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Source: Original Article Traders in child pornography, out of fear of being caught, are said to not be making frequent and heavy use of the internet. Laptops, USB sticks, digital cameras, and mobile phones are said to have become more popular as a means to transport and spread illegal images and videos. Because media like flash memory cards have gotten smaller, and thus are easy to hide, it is said that the chances of being caught are lower than with online transfers. In order to combat this phenomenon, the justice department in collaboration with the Royal Marshals (Royal Constabulary), customs officials and the national police services, have conducted a pilot project where digital equipment and media of incoming travelers to Schiphol Airport were searched. In particular travelers returning from ’suspect’ countries such as Thailand, Brazil, Shri Lank, and Vietnam were targeted for these additional searches. It is entirely unclear which selection criteria the border guards use for these searches. The Royal Marshalls are keeping it a secret but an insider told the Telegraaf newspaper that the criteria includes males traveling by themselves and who are regular travelers to countries that are known for or have a reputation of catering to the sex-tourism industry and the production of child pornography. These individual single male travelers had to surrender their mobile phones or laptops so these searches could be conducted. Whether any child pornography has been discovered during this ‘trial project’ is unclear because customs refuses to answer that question. The justice department wanted to keep a lid on these activities, fearing the legal complications. According to a spokesperson for the Royal Constabulary, searching through digital media has a valid legal basis, that being; customs officials are allowed to search through the possessions of travelers if they have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed. Currently the pilot project is said to be under evaluation by the public prosecution and justice department in Haarlem. The results of this evaluation would be used to determine and decide whether these targeted searches should become a part of the basic law-enforcement methods. Liesbeth Groeneveld, director of an organization where child pornography can be reported said these searches are a “good thing” even though the reality and chances of catching actual criminals is completely unclear. She added that “sending this signal is more important than the results”.
Source: American Chronicle Why? Profiling. There is soon to be a new world order that is taking shape rapidly in our nation by Executive Orders, such as this one. In the new world, we are to be divided up and ranked according to screenings such as the ones initiated by the New Freedom Initiative For People With Disabilities and No Child Left Behind. The ramifications are terrifying. For instance, let’s say that your child is determined by a teacher or school counselor to be “difficult” or “under-achieving” by virtue of a C or D grade. Even now you see how children are separated and removed from their primary classrooms and attend “reading groups” with other teachers. And what if your nine-year-old son decks a kid on the playground and is sent to the principal’s office. Does the principal determine the psychology of the incident? Do the 25 Federal agencies become involved and establish coordinated services and without your permission as parents? As entire school districts are now being corporately funded, I suggest to you that this coordinated profiling of our children speaks volumes of their future potential for higher education and rank in society. Think of the sheer size of mental health screening and the data collection apparatus that will contain actual screening data for each and every American child, no less adults. Another terrifying implication is that conservation and the U.N. Agenda 21 has called for mind-bending population reduction globally. Some conservation organizations have called for a 40-50% reduction in human life to achieve “sustainability.” I wonder how Terri Schiavo was ranked? And most of the legislation that has passed through Congress regarding compulsory mental health screening for children AND for pregnant women, has been passed in hidden legislation and/or by Executive Order. We either weren’t aware of the legislation at all or our opinions were not wanted. Think about that. There are reasons for profiling, RFID, and massive databases that collect everything we do and our medical and psychological records. Simply nothing makes sense unless you look at the trends in legislation and their constant attempts to hide data collection bureaucracies with names like “New Freedom.” Have you noticed that school children are now called into the “counselors’’ offices to talk, rather than having the option to do so? Each quarter, go into your children’s schools and request to see their school records. You are going to see new forms and assessments performed each and every year. Proficiency tests are a part of the annual assessments, which also profile children with hidden, psychographics questions on the tests that analyze personality traits. It is, indeed, a new world, and it is terrifying and unconstitutional. In closing, be very, very careful who you elect and keep very close tabs on your children and their school records – that is if you still actually have your children attending profiling schools.
Source: Australian IT The taxpayers’ information was on the backup tape because they hadn’t cashed state income tax refund checks. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland said an expert’s review could reveal the tape contained more sensitive data. The administration has maintained it does not believe the information had been accessed because it would require specific hardware, software and expertise. But data security experts said the unencrypted tape, described by police as roughly 10cm square and 2.5cm thick, could be breached by someone with computer expertise, time and money. Mr Strickland said 20,000 state employees had signed up for identity-theft protection as of Tuesday night, and there had been no indications that someone had attempted to use their personal information. The state is paying more than $US700,000 to provide all state employees with identity-theft protection services and to hire an independent computer expert to review what data the tape contained. Officials said they would extend identity-theft protection services to the people in the categories announced on Wednesday. The tape was stolen June 10 out of the unlocked car of a 22-year-old intern who had been designated to take the backup device home as part of a standard security procedure. The governor has since issued an executive order ending the practice of employees taking backup devices home for safekeeping. He also mandated a review of how state data is handled.
