ContactPoint's success depends on its users

In this regard, ContactPoint, the online database of every child and young person in England, has not disappointed. Our feature's countdown clock (see p22) had to be amended at late notice last week as junior children's minister Kevin Brennan announced the date for the first organisations to start using the system had slipped again, from October to January. Trials were initially supposed to start in April. The further delay leaves the date for the full national roll-out up in the air.

Last time round, the "missing discs" debacle at HM Revenue & Customs prompted Children's Secretary Ed Balls to order an independent security review of ContactPoint. As a result of that review, all users must be subject to enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks and an audit trail of data use. This time, "user testing" has been served up as the official reason for the postponement. If serious security concerns do in fact still prevail behind the scenes, the government would not admit to it. To do so would shatter confidence in the system and threaten to bring the whole initiative into disrepute.

But when it does eventually go live, the security of ContactPoint will be as much down to individual users as the system itself. Human carelessness is as likely to undermine the success of ContactPoint as problems with the technology. As well as putting in place the required security measures, organisations need to ensure that once their system is up and running they don't take their eye off the ball. Ongoing training at regular intervals will help guard against complacency. The aim is to have a quality system operated by quality users. With this in mind, organisations shouldn't balloon the numbers who have access to ContactPoint - only those that need to be users should be users.

Last week's delay prompted ContactPoint's opponents to renew their calls for the system to be scrapped. These calls are defeatist and misguided. By connecting different services dealing with children and young people to protect the vulnerable, ContactPoint is an embodiment of Lord Laming's conclusions from his inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie. The consequences of a serious security breach in disclosing a child's details might not bear thinking about. But the costs of not having ContactPoint are invisible and greater still.