It was Patricia Hewitt

[durham_rambler]

who said "The linking of files now kept separately would involve a fundamental breach of trust between government and the community."

She was writing in 1977 in her book Privacy: The Information Gatherers (ISBN 0 901108 68 5), published by the National Council for Civil Liberties of which she was then the General Secretary.

In the succeeding years NCCL has become Liberty and Patricia Hewitt has become Secretary of State for Health. What is fascinating about that biography on the Department of Health website is that it totally omits her time at NCCL which ran from 1973 to 1983.

Comments

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Wasn't it you who taught me that if you leave a ten-year gap in your CV, the prospective employer will assume you've been in jail?

[valydiarosada.livejournal.com]

I once came across a CV that included 5 years in non-[sector]-related self-employment. We decided that probably didn't mean he'd been in jail. We later found out he'd spent the time touring in Europe in a rock band.

[helenraven.livejournal.com]

The resume thing is spookily close to one of today's Onion articles (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/57536?utm_source=onion_rss_daily). Well-spotted, sir!

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Well, the Liberty years are in the biography now (under 'Background') - I just looked.

[durham-rambler.livejournal.com]

I still can't see it. Are you looking at this page (http://www.dh.gov.uk/AboutUs/MinistersAndDepartmentLeaders/MinisterOverview/MinistersBiography/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4109618&chk=I8k8Zj)? I cannot see any link to background information, either in SeaMonkey or Internet Explorer browsers.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Deeply weird. When I clicked on your link last night, it took me to this page (http://www.answers.com/topic/patricia-hewitt), or one with exactly the same info.

Am I going mad, or is it a government conspiracy? You decide... ;-)

Not a government conspiracy

[durham-rambler.livejournal.com]

I think your finger slipped. The link on the words Secretary of State for Health (http://www.dh.gov.uk/AboutUs/MinistersAndDepartmentLeaders/MinisterOverview/MinistersBiography/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4109618&chk=I8k8Zj) takes you to the official biography on the Department for Health website, whereas the link on the words which ran from 1973 to 1983 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Hewitt) on the next line takes you to the Wikipedia article which has been lifted wholesale by answers.com.

Re: Not a government conspiracy

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Now I only have to decide whether to be reassured or disturbed by the news.