Coalition government supports increased data privacy

David Cameron plans a Freedom Bill to restore civil liberties

The Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government has promised to increase the public's civil liberties by bringing in a Freedom Bill and " rolling back state intrusion" by abolishing a number of Labour's central IT programmes.

The lack of data privacy in UK society, and the development of a so-called 'database state', were concerns raised by both parties prior to the election.

The new government has outlined its first policy proposals in a document called the Coalition Agreement.

Section 10 of the document is devoted to civil liberties, and puts forward plans to scrap Labour's ID card scheme, the National Identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the Contact Point Database.

Additionally, the government will bring in more CCTV regulation, and end the storage of internet and email records without good reason.

The finger-printing of children at school without parental permission will be outlawed, according to the agreement, and the scope of the Freedom of Information Act will be extended to provide greater transparency.

Key to the civil liberties agenda is a plan to bring in what is described as the "Freedom or Great Repeal Bill".

Details of the Bill are vague at the moment, but the Liberal Democrats have been campaigning for the introduction of a Freedom Bill for some time.

Conservative leader David Cameron said during the first joint speech with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg that the government will be primarily concerned with three key principles: freedom, fairness and responsibility. He added that he was "committed to civil liberties and curbing the power of the state".

Cameron has appointed Theresa May as Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality, which will presumably put her in charge of cutting back many of Labour's central government programmes.