Source: EDP 24 The new technology is part of a “cashless catering” drive, giving students the opportunity to pay on account and avoid the daily scramble for dinner money. From next Tuesday, Kirkley High School will use biometric fingerprinting to identify each of the school’s 1300 pupils when they make their food orders. Once pupils’ digits have been scanned, canteen staff will have instant access to their account which will be pre-paid by their parents, or topped up at “reval” machines in the school. Parents will be able to control the amount of money available and even place conditions on what kind of food their children should be eating. Yesterday, pupils from years nine, 10 and 12 had their right index fingers scanned, and saw their fingerprints converted into a mathematical algorithm to be stored on the system. The school’s IT manager, Toby Hacker, said: “The scan plots up to 45 points on the fingerprint, then turns them into a long, unique number, like a barcode. Only this number will be stored, not the image itself, so there can be no worry of anyone passing fingerprint information on. We believe we’re one of the first schools in this area to use this technology.” The system will also allow parents to monitor the food choices of their children through a database stored in the computer’s memory. Headteacher, John Clinton, said: “We are a sports college, so developing healthy lifestyles for our students is a particular issue for us. The cashless catering system gives us the ability to influence where they eat and what they eat. We would introduce the controls very gently, but ultimately it will be the parents who control what their children’s diet is.” Starting from next autumn’s year nine intake, pupils will also be banned from leaving the site at lunchtime to restrict their access to fast food. Students had mixed opinions on the new regime. Fifteen-year-old Tom Tillett, of Old Farm Road, Lowestoft, said: “It is a good idea that people don’t have to carry money around. If you had £20 at the start of the week you might just waste it all.” Laura French, 15, of Salisbury Road, Lowestoft, said: “I think it is a bad idea. People should be able to eat what they want.” The pioneering new meals system, developed in partnership with Suffolk County Catering, marks the first step towards a potential £5m redevelopment of the school’s canteen. Deputy headteacher, John Shanahan, said: “We are working closely with Suffolk County Council to create a brand new, state-of-the-art, eco-friendly dining space. The school strongly believes that the dining experience is central to the life of the school, and that the experience could and does affect the ethos and culture of the school.” As well as the security benefit of removing the need for cash in school, it is also hoped that the system will create equality among pupils at meal times, as students claiming free meal entitlements could have their accounts credited anonymously. The cashless revolution in the region’s schools was first reported by the EDP in March, when Taverham Middle School in Norwich became one of the first in the county to launch a pay-on-account service. Comment: “Only this number will be stored, not the image itself, so there can be no worry of anyone passing fingerprint information on” is such a load of deceptive bullshit it would be surprising if anyone buys it. Storage of digital fingerprints is always done by converting a physical image scan of a fingerprint into a set of numbers. Remember how computers store everything in ones and zeros? Well, this is the exact same thing. So yes, full fingerprint details are stored because the number can be used by a system compatible with its algorithm can be used to check the fingerprints.
Source: Canada Gazette
Source: CTV Canada Gass used to own a wireless security camera. Unfortunately, it is now installed in the family’s house, and no one seemed to have a clue where they lived. “Thankfully they are a nice wholesome family, not doing anything too shocking,” he said. Gass’s former camera sends an e-mail image every time it senses motion. He was unsatisfied by the product and returned it to the retailer, but forgot to remove his e-mail address from its software. Someone else bought the camera, but apparently didn’t put in their own e-mail address, so now the camera is sending him images from their house. “I received them at the rate of two to 10 a day,” Gass said. Staples Canada said it warns stores to make sure this particular model of camera is fully erased before resale. However, retailer Tim Walker pointed the finger at Gass. “The onus is on him to make sure that camera had been reset,” Walker said. No matter who’s to blame, one privacy expert said the case is yet another cautionary tale for consumers. “It also raises the question of how many other cases are happening without other people know about it,” said Philippa Lawson of the University of Ottawa’s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. Gass eventually put out a public appeal and located the family.
Terence Drake has posted a very interesting piece on FaceBook and highlights some of their so-called privacy policy that most people are probably unaware of: The so-called “Privacy Policy” of Facebook includes a statement saying that they “may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship.” It goes on to say that, “We may be required to disclose customer information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law or to protect our interests or property. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies.”
Source: Euractive
Source: WYFF4 Judy Johnson said that she and other residents of the Pendleton Garden Apartments no longer feel comfortable living there. Johnson declined an on-camera interview with WYFF News 4, but her attorney said that she is “very upset about it. Very concerned.” Charles Griffin said that Ambling Management is using a camera with a microphone to monitor activity at the apartment complex. Griffin said that the main issue in the lawsuit is sound monitoring, as privacy laws generally prohibit using electronic devices to listen in on conversations unless at least one of the parties involved in a conversation agrees. “Audio is the main thrust of the … cause of action,” Griffin said, accusing Ambling of “endeavoring to intercept the oral communication of Ms. Johnson and other residents living at the apartment complex.” Griffin said that Johnson learned about the audio monitoring when she was at the management office one day. “She was in the office one day and heard a car crank up,” Griffin said. “She inquired about how she could hear that.” Griffin said that the office employees explained that cameras at the complex were monitoring the area. Griffin said that an investigator he hired found a camera in an outside area. The camera was “smaller than a man’s palm and very difficult to spot.” There is no indication of cameras monitoring any activity inside any apartments, Griffin said. Griffin said that the management posted a sign at the entrance to the complex warning about video surveillance at the complex several weeks after Johnson said she learned about the video and audio monitoring. WYFF News 4 contacted Ambling Management, but a spokesperson declined an opportunity to comment on the case. Griffin said he is hoping to turn Johnson’s case into a class-action lawsuit, asking for $100 per day for the privacy violation or $10,000, whichever is greater.
