At 16:44 05/11/03 +0000, David Bishop wrote:
>But John don't you see that this issue is close to what we do with stats? If
>we as people who use them don't voice some concerns over these Orwellian
>nightmares no one else will.
I'm really not convinced that the question of whether or not one can trust
police assurances that fingerprint records have been destroyed is really
one that specifically concerns Statisticians, except in their more general
capacity as human beings and citizens.
Anyway, personal opinions as to what constitutes an 'Orwellian nightmare'
will obviously vary considerably. Whilst I know that many have different
views, and understand and respect the reasons for their views, I personally
am one of those people who wouldn't mind if (might even favour) there was
an official database of fingerprints of everyone, even those who have never
been charged with a crime - so I obviously would not (personally) get
excited about the question of whether police could be trusted when they
gave assurances that fingerprint records had been destroyed.
Kind Regards
John
----------------------------------------------------------------
Dr John Whittington, Voice: +44 (0) 1296 730225
Mediscience Services Fax: +44 (0) 1296 738893
Twyford Manor, Twyford, E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Buckingham MK18 4EL, UK [log in to unmask]
----------------------------------------------------------------
******************************************************
Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your
message will go only to the sender of this message.
If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's
'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically
to [log in to unmask]
*******************************************************
|