Temptation proves too great for authoritarian government.
The 'conspiracy theorists' have, once again, been proved right, with the Government admitting that they have given the Police access to the Track and Trace system.
From the moment it was announced the Government's Track and Trace system met with fierce opposition from those who suggested that the government would use the data for things other than the health of the person downloading it. Critics pointed out that the government having detailed data about where you went and who you went with was bound to be used by the government for purposes other than its original intent.
A look at the Government's own Track and Trace privacy notice has no mention of the data being given to the Police anywhere in any form, although the directive itself is issued by The Ministry of Defence, and not, the NHS.
The privacy notice clearly states: "..This will involve the gathering and, when required, the sharing of information with NHS/NHS(S), as the responsible bodies: your data will not be used for any other purpose."
Whilst Article 6(1) (c) - ‘legal obligation’ states:
MDP are obliged to process the personal data to comply with the law which requires us to collect your data and share it with public health officers, where necessary, under Section 251 of the National Health Service Act 2006 and the associated Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002, and The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 11) Regulations 2020.
Months of assurances and denials by the UK government that the Track and Trace data would not be misused proved to be a lie. Ministers, Public Health England and NHS spokespersons all made a point of 'assuring' us that this was a health app designed to inform you of a possible infection risk, and would not be given to any third party or misused in any way. In reality, the Track and Trace system is being orchestrated by The Ministry of Defence and used by the Police.
Michael Gove, on Andrew Marr's Sunday morning show, defended the decision, suggesting that it was to enable the Police to check on those ordered to 'self-isolate' were obeying the law. Marr, failed to challenge Gove on this being a contradiction of what the public had been told about the App's use or intent. He also failed to question Gove on what exactly the Ministry of Defence has to do with an NHS app that tracks a virus.
As we previously reported, back in May, Civil Liberties groups had warned of this development:
The Government have tried to reassure the public that they only want the data for "epidemiological reasons" but this has failed to plicate Civil Liberties and Privacy groups. One campaigner telling Vision News "Governments can't be trusted with these sorts of powers, we know they'll misuse them in the end, they always do! Remember when Councils were using the Anti-Terrorism Act to snoop in people's bins? well this could be a thousand times worse."