Bryan Glick at computing.co.uk has published an article calling for the pessimism over new technology to end. Brian provides a pop quiz with the following;
And goes on to write;
What Bryan fails to mention is that a growing number of people are, indeed, seeing such a government being formed and created and know that if you allow it to be created it will be too late to be pessimistic.
Source: Press Esc “With no system in place to automatically alert the international police community, these dangerous criminals are given an unacceptable opportunity to escape apprehension and to cause further harm,” Noble said. “Moreover, the absence of a global protocol on sharing vital information such as fingerprints and photographs of escaped prisoners, including terrorists, constitutes a serious threat to the safety and security of citizens worldwide.” Noble also sought G8 support for the creation of an international missing persons and unidentified bodies database. Following the Asian tsunami in 2004, the need to develop a permanent structure to deal with any such future natural or manmade disasters was first raised by Germany at Interpol’s 2005 General Assembly. Hosted by Interpol, this centralised database would enable police around the world to maintain and access information on unidentified persons and bodies on a day-to-day and long-term basis. The Secretary General also provided an update on the International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) image database being developed by Interpol at the G8’s request. Endorsed by the G8 in 2005, the creation of the ICSE image database at the General Secretariat in Lyon will assist national investigators across the globe to identify and potentially rescue victims of child sexual abuse whose images have been posted on the Internet or retrieved from seized computers. Interpol has progressed with the initiative and a pilot project with three G8 countries, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, will be launched by the end of 2007.
Source: BBC
Source: Technology News
Source: NY Times Technologists say the types of computerized data sifting and pattern matching that might flag suspicious activities to government agencies and coordinate their surveillance are not much different from programs already in use by private companies. Such programs spot unusual credit card activity, for example, or let people at multiple locations collaborate on a project. [more]
Source: Tech Digest
Source: KGW City officials say they also hope the cameras will provide on-the-spot photos of the town of six thousand for visitors to the city’s Web site. Last year Bend gave up on attempts last year to install surveillance cameras downtown after residents, vacationers and business owners spoke out about the potential invasion of privacy.
Source: CNet News
This is something you absolutely need to see. This video shows how the Big Brother at Myspace is censoring all posts and articles that mention presidential candidate Ron Paul. Don’t believe it? Watch this recording and see it happen live!
Source: Thrifty Scot Now we are expected to swallow the new Big Brother position the government is taking on debt. Several changes have taken place that will make it more difficult to borrow, and reduce the chances of running from your debt. The government’s Big Brother program is simple, ‘none of your financial information is private any more.’ The banks will be allowed to share your bill paying information, current loans, bank balances, and a host of other information with the Credit Reference companies. It wouldn’t be so bad, if this is where the information stopped. [more]
Source: Reuters Monitoring would be via a combination of static cameras to capture license plate details, electronic tags in vehicles that would be read by roadside monitoring stations and global positioning system satellites to read on-board transponders. “You will need 10 years at a minimum for a national rollout,” Phil Blyth, professor of Intelligent Transport Systems at Newcastle University, told reporters. “I do not see many other options available to us to manage our transport system.” Blythe, head of a panel of transport experts from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, said the technology was already available and had been tried and tested in various countries including Australia and Brazil. [more]
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education Stacy Snyder, an aspiring teacher who is now 27 years old, was set to graduate last year from Millersville’s School of Education. But just days before commencement, campus officials discovered Ms. Snyder’s MySpace page — which featured a photograph of the student wearing a pirate hat and sipping from a plastic cup. The picture’s caption read “Drunken Pirate.” Although Ms. Snyder was of legal drinking age when the photo was taken, Millersville administrators deemed the image “unprofessional,” and they refused to award her an education degree and the teaching certificate that came along with it. (Instead they issued her a degree in English.) Now Ms. Snyder has filed a federal lawsuit asking Millersville to issue her education degree and teaching certificate. The former student also seeks $75,000 in compensatory damages from the university, according to the Intelligencer Journal of Lancaster, Pa. Millersville officials declined to comment, the newspaper said.
