The Big Brother State is an educational film about what politicians claim to be protection of our freedom but what we refer to as repressive legislation.
Categories
Tag: surveillance
Categories
I Know You’re Listening
I’m tempted to do this sometimes especially when on the phone as it is quite probable that all phone conversations in the UK are being monitored although probably only by a computer.
Libertarian Party have decided to send a copy of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four to every single MP. The books will be inscribed with the words, ‘This book was a warning, not a blueprint’, and will arrive at Parliament on or before November 5th — a date of well known historical significance for that building. [via]
Current Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says that in order to keep up with technology that the police and security services need new powers and that an expansion of surveillance is necessary.
The proposed database will hold for two years details of all communications, not however the content just data about the communications i.e. who, when and how long.
BBC News: Giant database plan ‘Orwellian’
The Telegraph: Social networking sites to be snooped on by security services
Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, added: “The Government’s Orwellian plans for a vast database of our private communications are deeply worrying. I hope that this consultation is not just a sham exercise to soft-soap an unsuspecting public.”
Guy Herbert, from campaign group NO2ID, said: “The Home Secretary talks about ‘principles’ but the only principle she appears to be acquainted with is convenience for the stalker state.
I too have concerns about this proposal. Presumably the idea is that criminals and terrorists even if they are smart enough not to discuss their illegal activities over telephones or via email will communicate with their associates. The database will allow investigators to map these networks of associates and open up new areas of investigation and discover new suspects.
But the vast majority of Britons are not terrorists or criminals so the database will mostly consist of data that is of no use to the police or the security services but would be to criminals who could use the data to aid in identity theft. Frankly I have no faith in the government’s ability to safeguard this data.
Excellent new book has been published about how the UK has become a surveillance society.
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A review of the book has been posted on spyblog.org.uk
The Telegraph reports that Scotland’s most senior police office has called for the creation of a DNA database of the entire population.
I can understand the logic that leads people to think that instituting massive surveillance systems or creation of large databases that hold information about every single citizen. If a little of something is good then a lot of that thing must surely be a great thing.
It is believed that because we derive benefits from the current DNA database that increasing the size of that database will derive a commensurate increase in benefits. But that is not the case and any little increase in benefit is I believe far outweighed by the costs both in terms of privacy but also financial.
As a database increases in size the number of errors in that database increase which could lead to mismatches and criminal acts erroneously linked to innocent people.
According to SecurityPark.net the number of CCTV cameras in the UK is expected to double by 2018.
Mirasys polled 150 delegates during IFSEC who came from different vertical sectors including banking, government, public sector and retail. Delegates estimated that the number of CCTV cameras in the UK would more than double by 2018.
The poll of security professionals estimated that an average of 8.6 million CCTV cameras will be in place by 2018, compared with the current figure of 4.2 million cameras. This figure includes deployments at people’s homes as well.
This is quite an astonishing number, it seems that everyone wants more surveillance to protect their property and ensure their security even though the actual efficacy is in doubt.
BBC News: Councils warned over spying laws
Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association, has warned councils that the powers granted to them under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act should not be used for “trivial offences” such as dog fouling.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act was designed to regulate the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation for the purpose of detecting crime, and was pushed through parliament under the banner of combating acts of terrorism and organised crime.
In stark contrast with the UK a former federal computer crimes prosecutor believes that ISP Content Filtering Might be a ‘Five Year Felony’
University of Colorado law professor Paul Ohm, argues that ISPs such as Comcast, AT&T and Charter Communications that are or are contemplating ways to throttle bandwidth, police for copyright violations and serve targeted ads by examining their customers’ internet packets are putting themselves in criminal and civil jeopardy by breaking federal wiretapping laws.
In spite of this I’m sure that there will be a push by the US government as there has been here in the UK for ISPs to start doing this.
The Times: ‘Big Brother’ database for phones and e-mails
A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials.
This seems very much par for the course with this Labour government put absolutely everyone under surveillance in order to catch the criminals and terrorists. I think ministers are being lobbied by technology companies that promise more than they can deliver because the government seeks technological solutions to problems that might otherwise be solved in better ways or in ways that at least do not have a negative impact on British citizens as a whole.
This will be just a step towards a future where they keep a permanent database of every single email you receive, every website you visit and everything you download.