Big brother creep

This is a disturbing news report. Council uses criminal law to spy on school place applicants: The point I'm concerned about is summed up in this first sentence. "A council yesterday admitted using laws designed to track serious criminals to spy on a family for nearly three weeks to find out if they were lying about living in a school catchment area." Notice the reapplication and thus widening of the use of a law fram what was intended. And then recall that this government has several times, concerning its legislation, assured those of us concerned that the potential powers granted to agencies are too great and so likely to be abused that the intent is not to do that, so it is okay. Well, I can't help thinking that this is an example of precisely the worry we are articulating: that powers once granted tend to extend to their fullest expression. If you don't build in safeguards, you'll have trouble. Now let's remember this in connection with the Regulatory Reform Bill (I think that's right) and ID cards.