Source: WBKO News The dean of students said he saw two girls kissing. He checked the surveillance tape then shared what he saw with the parents of one of the girls. They then pulled her out of school, which then pulled the peninsula school district into a big controversy. “They weren’t harming other students, so I don’t think the administrators had a right to show it to her parents or anybody else,” student, Laura Varadi said. “I think that they didn’t use the cameras like how they should. They should only be used for safety I think,” student, Jade Egelhoff said. “We obviously made a mistake,” Superintendent Terry Bouck said. “We’re here to make sure our kids, our staff and parents are safe, but we’re not going to be monitoring public displays of affection, etc.” But some parents ask “Why not?” “I think that that’s fine if they’re doing something they shouldn’t be doing. The surveillance is fine,” said Heidi Holmes, a Gig Harbor parent. “We’re watching them at home, so we should be watching them at school too,” said Tim, Heidi’s husband. The Holmes said surveillance cameras are a way of life. Helping prevent crime, identifying suspects and just giving folks a sense of security knowing the cameras are always watching. You’ve got to figure that no matter where you are you’re probably going to be on camera, whether from that angle or this angle, you’re probably going to be on. But one store owner said it shouldn’t be for spying. “I’m not for it, because we don’t use it that way,” store owner, Sean Whang said. This is a debate that is not likely to end with the superintendent saying they made a mistake. It really goes to all facets of life not just schools but the workplace and all public areas.
Source: The Columbian Keith Nelson, dean of students at Gig Harbor High School, said he saw the students kissing and holding hands in the school’s busy commons, checked a surveillance camera and showed the parents the tape because they had asked him a few weeks earlier to alert them to any conduct by their daughter that was out of the ordinary. They then transferred their daughter to a school outside the Peninsula School District, which lies northwest of Tacoma. Both girls said their privacy was invaded and denied doing anything wrong. Neither was identified by name in an article published Thursday by The News Tribune of Tacoma. The kiss amounted to a quick “peck,” said the girl who remains at the school, a 17-year-old senior described as the daughter of a News Tribune employee. “We weren’t doing anything inappropriate, nothing anyone else wouldn’t do,” she said. Nelson said students could not have any expectation of privacy in a crowded place and maintained that he would have taken the same action had the students kissing been a boy and a girl. An internal investigation into a complaint from a student - it was unclear whether the complaint came from one of the girls - established that Nelson had not violated district policy, Assistant School Superintendent Shannon Wiggs said. Even so, Principal Greg Schellenberg said, school surveillance videotape may now be used only for security monitoring and discipline for actions such as trespassing, vandalism and fighting. Kissing and other public displays of affection were at the time and remain violations of school rules, but violators will first be given warnings and will be disciplined only for a second offense, Schellenberg said. In addition, school employees are barred from sharing surveillance video in response to an open-ended parental request. “It’s not our normal practice,” Schellenberg said. “It’s not going to happen again.” In the case of the kiss, he added, “the same information could have been portrayed to the family without the video.” Nelson said he respected the change in policy but added that he believes his first obligation is to parents. “They’re paying good money for us to make their kids good citizens,” he said. “Whatever that means to the parents, I’ll do it.”
Source: Globe and Mail Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is the first airport in the United States to conduct a pilot program with the SmartCheck security scanner, which uses backscatter X-ray technology, a form of low-level radiation that penetrates clothing. An early generation of images, however, proved too revealing, with bodies clearly defined. That triggered an outcry from such privacy protection groups as the American Civil Liberties Union. The Transportation Security Administration, which oversees security in 425 U.S. airports, agreed that the pictures were invasive and asked for changes. The company complied. The machines now blur some details and render an image similar to a chalk outline that still shows some body creases while promising to disclose “all types of threat objects,” Reiss said. Implants larger than small pins, such as Johnson’s shoulder and knee replacements, would also show up, TSA officials said. But security authorities will not divulge exactly what does and does not show up on a SmartCheck image and will not say whether the machine has nabbed any passengers carrying suspicious objects.
Source: InfoWorld
Source: The Expositor Campus manager Tracy Arabski said cameras had already been in place at the doors of the student centre on George Street and are doing their jobs. A theft at the building was caught on tape and police were able to track the culprit. Additional cameras have been installed at the student centre parking lot. While Arabski said there have been a few minor security issues at the campus over in recent years, she said “safety is always an ongoing issue,” particularly given the downtown location of the university buildings. And, the subject of student safety has once again come to the forefront after the massacre at Virginia Tech earlier this month, when 32 students and faculty were killed by a deranged student before he shot himself. “The Virginia Tech shootings remind us all of the need for the protection of our students, staff and faculty on our campus,” Laurier president Robert Rosehart said in a posting on the university’s website. Wilfrid Laurier in Waterloo has 107 video cameras in place that monitor much of the campus through a closed-circuit camera system. Security services are also available on a 24-hour basis at the school. In Brantford, campus security includes two full- and two part-time special constables who patrol the buildings during opening hours. Arabski said Brantford is also connected to Waterloo’s security department and help can be dispatched around the clock. The $40,000 surveillance cameras at the local campus were paid for through various sources, including the women’s campus safety committee. Arabski said the city campus is also in the process of establishing a unique program called Laurier Safe Place. Similar to Block Parent, the program will involve downtown businesses that agree to put signs in their windows indicating that students who are feeling unsafe, for any reason, are welcome to come inside. Business owners will be supplied with emergency information to assist students. Arabski said about a dozen businesses are already on board. Some downtown shop owners themselves have recently been asking for added security to protect their businesses. Smash-and-grab robberies are common in the core. Some cities, including Hamilton and London, have surveillance cameras in their downtowns. Critics say the cameras provide a false sense of security, are costly and are an invasion of privacy.
