This has been a nasty little story, and opens up a new area for criminologists: crimes of the bureaucracy. There has allegedly been a great deal of abuse of power, partly because councils and social services have been able to use confidentiality as a means to prevent public scrutiny of their actions. There are many more cases in the pipeline, affecting the vulnerable, be they single mums, the separated, the sick or the elderly. A number of bloggers have fought against this in the UK and deserve congratulations, especially if this now causes a change in behaviour on the part of public servants…some hope, eh?
This is another aspect of the superinjunction scandal. Its not just celebrity shagggers who use superinjunctions. It’s “civil servants”…Our employees.