This is the way it should be. Citizens have a right to privacy with their PIA and having a dedicated NCIC/Records channel with strapped "E" is the way to go.
An interesting little side note regarding this….
Whenever I purchase any equipment at all that has a network connection, I have to go through a security review. I just had to do it with some remote environmental monitoring equipment. This gear will report temperature, indications of water on the floor, and a few contact closures. This will be used for monitoring remote sites.
Our purchasing group puts a hold on any requisitions that include anything that connects to the network or is software. We're required to go through this process with our IT Security group and everything gets graded as to potential risk.
Even a thermometer, since it was something that had someone else's software and a network connection.
Yeah, it's silly sometimes, but it wasn't something they randomly thought up out of the blue. It became a requirement after equipment was purchased and put on the network that lead to some serious security breaches.
I'm getting ready to build out a new radio system for our PD. Sites will be linked over IP for simulcast and remote fill in receivers. Each of those repeaters, receivers, GPS/NTP boxes, etc. will have to go through the same security review. Our purchasing group will require the vendor to sign agreements and have insurance in place in case a breach happens.
When I tell the IT security folks that these repeaters will be on the network and handling voice traffic that includes personal information, they're going to launch into a full review. That will happen even though the system will be buried behind firewalls, access control lists, etc.
If running that sort of info over a data network triggers that sort of response, it better damn well be encrypted. Even if the PD doesn't care, I'll still have to meet the requirements of the IT group.
This is so far beyond simply being an 'inconvenience" for scanner listeners. Like I've said before, the arguments proposed by the scanner hobby are all wrong, and will not likely result in any changes. By all means, keep trying, I'm not going to stop you, but this goes really deep, and well beyond scanners or hiding suspected nefarious deeds of public officials.