Source: The Register Kate Jopling of Help the Aged told the BBC: “Although when we first hear this it smacks of ‘Big Brother’, we shouldn’t dismiss the possibility of some new technologies to help us in providing better care for people with dementia”. Tagging was introduced by the UK Home Office in 1999 as part of its home detention curfew scheme, which came about in an attempt to help reduce prison overcrowding. Such a surveillance device, which is attached to a person’s ankle, uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The tag communicates with a base station that is hooked up to a telephone line. If the person wanders out of range it sets off an alert. But other technology options could also be considered, including GPS tracking. “Let’s use satellites and satellite technology to tackle some real important social issues that worry many families,” said Wicks. Symptoms of dementia, for which there is no cure, can often include memory loss and confusion, making thre sufferer more vulnerable to wandering off. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, there are currently 700,000 sufferers of dementia in the UK of which the majority are elderly people.
Source: UK Daily Mail Freedom of Information data obtained by the Tories reveals a further 4.9 million sets of prints could now be added to school computers after the vast majority of local education authorities sanctioned the practice. Critics say it is part of a ’softening-up’ exercise to condition children to accept a creeping surveillance society. They also point to the danger of identity theft, if hackers manage to access school databases. Phil Booth, of the NO2ID campaign, said: “This is an abrogation of moral duty. Schools should be teaching children to look after their biometric information. They are going to grow up in a world where keeping it secure is enormously important, yet they are being taught that it is OK to hand it over for the most trivial of matters. It is a disgrace.” The Tories say that, in some cases, it is being done without parents’ permission. Last month, it emerged a primary school headmaster had persuaded pupils to give their prints by pretending they were playing at being spies. He reportedly told youngsters at Ghyllside Primary School in Kendal, Cumbria, it was ‘just a game … so there’s no need to tell your parents’. The prints are used to operate the school’s new library system.
Source: Telegraph The warning, from the head of the European Data Protection supervisor, comes amid moves to allow the EU police agency to process so-called “soft data” in search of relevant information for its criminal investigations. Peter Hustinx said that moves to give Europol the power to gather intelligence on “people who have not (yet) committed a crime” are without privacy safeguards. He told The Daily Telegraph: “The proposal does not specify what data could be used in criminal investigations. It could be everything. It could be a vital detail such as an insurance company about a stolen car. But it could also be soft data, behavioural data.” The information could include statements of hearsay given to a local police force or data on personal shopping habits from a supermarket loyalty card, he said. Under the new Europol rules, expected to be agreed by governments later this year, people will be unable to find out what information is held on them unless all 27 EU police forces unanimously grant permission. Sayed Kamall, the Conservative Euro-MP, shares the watchdog’s fears and is concerned that “behavioural data” will lead to ethnic profiling. “For example, someone who purchases kosher meat and never shops on the sabbath, or who buys halal meat but not alcohol, can easily be categorised and every purchase scrutinised, no matter how innocent it may be,” he said. Mr Hustinx, a Dutchman with decades of experience as a national privacy watchdog and data protection at the European level, is worried at the absence of proper safeguards to ensure the reliability of “soft data”. He said that individuals could easily be identified as suspects, giving the example of someone seen standing next to a terror suspect at a bus stop and becoming labelled “a facilitator for terrorism”. Max-Peter Ratzel, Europol’s director, said that European law enforcers needed to update and extend the scope of intelligence gathering - which is unchanged since the EU police agency was set up in the early 1990s. “Our databases are on organised or serious international crime so I would assume that ordinary citizens would not have any possibility of being there,” he said. Comment: Haven’t we seen what happens when governments ASSUME?
Source: Times Online The forecast is made in documents released by the Home Office under the Freedom of Information Act. The papers show ministers expect national protests similar to the poll tax rebellions of the Thatcher era, with millions prepared to risk criminal prosecution. Opposition MPs said the new documents proved their case that the programme would never work. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: “This will cripple the system. Fifteen million is a massive number. What the Home Office is accepting in private, but refuses to accept in public, is that a massive number of ordinary law-abiding citizens simply will not go along with their scheme.” Davis, whose party’s policy is to scrap the cards, added: “This will render it completely useless as a security or check mechanism of any sort.” The documents, quietly released during parliament’s Easter break, also show that the government is planning to make ID cards compulsory in 2014, despite the expected revolt. The first cards are due in 2009, alongside new passports. Labour has said it will make the scheme compulsory if it wins the next election.
