Friday 20 June 2008

Latest from NO2ID

Technology will save us all That’s what Gordon Brown believes! In his address to the Institute of Public Policy Research recently he tried to communicate that there was support for the ID Scheme. Clearly, he's living on another planet. To re-inforce this impression he went on to say "in fact it starts from a recognition of the importance of something which is fundamental to the rights of the individual: the right to have your identity protected and secure". The collation of 50 pieces of personal information (as sanctioned by Schedule 1 of the ID Cards Act) to be held by the state and shared among other agencies is a protection of individual rights and security? Crap! He goes on "I believe that the new plan for the ID card scheme announced by the Home Secretary in March included important steps in the direction of the 'principle of data minimization' which the Committee recommends". 50 items of information which need to be continually updated as an individual’s personal circumstances change - which they do all the time! Unbelievable!

In Sweden, websites opposing a new law introduced by parliament to allow the military radio service to monitor all telecommunications in and out of the country have received more hits than that of Euro 2008. Amid uproar among the public, civil liberties groups, lawyers, IT specialists, the journalists' union and even members of parliament, the country’s leading newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, commented "It will now be legal to eavesdrop and spy on people who are not under any kind of suspicion. We're not talking about Yemen, North Korea or the former GDR here, but about Sweden."

In true mind-control fashion, Gordon Brown is continuing to press ahead with ID Cards, CCTV and the DNA database despite grave concerns about the National Identity Register, the doubtful effectiveness of CCTV surveillance as aired by senior police officers and the presence of over 1 million innocent people’s DNA on the national database.

ID Cards could be used to spy on people That is the warning from a group of MPs. The powerful Home Affairs Select Committee warned of ‘function creep’ in that the cards could be used to track people. The government’s ability to safeguard sensitive information is totally lacking as almost every week stories of missing data abound. Already the committee has called upon government to minimise the amount of information it gathers on each individual, particularly following the loss of 25 million personal details by HM Revenue & Customs last year.

The use of Linux software in London’s Oyster Card payment system has been denounced by free-software advocate Richard Stallman. Online payments cannot be made anonymously, so anyone paying for their Oyster Card top-up online is effectively allowing their transaction and travel details to be monitored by the government. "Each Oyster card has a unique ID, which it transmits when it is used," said Stallman, "So, if you make the mistake of connecting the card with your name, then Big Brother knows exactly when and where you enter the Tube system and where you leave. For the surveillance-mad government of the UK, this is like a dream come true." Stillman suggests paying for top-ups by cash. That’s OK until we become a cashless society!

Biometric identities are rife for stealing by the Mafia according to Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University. Anderson explained “There is a fundamental security engineering problem with biometrics as opposed to the cryptographic keys in your chip and pin card. ID card Biometric identity cards could be less secure as your details, such as fingerprints, cannot be changed if they are stolen. Once your biometrics become compromised, you cannot revoke them. It is not practical to do eye or finger transplants. Once you start using biometrics on a very wide scale, for all sorts of everyday transactions, the Mafia will also have your biometrics. You do not know which shops are owned by the Mafia but if you end up having to put your fingerprint on the glass every time that you buy a can of Coke, sooner or later the Mafia will have the biometrics of millions of people.” For 'Mafia' also read 'government'.

The Home Office Crime Reduction website was hacked into by cybercriminals to host an Italian phishing website last Monday. Jacques Erasmus, head of malware research at Prevx, said that "This is very embarrassing for the Home Office, having the Crime Reduction website hacked by cybercriminals is a bit like having a mugger hiding in the local police station nicking people's wallets when they come in".

Would you trust government with your top 50 vital statistics - NEVER!