Erasing David (Completed )

About the Film

Last year, filmmaker DAVID BOND received a letter informing him that his daughter Ivy was among the 25 million UK residents whose details had been lost by the government’s Child Benefit Office. Her name, date of birth and David’s address, national insurance number and bank details are out there, for anyone to see.

Forced to contemplate the consequences of this loss of privacy, David soon discovers some alarming truths about what the government and private companies already know about ordinary citizens. David had never really given much thought to the details he provided for his supermarket loyalty card or his doctor’s surgery; suddenly he faces a deluge of personal data that stretches long into his and his daughter Ivy’s future. Can he put a stop to it?

David talks to experts in security, espionage, policing, finance, communications, privacy and technology from around the world. He hears personal testament from victims of identity theft, DNA blunders and Internet fraud, and meets campaigners to learn how to avoid sleepwalking into a culture of surveillance.

David’s findings spur him on to test the boundaries of today’s civil liberties. He tries to erase himself from public and company records and attempts to disappear from the system for thirty days. The UK’s top Private Investigators are hired to track him down. Is it still possible to live a private, anonymous life in the UK? Or does the state and commerce already know too much about ordinary people?

By looking at how we as individuals interact with the world today, ERASING DAVID reveals how and where we most need to fight for our privacy. Through his uncomfortable and disturbing journey into the database state, David uncovers the privacy traps we all fall into, and provides an indispensable and empowering guide to self-protection.