Source: WREX TV You can now put “going to a bar” on the list. Now when some places check your ID, they’ve got a permanent record of your information. The next time you request a table or order a round, the bartender might know your age, height, and eye color before you even make eye contact. That’s thanks to new scanning equipment that’s becoming mainstream. Rockford’s Silver Lounge uses scanners to uncover the underage. General Manager Addison Jun says, “It’s just pretty much this little scanner that’s meant to scan drivers licenses, business cards and it just kind of helps keep track of everybody.” Bar-goers have mixed feelings about being cyber-carded and having their personal information saved in a database. One told 13 News, “It makes me pretty uncomfortable. You don’t know who’s working behind the door.” Billy Cook from Roscoe says, “I feel like it’s an invasion of privacy if they find out where you live. You never know where that info is going to go.” But Jun says they do it for a good reason. “If it’s a fake, it lets us know that it’s not a valid ID. Security is a huge, huge issue in the nightlife business.” But local security experts say don’t underestimate the old-fashioned role of the bouncer. Merchants Police Director Larry Hodges says, “It says here she’s 5′11″. The girl that produced the ID was only 5′5″. It says she’s 160 pounds, the girl that produced the ID was 125. So the machine doesn’t catch that. But the person does.” Cook says, “The established places that have good security will hopefully use it in the right manner and not abuse it.” But bar owners also use it as a marketing tool. Because the scanner saves your address, they can then send out information about special events or upcoming promotions. They can only see and save what’s on the front of your license, including your address and picture. But they do not have access to a person’s criminal record, health information or credit background.
Source: BBC
Source: Telegraph Most crime is committed by a small number of prolific offenders who could be identified almost from birth, ministers believe. After 10 years concentrating on tougher sentences, the review paper said it wanted to tackle the “underlying causes..through better targetting.” Vulnerable children and those at risk will be identified by “trigger” factors such as parents in jail or on drugs. They will be subject to personalised measures, including home visits from specialist practitioners. But the Government says the net should be cast as widely as possible “to prevent criminality developing.” It proposes to “establish universal checks throughout a child’s development to help service providers to identify those most at risk of offending.” The document added: “These checks should piggyback on existing contact points such as the transition to secondary schools.” The plan will be backed up by a new database for all children due to be up and running by 2008. It will contain basic information identifying the child and its parents and will have a “facility for practitioners to indicate to others that they have information to share, are taking action, or have undertaken an assessment, in relation to a child.” The database was ostensibly proposed to prevent another tragic death such as that of Victoria Climbie but now appears to be the basis for cradle-to-adult monitoring. It is not clear when data will be erased from the database. The Government believes children can be prevented from becoming offenders if early intervention is targeted at those who displayed certain behaviours. These include having a short attention span or behaving aggressively or living in a difficult or deprived environment. Some children who show signs of becoming criminals are logged and monitored by dozens of early interventions schemes. Those aged 8-13 may be referred to a Youth Inclusion and Support Panel if they are thought to be potential offenders and data about them is held on an information system. Other agencies target 50 children and young people thought most ‘at risk’ of offending, truancy or social exclusion. Mr Blair said the main aim of policy was to tackle the “hard core” of 100,000 criminals who, he said, commit about half of all crimes in England and Wales. Career criminals would be subject to prolific offender licences, punishable by three years’ jail if broken, which would impose a range of restrictions on their activities. “They are not an alternative to prison. They are in addition to prison,” Mr Blair said when he launched the review at a conference in Westminster. “But we have to ensure that, when people leave prison, they do not rebound straight back in.” He added: “These people have serious problems and targeting the offender means taking those problems seriously. If we want a criminal justice system that works, we have to target the offender and not simply the offence.” Other measures include tougher community sentences and special units for mentally ill prisoners, where drug treatment would be available. The Home Office also announced a review of policing to be carried out by Sir Ronnie Fanagan. the chief inspector of constabulary. He will try to find ways to cut red tape, make the police more accessible to the public and give forces greater say over their budgets. Comment: In other words, if you are different from what the government considered the norm, and thus deemed a “social outcast”, you may find yourself detained and drugged in order to force you into submission to the desired standard. If you also happen to have a short attention span, which a lot of kids naturally have at the ages they propose to monitor, you are likely going to find your child forced to take drugs and will have to endure home visits and invasion of all privacy. I bet the big pharmaceutical companies are already rubbing their greedy little claws together on the mere idea of being able to “help” bring all the above together in a perfect government-and-pharma symbiosis!
