Big Brother Watch: Bill doesn't go far enough

Friday, 11 February 2011 12:00 AM

Daniel Hamilton, campaign director of Big Brother Watch said in reaction to the publication of the protection of freedom bill:

"Any moves to reverse the tide of authoritarian legislation we've seen over the last few years are warmly welcome.

"The measures announced today will see unscrupulous wheel-clampers reined in, increased regulation of CCTV and reform of the laws which give local councils 1,200 different powers to barge into your home without invitation. The bill will also bring an end to the excessive and often humiliating criminal records checks millions of people are forced to undergo each year.

"While it contains a lot of good news, the bill doesn't go far enough.

"The bill will do nothing to weaken the police's powers to randomly stop and search members of the public, even if they do not suspect they have carried out a crime. This power must be revoked.

"While it is encouraging that the bill will see an end to the storage of the DNA of those arrested and not convicted of any crime, it says nothing about the 1.1 million innocent people whose details are already on the database. When they took office, the coalition promised to delete this data. They must now do so."

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