Data protection gone mad?
One of the reasons I refuse to give money to any Oxford University appeal is that the university authorities are always insufferably pompous when it comes to giving out details of people's degrees.
Today I rang up to ask what class of degree David Miliband and his brother Ed both have.
Oh, we can't give you that "for data protection reasons", the press officer told me.
This is data protection gone mad.
Both Milibands want me to employ them - or at least me and 40 million other people to employ them. By standing for leader of the Labour Party they are hoping to become prime minister, and so become the ultimate public servant.
So I'd like to know about their qualifications for the job.
What's more, they were both educated at great cost from the public purse. The public has good reason to know what happened to our money.
There was a time when educational qualifications were regularly published. Oxford degrees would be published in the - indeed I've kept my copy of the Gazette just to prove I got an Oxford degree!
And schools would proudly publish O-level and A-level results in the local paper. And the kids involved were usually delighted.
Not now, it seems. People's public exam results and university degrees are all a matter of personal privacy, even if they were educated at public expense.
What a licence for people to lie and cheat!
Go ahead. Claim you've got a first class degree from Oxford University, for the university won't deny it - "for a data protection reasons" of course.
Fifteen years ago I in which I exposed his bogus educational qualifications, and I managed this partly thanks to a helpful and friendly Oxford University press officer reading out Archer's old application form line-by-line over the phone.
That wouldn't be possible now. I'd be stymied by data protection rules, and Archer would probably get away with the lies he told to get into Oxford.
By the way, says he got a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
But I've no way of checking that.
. Which rather suggests that either he didn't get a first, or is being very modest about it.
I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out. Follow me on
Comment number 1.
At 16th Aug 2010, Briantist wrote:You think that's mad. I asked the local council to provide a data feed of the GPS positions of buses to make a live map.
"We have considered using the vehicle positioning data in this way before, however, after extensive conversations with the main bus operator on the Brighton & Hove real time system, they felt that by displaying exactly where each of their buses were located could cause a potential health and safety risk to their drivers."
Yes, knowing where a 30 tonne bus is a "health and safety risk".
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Comment number 2.
At 16th Aug 2010, U14532624 wrote:As long as you have the persons permission. I don't see the problem in them giving it to you
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Comment number 3.
At 16th Aug 2010, JohnB wrote:When I got my (not particularly remarkable) Oxford degree it was published in the Times the following day. Those were the days, eh Michael! Top People and all that! The University I now teach at (largely devoid of Top People, thank God) is reluctant even to tell its teaching staff what degrees the students got - for data protection reasons, you understand. The real reason is that the computer decides the degree results, and we never see all of a student's marks - so it's none of our business, you see, obviously, I mean why would you want to know? As I get older, the world does not get any easier to understand.
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Comment number 4.
At 16th Aug 2010, Briantist wrote:Just out of interest, as an employer, if a job applicant claims a particular qualification, how do I go about verifying it?
Even if I had a "certificate" in my hand, I couldn't ring up to check if it was real?
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Comment number 5.
At 16th Aug 2010, richardblogger wrote:@Briantist
Don't worry about checking the qualifications of an applicant, I've heard that they are two-a-penny these days ;-) It is far better to check the Facebook page of the applicant, that way you will find out *exactly* what they'll be like as an employee. :-)
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Comment number 6.
At 16th Aug 2010, BluesBerry wrote:David obtained a first-class Oxford degree, to his brother's 2:1, and went on to take a masters in political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
David's flaw is not intelligence; it's what psychologists might call "pragmatic" intelligence - what to say or do & when for maximum effect.
David was made Head of the Downing Street Policy Unit when still in his 20s.
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Comment number 7.
At 16th Aug 2010, Harper S wrote:The Data Protection Act 1985 came into full force in November 1987, long before Archer's downfall.
Maybe Oxford have other reasons for their coyness of recent years.
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Comment number 8.
At 16th Aug 2010, barriesingleton wrote:SOMEWHERE OUT THERE
One or more of the credit reference agencies has my ex wife's date of birth against my name. I asked them to correct it but got an obfuscatory response. Even when Experian said I could get a free 'reading' I found I had to enter MY DATE OF BIRTH! They say they can't discuss further due to DATA PROTECTION.
Those whom 'the Gods' wish to destroy, they first make mad.
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Comment number 9.
At 17th Aug 2010, TheDockPigeon wrote:"insufferably pompous." The words pot, kettle, black spring to mind...
Far more edifying than this post is Mr Crick's contribution to this:
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Comment number 10.
At 17th Aug 2010, Summer_has_gone wrote:Wow - you have a lot of spare time on your hands if this winds you up! Seriously though at the end of the day it is up to the individual if they want to make that available. Surely it would have been better to speak to the press for Ed or David? Sorry - that was a little too sensible perhaps? I know I wouldn't want this kind of information issuing unless someone spoke to me first - and quicker and would save time! Get a hobby maybe?
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Comment number 11.
At 17th Aug 2010, Permanent Gloom wrote:I'm not sure what the issue is here. I'd be pretty fed up if someone called Oxford out of the blue and asked for my degree result of many years ago and they were given it. It's not arrogant to start from an assumption that the alumni don't want their personal information given out to anyone.
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