Source: This is London The application process, which will cause huge inconvenience to holidaymakers, will take up to six weeks and involve at least 700 civil servants in a huge logistical exercise which threatens to descend into chaos. Those who fail to convince the bureaucrats they are who they say will be denied a travel document - or face a full investigation by antifraud experts. There is no formal appeal process. Critics have likened the new system to an ‘interrogation’ and warned that it will prove intimidating to many law-abiding members of the public. It will also fuel alarm over the emergence of a ‘Big Brother Britain’, in which the Government holds detailed information about everybody living here. The details an applicant will be questioned on include sensitive financial information, such as bank account details and mortgage applications purchased by the Government from a credit-checking company. Officials at the Identity and Passport Service defended the requirement for applicants to undergo the 30-minute interview process, comprising 20 minutes of questioning and ten minutes of form-filling. They say it will reduce the number of passports handed over to fraudsters and terrorists each year - a figure which currently stands at 10,000. The process will begin as soon as a person applies in writing for a passport. Initially, the new regime will apply to around 600,000 first-time applicants each year - but is likely to be extended to everybody wanting a document by 2009. To deal with the 600,000 applicants involves the appointment of 700 extra civil servants - 600 to carry out the interviews and 100 managers. With 6.6million applications processed every year, extending the face-to-face interview to all applicants would require up to 7,000 staff. Once the application arrives, officials will begin compiling a ‘biographical footprint’, containing 200 different pieces of personal information. It will be drawn from Government records, birth and marriage certificates and - most controversially - material purchased by the IPS from one of the UK’s. The bill for buying the personal data from Equifax is one of the main reasons why the passport fee has rocketed to £66. As recently as December 2005, it cost only £42. Bernard Herdan, executive director of the IPS, said the information would include previous and current addresses, how long they have lived there, who with, whether they have a mortgage, and any bank accounts which may be held. Details of a person’s ancestors, family background and any credit cards applied for are also likely to be included. Once the ‘footprint’ is complete, the applicant will be invited to attend one of 69 interview offices due to open across the UK. They will not be open in the evening, forcing most people with jobs to attend on a Saturday. The smallest offices will open only two and a half days a week. Initially, Ministers claimed that over half of the population would be within 15 minutes of an office. Yesterday, officials conceded this was a crude estimate. Instead, they said most people would be within 20 miles - with travel costs to be paid by the applicant. Once there, the interview will take place, with civil servants bombarding the would-be holidaymaker with questions from their ‘footprint’. Mr Herdan said there would be no pass or fail mark. Instead, the official will be attempting to get an overall picture of whether the person is who they say. Those rejected must write to the IPS to ask for the case to be reconsidered, or ask an MP or ombudsman to take up the matter. Even those who are successful are told to expect the process to take as long as six weeks, compared with three or four at present. The fast-track service, for people who desperately need a document within a week, has been scrapped altogether for first-time applicants. Mr Herdan insisted the interview process was not meant to be ‘daunting’, but to weed out fraudulent applications. Critics, however, said the checks would impose a huge burden on the public in order to catch a tiny percentage of people to obtain fraudulent documents. The 10,000 figure constitutes only 0.15 per cent of the 6.6 million passports issued each year. They suggested the Government’s real motive was to gather as much personal data as possible, ahead of the introduction of controversial ID cards in 2009. Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green said: “These interviews will do plenty to inconvenience the ordinary law-abiding British traveller. They will do very little to stop terrorists obtaining even more fraudulent passports.” Phil Booth, of the NO2ID campaign, said of the 10,000 fraudulent applications: “Assuming it is even vaguely right, then the Identity and Passport Service plans to add hundreds to the price of a family holiday, inconvenience and intimidate millions of lawabiding people, and spend billions of pounds - all to tackle a problem that affects just 0.15 per cent of all passports issued.” He added: “No-one should be fooled - the interrogation system is for the ID card scheme.” Ministers have already ruled anybody who refuses to let their details go on the ID cards database will be banned from having a passport from 2009.
Source: Workplace Law However, employers be warned, there are currently a number of pieces of legislation that make it illegal for employers to monitor staff’s email or calls without informing them. Under the Human Rights Act 1998, the Data Protection Act 1998, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and the Telecommunications Regulations 2000 employers must inform employees why their email is being checked.
Source: Telegraph The Government is poised to remove all privacy to our financial arrangements by allowing banks and other institutions to reveal full details of our accounts to each other and credit reference agencies, even though we may not have given permission for this data to be shared. The move is likely to prove controversial as credit reference agencies can be prone to errors. Citizens Advice confirmed that the bureaux regularly deal with clients who have been refused credit because of problems with their files. Moira Haynes of Citizens Advice says: “There can be things on files which customers do not agree with, or imply financial associations with other people which do not exist. We do what we can to help them get the mistakes corrected.” [more]
Source: SignOn San Diego “It’s creepy,” said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. “People realize in their gut that if we require implanted chips, we’ve become the kind of society where people can be tracked by their government.” [more]
