Why are the police obsessed.....

[R1Geezer]

with collecting data from innocents?
http://news.sky.com/s...Details%2C_It_Emerges
and why are people stupid enough to leave their personal details?

[Gromit]

Simple. Ban Cash. Only transactions with a paper trail should be permitted. The majority us us pay and borrow by card, so everyone is happy.

[R1Geezer]

good idea gromit, ethandron would sign up for that no doubt!

[ethandron]

assume nothing about me and you can't go far wrong ;)

[R1Geezer]

are you eth or Ron?

[naomi24]

I'm assuming she's eth.

[ethandron]

i refer you to my previous post..

[naomi24]

mmm.... seems like a case for Miss Marple. Let's look at the evidence we've accumulated.

//my other half has been involved in recruitment for many years and has never allowed the fact that a person has had their dna taken to influence HIS decision. //

Yep. Definitely eth. Who needs dna? :o)

[ethandron]

maybe i'm ron and he's eth ;)

[jackthehat]

Ethel and Ronald.............OR......... Ethan and Veronica...

[naomi24]

mmm .. could be ... but doubtful.

[starone]

There are certain things you cannot do without cash, Like the local shop has not got the facility for card use so if I need a loaf of bread or a bottle of milk urgently I have to pay with cash. I also know that it is very easy for large organisations to get information about everyone. For instance, all they have to know is your post code and the number of your house, and they know where you live, your name and other details about you and your neighbours. But have you anything to fear from this? I don't think so. After all, if they start harrassing you by phone or letter it's easy to throw the letter away or hang up the phone.

[ethandron]

or even ethan and ronald, or ethel and veronica.
i've confused myself now :oI

[eyethenkyew]

I find it quite hilarious that some on here basically object strongly to their details, in whatever form, being held on Police databases, yet far less trustworthy organisations than the Police have access to our personal information and hardly anyone seems to bat an eyelid about that.

When people casually refer to "the Police" and what they do or do not do regarding personal information etc etc, what has to be understood is that "the Police" are empowered by their political masters, i.e. the Home Office, yet I don't think that they are hardly ever, if at all, brought into the equation.

No, the Police cannot simply invent excuses for having our details on file, database etc, they are duty bound to do so. Therefore, to all the shrinking violets who so strongly object to the powers invested in their local "Bobby", why not direct your ire towards those Honourable Members whom we all respect and look up to? They are the real "villains of the piece".

[sandyRoe]

Who respects MP's now?

[DTCwordfan]

I bet the police and MI5/6 can already access bank accounts; certainly the latter.....

[Gromit]

eyethenkyou

// No, the Police cannot simply invent excuses for having our details on file, database etc, they are duty bound to do so. //

No they are not. The whole point of the news reports is that this is seen as an abuse, and even the Police admit it is wrong.

[New Judge]

Of course you are quite right, eyethenkyew.

Although I did not make it entirely clear I believe the blame lies, as you say, with the legislators and not the police, who only act in accordance with the law.

I am no shrinking violet but I object to any individual or organisation - state or private - unnecessarily collecting and retaining information about me. If they don’t need it they should not have it. The notion that it “might come in handy” is not good enough. And it is no less acceptable simply because much of it is already widely held.

[eyethenkyew]

I don't want to get into a slanging match here, but for Gromit to question my factual statement about what is or isn't the Police's "duty" is, to say the least, probably just ignorance on his part.

The facts are that the legislation, put on the statute books by those Right/Hon Members, is done so in order that the Police are there to enforce it. The Police have not been instrumental in Act after Act after Act being introduced, as the saying goes: "Theirs is not to reason why", in other words the Police are the law enforcers, not law makers, a bit like bailiffs who roll up on your doorstep to collect outstanding fines, for example, do they just do that off their own bat? Of course not, they are tasked to so do by the Courts.

So, as I correctly stated earlier, if you have a beef about any legislation you have to complain to the correct authority, not to their servants. Talk about "Upstairs Downstairs"?

I rest my case, M'Lud.