Security fears prompt call for scrapping of children's database

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The planned database containing the details of all 11 million children in England should be suspended because it is insecure and will put children's safety at risk, an alliance of independent school heads and privacy campaigners warns today. In a letter to the Guardian, influential groups representing private schools, together with the human rights campaign Liberty, say it is "ludicrous" that the government intends to push on with the controversial ContactPoint database project while awaiting the outcome of a new security analysis of the system. Ed Balls, the children, schools and families secretary, announced the review last month after the scandal in which discs containing the details of 25 million people on the child benefit database were lost after being sent by unrecorded post. Today's letter in effect calls for ContactPoint to be scrapped; it argues that the system - to be accessible to more than 300,000 users via the internet - "is not adequately securable to ensure the safety of our children". ContactPoint is being introduced to try to improve children's services by improving communication between practitioners dealing with children and young people.Each child in England will be placed on the database, which will hold basic information including name, address, date of birth and contact details for parents or carers.