Source: UK Daily Mail Ministers want to raise hundreds of millions towards the £540million a year cost of running the controversial scheme. The Government is already facing a backlash over charging people £93 each for an ID card - which will contain 49 different pieces of personal data. Now ministers are planning to charge companies around 60p a time to check details held on the giant “big brother” database. They hope for up to 770million “verifications” each year. The data which banks, financial institutions and others will be allowed to access includes names, addresses, any second homes and National Insurance numbers. Critics warned it may be the “tip of the iceberg” as the Home Office becomes increasingly desperate to balance the books. The Daily Mail has learned that a top firm of headhunters is already working for the Government, seeking a consultancy expert to market the benefits of the database to the private sector. Firms will be told that using the scheme will cut millions from their annual fraud bills and save them hefty fines for employing illegal immigrants. Officials believe it will be cheaper for companies to confirm identity through the database than by using current methods such as bills and driving licences. The Home Office said businesses would need a person’s consent to check information about them. But there was fury that the Government will be selling information which the public has had to pay to hand over - like it or not. Anybody who buys a passport from 2009 will have no option but to sign up. Phil Booth, of the NO2ID campaign, said: “The government is trying to pay for its compulsory ID scheme by turning a buck on the very same personal information it forces you to hand over. Charging others to check your personal details is the thin end of a very dangerous wedge. When employees of tens of thousands of officially-accredited companies are allowed to make checks, how much easier will it be for dodgy investigators and identity thieves to find out your information? Under pressure from the Treasury, the Home Office is trying to screw every penny possible out of a scheme that it still hasn’t proved will work.” Chancellor Gordon Brown supports the ID card scheme but is putting the Home Office under enormous pressure to recoup the extraordinary costs of setting up the huge database. According to the Government’s own estimates, the bill will be £5.4billion over the next ten years. Charging the public £93 for an ID card and biometric passport will go only part of the way to meeting the cost. The remainder will come from charging businesses to access information. Official documents reveal that some 44,000 organisations could be “accredited” to carry out verification checks, either online or over the phone. They range from Whitehall departments, banks and financial institutions to mobile phone and video rental shops. They will inform database officials of details given by a customer, such as name and address. In return for the fee they will be given a Yes or No answer. Many firms may increase the costs of the goods or services they provide to recoup the outlay. Employers will be expected to pay to check the status of people applying for a job, to establish their identity and whether they are in the UK legally. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said last night: “This is yet more evidence of a Home Office IT-based project that is spiralling out of control. The Government should ditch this costly plastic poll tax and invest the savings in practical measures to improve our safety, like establishing a dedicated UK border police force.” Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg said: “Public resistance to the imposition of this utterly unnecessary ID cards scheme will continue to increase as the costs to each and every one of us become clearer.”
Source: London Independent Peter Ayliffe said that, by 2012, using credit and debit cards should be cheaper and more convenient than cash. Some retailers could soon start surcharging customers if they choose to buy products with cash, because of the greater cost of processing these payments, he warned. Visa Europe briefed the British Retail Consortium last month on new “contactless” cards that can be waved in front of a scanner to make small payments. However, the consortium dismissed this vision and claimed that card processing fees, which regulators are investigating, are still too high. One member of the consurtium said that the estimated “interchange” fee charged to retailers amounts to some 4p for each transaction. Nick Mourant, treasurer at Tesco, said: “There is a duopoly between Mastercard and Visa in the UK. Their setting of fees is anti-competitive.” Comment: When is the last time you TRUSTED a BANK to tell you that their new services and offerings were going to SAVE money and BE cheaper? They only do this so you no longer have a choice and THEN they raise the cost in gradual steps, just like they have done every time with new services you’re supposed to be excited about. Of course, it is also easier for banks to track your activities, whereabouts, and payments.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald I spent the next half-hour trying to convince them of the importance of independent thought, using passages from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four to illustrate the dangers of unthinking compliance. “Now do you see?” I said. They shrugged. So what? Orwell pitched his horror version of the future five years before any of them were born. History has proved him wrong. He was just being paranoid. That’s the problem with Nineteen Eighty-Four. It specifies a date. Now that date has passed we’re increasingly ignoring its warnings. In the Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith’s colleague boasts about how Newspeak, the language invented by the party to eliminate the possibility of rebellious thought, is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller each year. Next to the vocabulary of the average teenage girl, it already reads like Shakespearean verse. [more…]
Source: Daily Mail Children were persuaded to give their prints after being told by Mark Woodburn that it was ‘just a game…so there’s no need to tell your parents’. Privacy campaigners said the case, involving children as young as three, highlights the extent to which Britain is becoming a surveillance society. It follows the leak of Home Office documents last week which revealed that from 2010, children aged 11 to 16 are to have their fingerprints taken and stored on a secret database when they apply for a passport. Mr Woodburn, head teacher at Ghyllside Primary School in Kendal, Cumbria, devised the spies game when he introduced a new print-recognition library system at the school. After being told it was not necessary to tell their parents, pupils were split up into groups of five or six before being photographed and fingerprinted. The ruse was revealed when one young boy did tell his parents, who then complained. Mr Woodburn says he was unprepared for the strength of feeling among parents about the ‘Big Brother’ system - but admits ‘in hindsight’ at he should have consulted them first. Comment: We applaud the kid that DID TELL about it. When teachers are being this shady and sneaky, and above all, untrustworthy, they should be told on and it SHOULD be known. The whole “no need to tell your parents” crap is identical to what sicko’s that sexually abuse kids say to them. How utterly disgusting! They should fire that Mr. Woodburn.
Source: UK Daily Mail Up to 3,500 schools are taking fingerprints from pupils - often without their parents’ permission.
Source: USA Today The Swedish proposal, which needs parliamentary approval, would give the National Defence Radio Establishment the green light to use so-called data mining software to search for sensitive keywords in all phone and e-mail communication passing through cables or wires across the country’s borders. European governments have gradually been expanding their surveillance powers, wiretapping rules and police search powers as part of efforts to unravel terror plots. But the Swedish proposal is among the most far-reaching when it comes to intercepting e-mail traffic. The Dutch secret service can monitor e-mail in specific cases, but does not have a mandate to conduct blanket monitoring of international traffic. In Britain, e-mails can only be intercepted wi |