ROBERT Feal-Martinez highlighted the horrors of the pan-EU ‘criminal’ data sharing system, ECRIS, (SA, January 30). He also highlighted how easy it is to find yourself on this database, through so called "crimes"

such as personal obligation - an ‘open category’ (offences undefined thus all encompassing).

He didn't mention the other and related horror of the same week, the Coroners' and Justice Bill. Hidden away in this well meaning Bill, are ‘Information Sharing Orders’ which enable Ministers to ‘confer powers on any person to enable further or onward disclosure of the information’ in other words, the protections that we used to have under the Data-Protection Act have been blown right out of the water. Your personal data will be shared with a huge number of people.

Having just been the victim of an error on a government database, incorrectly used, like many others before me I know how difficult and damaging information errors can be. So I found it especially sad to hear only one or two MPs voice their concerns as this Bill sailed through Parliament.

At the same time, we have other scary initiatives - Contact Point where extensive data on your child is shared with, according to another Minister, 390,000 people, the KiddyPrint, child finger-printing initiative, the ‘Interception Modernisation Programme’, yes it really is called that, to record all private communications between UK citizens and, of course, the proposed ID Card system. Who is looking after the protection of your personal data? It seems that no one is.

GREG BROWNE Estella Close Swindon