it?

    Anon because it's *that* word and free speech is often a nebulous quantity...

  9. Zog_but_not_the_first
    Big Brother

    Bravewhat?

    Ya can take our lives, but ye'll never take our fr.....

    Oh! Hang on.

  10. Lostintranslation

    Unique citizen reference number

    "unique citizen reference number". So that's what they call prisoner numbers these days.

  11. Huns and Hoses

    Scratching my head

    So ..

    "Whilst the ICO are neither for nor against the creation of a national identity number per se, we do advocate against the creeping use of such unique identifiers to the extent that they could become the national identity number by default."

    And the material difference to us would be?

    1. A Known Coward

      Re: Scratching my head

      The difference is that ICO require that the government bring in such legislation through the front door and not through the back door.

      The former giving it the requisite amount of publicity and public scrutiny that the latter is deliberately attempting to avoid.

  12. This post has been deleted by its author

  13. wolfetone Silver badge
    Flame

    Think of the children

    "But we MUST have a national ID system because we need to protect ourselves from terrorists!!!!"

    Said nearly every expert on the BBC ever.

  14. David Pollard

    Meanwhile, in associated news

    Today saw the launch of an "Offficial NHS Calculator" app which checks susceptibility to heart attack based on lifestyle questions. This is being promoted in several national newspapers. It's curious that although an anonymous web version would presumably be trivially easy to implement, the app is only accessible from mobile devices.

    It's hard not to wonder whether details are being analysed and recorded against the mobile telephone number from which the app is accessed.

    1. Sarah Balfour

      Re: Meanwhile, in associated news

      Obviously not getting enough of that Big Pharma pie. That app's sole purpose is to identify how many more people the NHS can poison.

      If you DO decide to use it, just remember: the HIGHER your cholesterol, the LOWER your risk. Unless you want to be on a cocktail of dozens of pills, suffer a decreased quality of life, almost certain dementia and probably an early grave, you'll ignore the actual result.

      And if the quack tries to force 'em on you, politely, but firmly, decline. I believe statins were responsible for the death of my dad's best mate, shame I can't ever prove it…

    2. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: Meanwhile, in associated news

      No online equivalent?

      https://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/nhs-health-check/Pages/check-your-heart-age-tool.aspx

      1. David Pollard
        Facepalm

        Re: Meanwhile, in associated news

        It's good to see that an online equivalent is in fact available. Earlier in the day after following newspaper links there didn't seem to be one. It looks as though the NHS site doesn't show the online version to those who are browsing safely with scripts blocked. Now I can't enter details without allowing the trackers that Ghostery is blocking.

  15. Stevie

    Bah!

    The soundex search will be a riot in a place with more than a few McPhersons, McGillicuddys, McAdders etc.

    I worked in one place with a huge database of people where the soundex only ever uncovered the same 200 clients because it wasn't properly regionalised.

  16. David Pollard

    NHS Scotland is not exactly secure

    A quick check with Google for [site:nhs.uk paypal viagra] shows a link for

    www.elib.scot.nhs.uk/portal/elib/Pages/LinkThroughChecker.aspx

    which redirects to: http://www.trace-elements.org.uk/

    The SHOW people, who are apparently responsible for "Putting Scotland's Health on the Web" don't provide a telephone number which would allow this to be reported. They do, however, provide a handy contact page for technical issues and feedback. This, when details are entered, comes up with: "The remote server returned an error: (403) Forbidden."

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nothing to Hide, Nothing to fear

    .... as the governments around the world have shown to be true through history... {coughs}

    We have many indexes of who we are and what we do and where we are. But one good thing, is that they are not always linked, so there is an appearance of anonymity. If you register for Tax, fair enough pay the tax man, but if you go to a GP then the NHS only need your details for treating you, not linking you to council or income tax. It's not their job.

    And as for NHSCR being custodians.............. they are just trying to survive, they are not needed in this day and age. Boards already talk direct with the rest of the uk

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