http://www.sott.net Signs of the Times, featuring news and commentary on world events. Never wavering in our unending search for the light of truth in a pathocracy driven world! en-us Original content Copyright 2009 by Signs of the Times. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:11:29 -0500 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196275-UK-DNA-Database-May-Contain-Records-of-One-Million-Innocent-People Over 90,000 innocent people have been added to the DNA database since the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled against the practice The figures, which were obtained by the Liberal Democrats, showed 433,752 DNA profiles had been added to the database since the ECHR ruling on 5 December 2008, equalling 1,480 per day. In the same period, only 611 profiles were removed. There are now nearly 5.5 million DNA profiles on the database relating to 4.8 million people. The government estimated in 2008 that 20% of people on the database are innocent - meaning records of one million innocent people may be held on it. The Home Office recently dropped proposals to keep the DNA of innocent people for 12 years, but privacy campaigners want it to go further. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196275-UK-DNA-Database-May-Contain-Records-of-One-Million-Innocent-People Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:27:58 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196274-UK-school-spies-on-kids-diet-through-fingerprinting Children in Halesowen are having their fingerprints taken for a new £23k biometric school dinner scheme. Windsor High School has insisted the biometric 'kiddyprinting' is not out of the ordinary but parents have complained the measure is another sign of a 'Big Brother' society. The cashless school dinner system allows parents and the school to check children are eating healthy meals and prevents them spending their dinner money at the local chip shop. The new system cost £23,000 to install but the school received a Government grant to cover half the costs. Concerned parent Heloise Morgan has demanded all evidence of her child's fingerprint be destroyed. She said: "Where is it all going to end? If we have come to the stage when children think it is normal to give their fingerprints to get school dinners then the world surely has gone mad." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196274-UK-school-spies-on-kids-diet-through-fingerprinting Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:20:35 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196273-UK-School-CCTV-siezed-after-kids-filmed-changing Police seized video footage from a primary school after children were filmed on a CCTV system as they changed for gym lessons. The recording was seized after angry parents protested outside Charlestown Primary School in Salford. The parents had discovered that the school's surveillance cameras were running round the clock and some children had been inadvertently filmed changing into gym gear in their classrooms before PE lessons. Staff at the school had contacted police to ask them to remove the protesting parents. But after speaking to the parents officers took the footage from the cameras and a computer hard drive. Police have studied the images and decided no further action is needed. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196273-UK-School-CCTV-siezed-after-kids-filmed-changing Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:15:08 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196272-Air-Force-Overwhelm-Enemy-Cognitive-Abilities-with-Bioscience The Air Force is looking to harness advances in bio-science so they can "degrade enemy performance and artificially overwhelm enemy cognitive abilities." It's all part of a $49 million dollar bio-research effort unveiled last month by the Air Force Research Lab's "Human Effectiveness Directorate," and it's the latest in a series of out-there military ideas to mess with adversaries' heads. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196272-Air-Force-Overwhelm-Enemy-Cognitive-Abilities-with-Bioscience Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:37:52 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196271-The-Internet-as-You-Know-It-Will-Cease-to-Exist Hey, relax. It's not going to be the end of the world -- but as my headline says, in time it may be the end of the internet as you know it. Cory Doctorow: The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to "national security" concerns, has leaked. It's bad. It says: * That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability. * That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196271-The-Internet-as-You-Know-It-Will-Cease-to-Exist Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:31:05 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196270-UK-Asset-seizing-powers-out-of-control Intrusive 'Al Capone' powers will be extended to bodies such as the Royal Mail unless we stop the government's mission creep Powers originally given only to the police and police agencies to seize criminal assets are now being extended to councils and other public bodies, including the Royal Mail. Once again, legal powers voted in to deal with terrorism and organised crime are being rolled out for use against minor offences. The most famous example is the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa), which could originally only be used by nine organisations (such as the police and security services). It can now be applied by over 800 public bodies. After mission creep, ministers have invented mission gallop. As a result, highly intrusive techniques are now routinely used to spy on ordinary people, their children, their pets and their bins. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196270-UK-Asset-seizing-powers-out-of-control Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:15:55 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196241-UK-Pupils-to-be-forced-to-have-sex-education-under-age-of-consent Parents are to be forced to allow their children to have sex education before the age of consent, the Government announced today. Under the new laws, when children reach 15 their parents will lose the right to withdraw them from sex education. At present parents can remove their children from lessons about sex until they are 19. The move forms part of new laws that will make sex education compulsory in primary and secondary schools from 2011. Faith schools will not be able to opt out of any part of the new curriculum, although they will be able to teach topics within the "ethos of their faith". http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196241-UK-Pupils-to-be-forced-to-have-sex-education-under-age-of-consent Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:04:29 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196239-Google-Dashboard-Knows-Too-Much Thanks to Google's new Dashboard feature, anyone with a Google account (essentially a Gmail address) can see everything the company is tracking about them. It's an amazing, one-stop shopping tool for managing all of Google's services as they pertain to you. It features, among other services, Gmail, Google Search Results Alerts, Calendar, Contacts, Docs, iGoogle, Latitude, Picasa Web albums, YouTube, and of course Web History. Virtually everything you've done with Google and its array of services can be found here, in sometimes excruciating detail. My Search history currently goes back two years. Every query is features a date- and time-stamp. I know that Google captures this information, but to see it so highly organized and accessible via one Web page is somewhat unnerving. I should relax. Ninety-nice percent of the information is private - Dashboard indicates what's public with a cute little crowd icon next to it. Better yet, I can erase any history information I don't want to keep. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196239-Google-Dashboard-Knows-Too-Much Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:52:12 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196217-UK-Curb-on-Big-Brother-Doesn-t-Go-Far-Enough- Home Secretary Alan Johnson wants to prevent a 'Big Brother' society Critics yesterday blasted plans to water down councils' snooping powers for not going far enough. Home Secretary Alan Johnson outlined moves to curb the ability of town halls to spy on people putting bins out on the wrong day. Only council chief executives will now have the power to order covert surveillance operations and a new code of practice will supposedly ban their use for minor matters. Official figures show that methods like hidden CCTV cameras have been used 50,000 times by local bodies since Labour gave them the powers in 2002. One use will now be to track a hard core of 50,000 absent parents who fail to pay for child support. But Opposition spokesman criticised yesterday's move. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196217-UK-Curb-on-Big-Brother-Doesn-t-Go-Far-Enough- Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:09:00 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196216-00-no-Spy-Box-in-Car-Idea-is-a-Non-Starter- Eurocratsʼ plans to fit ʻspy boxesʼ in all cars have been slammed by Burtonʼs biggest driving school and the townʼs taxi chief. They spoke after Burton Euro MP Philip Bradbourn revealed that the proposal had been recommended by a three-year study for the European Commission. He claimed the black box gadgets would send 20 separate items of information, such as speed, destination and direction, to a central monitoring hub up to every few seconds. Officials thought the devices would help reduce road accidents and congestion, but the Tory said they would more likely be used to implement 'pay-as-you-drive' road charges and branded them 'another affront to our civil liberties'. Janet Churchley, joint owner of Burton's LDC School of Motoring, in Borough Road, agreed, fuming: "It's ridiculous and Big Brother gone mad. Why on earth would you want everybody knowing where you were going and what you were doing? http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196216-00-no-Spy-Box-in-Car-Idea-is-a-Non-Starter- Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:05:26 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196215-NAVAIR-And-Augusta-Demo-Operations-Of-Multiple-Swarms-Of-UAVs-And-Sensors The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) recently demonstrated autonomous operations by multiple "swarms" of unmanned air and ground vehicles, unattended ground sensors, video cameras and other devices linked together in an intelligent network powered by EdgeFrontier platform technologies from Augusta Systems, Inc. The demonstrations were held at a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) facility on Wallops Island, Va. "This capability of managing multiple swarms of unmanned vehicles and sensors is a significant achievement," said Patrick Esposito, president and chief executive officer of Augusta Systems. "Working with Augusta Systems and its partner, Vector Research Center, NAVAIR demonstrated autonomous operations of multiple, cooperative swarms, including options for dynamic redirection of assets between the swarms." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196215-NAVAIR-And-Augusta-Demo-Operations-Of-Multiple-Swarms-Of-UAVs-And-Sensors Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:51:59 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196214-How-Safe-Is-Your-Safe-Deposit-Box- A woman says the state took her property and sold it for a fraction of its cost. The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they're supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a "Good Morning America" investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn't really unclaimed and then use the money -- your money -- to balance their budgets. Unclaimed property consists of things like forgotten apartment security deposits, uncashed dividend checks and safe-deposit boxes abandoned when an elderly relative dies. Banks and other businesses are required to turn that property over to the state for safekeeping. The problem is that the states return less than a quarter of unclaimed property to the rightful owners. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196214-How-Safe-Is-Your-Safe-Deposit-Box- Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:39:02 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196213-Our-Dwindling-Email-Privacy What sort of privacy do you expect when you send an email? As Americans increasingly rely on the Internet for communication, Justice Department lawyers increasingly argue that Americans have no right to privacy there - notwithstanding repeated congressional efforts to bolster these rights. A recent case out of Oregon shows how the privacy expectation associated with emails and other Internet communications is being frittered away. The government sought to subpoena the emails of a suspect in a criminal investigation. It issued a subpoena to Google, but it failed to give notice to the subscriber as the federal rules and statute would appear to require. The purpose of notice is fairly straightforward: it gives the subject the opportunity to contest the subpoena and puts him on notice of the government's investigation. Implementing the protections of the Fourth Amendment, isn't the subscriber entitled to notice? Not in the view of Judge Michael Mosman: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196213-Our-Dwindling-Email-Privacy Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:32:56 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196188-UK-child-support-investigators-get-new-spying-powers Spying powers designed to combat terrorism and serious crime are to be used to track down absent fathers who do not pay for child support. The agency responsible for tracing absent parents is to be given access to phone and email records for the first time, under Home Office rules. The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC), which has taken over the heavily criticised Child Support Agency, said the surveillance powers will allow it to find a hard core of 5,000 missing parents who are refusing to pay towards their children. The move came as the Home Office announced plans to stop local authorities from using covert spying techniques for "trivial" offences such as dog fouling or putting a bin out on the wrong day. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196188-UK-child-support-investigators-get-new-spying-powers Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:28:15 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196171-Ohio-Police-Use-Taser-on-Man-While-His-Home-Burns Police used a Taser gun to restrain a resident outside of his home on Crain Avenue as it burned at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday. The resident, Mike Bartlett, said he was returning from downtown for his cell phone when he noticed his sister's room on fire. He ran in to make sure she was not there and continued to find his friends in the basement and alert them of the fire. He said his cousin's girlfriend was sleeping upstairs so he went back in the house to retrieve her. "As I was running downstairs, I could hear the window glass popping because of the heat," Bartlett said. When he went got outside, Bartlett said police officers were at the end of the driveway. He said he approached them for help, but they dismissed him. As he walked toward one of his friends, he said the officers tackled and restrained him with the Taser gun, giving them no reason for their force. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196171-Ohio-Police-Use-Taser-on-Man-While-His-Home-Burns Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:10:50 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196160-Psychic-computer-shows-your-thoughts-on-screen Scientists have discovered how to "read" minds by scanning brain activity and reproducing images of what people are seeing - or even remembering. Researchers have been able to convert into crude video footage the brain activity stimulated by what a person is watching or recalling. The breakthrough raises the prospect of significant benefits, such as allowing people who are unable to move or speak to communicate via visualisation of their thoughts; recording people's dreams; or allowing police to identify criminals by recalling the memories of a witness. However, it could also herald a new Big Brother era, similar to that envisaged in the Hollywood film Minority Report, in which an individual's private thoughts can be readily accessed by the authorities. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196160-Psychic-computer-shows-your-thoughts-on-screen Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:38:38 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196159-UK-councils-surveillance-powers-curbed Government rewrites laws to stop local authorities monitoring people for dog fouling or putting bin out on wrong day The "surveillance state" powers of local authorities to snoop on the public are to be curbed under reforms announced by the home secretary, Alan Johnson. Junior council officials are to lose the authority to order surveillance operations including secret filming and eavesdropping for "trivial reasons", such as catching people putting out their rubbish on the wrong day or letting their dogs foul the street. In future only council chief executives and directors will have the power to order covert surveillance operations and a new code of practice will ban their use for minor matters. MPs are to be given assurances that their communications with constituents are confidential and any eavesdropping by police will need high-level authorisation. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196159-UK-councils-surveillance-powers-curbed Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:35:24 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196158-NZ-Big-Brother-Will-Be-Watching-You-The-Search-And-Surveillance-Bill Recently, the National Government decided to take up the previous Labour administration's Search and Surveillance Bill. This bill would effectively make George Orwell's 'Big Brother' character blush. Already both the Human Rights Commission and the Privacy Commissioner have condemned the bill. Human Rights chief commissioner Ros Noonan has called the proposed law "chilling" while privacy watchdog Marie Shroff said it could be "invasive" of people's privacy. So, why the fuss over this bill? Don't we reasonably tolerate some degree of monitoring, particularly of criminal activity, already? Well, the Search and Surveillance Bill goes much further than any other piece of legislation ordaining surveillance. In fact, it gives more state agencies the power to tap into your personal conversations, hack (legally) into your computer and install hidden cameras to watch your every move. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196158-NZ-Big-Brother-Will-Be-Watching-You-The-Search-And-Surveillance-Bill Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:34:02 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196157-Out-of-Afghanistan-into-a-police-state Let's see if we can tease out the logic of the latest New Labour backflip. The former foreign office minister Kim Howells suggests that the policy in Afghanistan is not working and it is time to consider withdrawing troops and putting the money saved as result into the UK Border Agency and greater surveillance and monitoring in Britain. Like so many in the Labour party, Howells's only response to the failure of a government policy is to propose a general attack on freedom and privacy, placing the nation which is already regarded as the most closely monitored after China and North Korea under even greater surveillance. Howells was an ardent supporter of both the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war, which is important because it's now accepted that Britain's participation in the Iraq invasion and the long engagement in Basra has a direct bearing on the position that we now find ourselves in Afghanistan. If British and American efforts had been concentrated in Afghanistan after 2001, and had not been thrown at Iraq, where there was no al-Qaida presence, we wouldn't now face such a well-organised threat in Helmand province. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196157-Out-of-Afghanistan-into-a-police-state Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:27:28 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196156-Breaching-your-online-privacy-to-fight-crime Unlawful access? Canada's proposed Bill would let police, governments search Internet use without a warrant. The "mosaic effect" is an argument often put forward by governments and police to block access to sensitive information. It suggests even seemingly innocuous pieces of information can be fitted together like a puzzle to form a meaningful picture of something they want kept secret, typically a national security operation. But when the tables are turned and it's police and government that want to piece together seemingly innocuous bits of your personal and digital information to form a picture of you, the "mosaic effect" is recast as "lawful access" and characterized as benign state intervention into the online lives of Canadians in the name of crime-fighting. Your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and Internet Protocol (IP) address can reveal your Internet habits, social network, personal interests, political views, secrets and more. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196156-Breaching-your-online-privacy-to-fight-crime Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:23:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196155-Suspect-surrenders-puts-hands-on-squad-car-then-gets-Tased-in-neck Police quietly removed safeguards against Taser-related brutality A Minneapolis man who was Tased by police after surrendering and putting both hands on the hood of a squad car says he wants restitution from the police. On Monday, Rolando Ruiz's lawyer released dashcam video of an April 30 incident in which Ruiz can be seen with his hands on the hood of a car when a police officer approaches him and Tases him in the neck. Ruiz then falls to the ground, and can be heard screaming in agony as the officer kneels over him. As WCCO-TV in Minneapolis notes, the video begins moments before the Tasing, so it's unclear whether there was a physical confrontation beforehand. But it is clear that Ruiz was not being aggressive at the moment he was hit with a conducted energy weapon. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196155-Suspect-surrenders-puts-hands-on-squad-car-then-gets-Tased-in-neck Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:13:20 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196142-US-San-Jose-Police-will-be-first-to-use-ear-mounted-video-cameras-to-record-arrests The San Jose Police Department will be the first law enforcement agency in the country to use new ear-mounted video and audio recorders on the job this month, and police say they will provide a new window into arrests and other situations. The portable AXON cameras, made by Taser International, are expected to be given to 72 San Jose officers in late November or early December, police said. The cameras can record an officer's point of view for up to 10 1/2 hours, and police say the devices will help officers write more accurate reports and aid officers if their actions are called in to question. "It's been in the works for the past year, and this will be a one-year pilot to see if these things work out," said San Jose Police spokesman Jermaine Thomas. Officers in patrol cars, on bikes and on the street could be wearing the cameras in the next few weeks, which look similar to Bluetooth devices. It is unclear whether the cameras would record continually or could be turned on and off at the discretion of the officer. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196142-US-San-Jose-Police-will-be-first-to-use-ear-mounted-video-cameras-to-record-arrests Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:26:31 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196108-Fear-detector-being-developed-that-will-be-able-to-sniff-out-terrorists A device that smells human fear is being developed by British scientists and could soon be sniffing out anxious terrorists. The technology relies on recognising a pheromone - or scent signal - produced in sweat when a person is scared. Researchers hope the 'fear detector' will make it possible to identify individuals at check points who are up to no good. Terrorists with murder in mind, drug smugglers, or criminals on the run are likely to be very fearful of being discovered. However calm they might appear on the surface, their bodies could give them away. Although the research is at an early stage, the aim is to develop a prototype device in the next two to three years. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196108-Fear-detector-being-developed-that-will-be-able-to-sniff-out-terrorists Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:25:01 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/194784-Airport-scanner-shows-passengers-naked-but-hey-it-s-for-your-own-convenience An X-ray machine which produces ''naked'' images of passengers has been introduced at Manchester Airport, enabling staff to instantly spot any hidden weapons or explosives. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/194784-Airport-scanner-shows-passengers-naked-but-hey-it-s-for-your-own-convenience Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:21:25 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/194880-Manchester-Airport-child-porn-Rapidscan-X-ray-scanner-trial-why-now-after-all-the-other-trials-at-airports-or-railway-stations-failed- The Daily Mail and the BBC report on another Rapidscan back scatter X-Ray machine "trial" deployment at a British airport. Why is Manchester Airport inflicting another "see through your children's clothes" scanner on the public ? As noted by Dr.David Murakami-Wood, on his notes from the ubiquitous surveillance society blog: You would think after 4 years of trials at Heathrow, that British airports would now be able to work out whether or not they could and more importantly, should, use the various varieties of body scanners that are now available http://www.sott.net/articles/show/194880-Manchester-Airport-child-porn-Rapidscan-X-ray-scanner-trial-why-now-after-all-the-other-trials-at-airports-or-railway-stations-failed- Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:21:08 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196106-Airport-security-pervert-caught- A security guard has been sacked after he was caught using the security cameras at Darwin International Airport to perv on women. The pervert was among a group of other security officers who allegedly gathered around the screens in the security room - but instead of looking out for suspected terrorists or criminal activity inside the airport they checked out women's breasts. A source told the Northern Territory News the men - and one female worker - used the hi-tech security surveillance system to zoom in on well-endowed women wearing low-cut tops as they walked through the airport. One woman was allegedly watched on the screen for at least five minutes as she went through a ground-level security check point. The group all worked for national security company MSS Security. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196106-Airport-security-pervert-caught- Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:20:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196103-Employers-to-Take-Fingerprints-for-CRB-Checks Private companies will take fingerprints from job applicants as part of a trial to improve the accuracy of Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) background checks. The trial, disclosed to The Register in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, will see employment agencies gather biometric data from some applicants to establish their identity. The role has until now been performed by the police. When a CRB check is matched to a record on the police national computer, fingerprints are sometimes used to verify whether the person applying for a job is the same person who committed the crime. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196103-Employers-to-Take-Fingerprints-for-CRB-Checks Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:16:44 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196101-FBI-techs-shy-away-from-facial-recognition Spends 40 years losing face A senior FBI technologist declared last month that after decades of evaluation, the agency sees no point in facial recognition. Speaking at last month's Biometrics 2009 conference in London, James A Loudermilk II, a senior level technologist at the FBI, outlined the agency's future biometrics' strategy. He said that 18,000 law enforcement agencies contribute fingerprints and DNA samples to the FBI's databases and, at their peak, they submit 200,000+ identity verification queries a day. It's a big operation, and it's only going to grow, he said. Under the Next Generation Identification initiative, an irisprint database is likely to be added to the existing fingerprint and DNA databases. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196101-FBI-techs-shy-away-from-facial-recognition Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:13:47 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196099-The-monster-devouring-us-Even-the-men-who-created-the-internet-are-beginning-to-fear-its-power-to-destroy-our-freedom Fast-forward 40 years. It is November 2049 and privacy is a distant memory. Every telephone call you make, every text you send on your mobile phone, every email and videocall, every financial transaction is recorded, stored, analysed and can potentially be used against you. Each waking hour you are also deluged with marketing calls and sales pitches - which pop up on your mobile, your hand-held computer and even in your car. You walk into a shop and not only do the salesmen know who you are, they know what you want - before you even open your mouth. This is a world in which you are constantly worried about who is reading your emails and analysing your phone calls. Come election time, you are bombarded with video texts of the party leaders addressing your concerns. The powers that be know how much tax you pay, what you spend your money on, how many children you have and who your friends are. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196099-The-monster-devouring-us-Even-the-men-who-created-the-internet-are-beginning-to-fear-its-power-to-destroy-our-freedom Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:08:50 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196089-Christian-faith-based-prison-is-pushed Wakita, Oklahoma - This tiny town near the Oklahoma-Kansas state line north of Enid may soon own the country's only all-Christian prison, with Christian administrators, employees, counselors and programs. The idea is backed by Wakita's leaders, has some support from state officials, and, its founders believe, is able to pass constitutional muster. "If Chicken Little doesn't come to town, we'll be open in 16 months," said Bill Robinson, the founder of Corrections Concepts Inc., a Dallas nonprofit prison ministry that is spearheading the project. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196089-Christian-faith-based-prison-is-pushed Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:04:23 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196022-Freedom-for-Sale-How-we-made-money-and-lost-our-liberty Freedom for Sale: How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty By John Kampfner Simon & Schuster £18.99, 304 pages It is no longer a startling observation that the more western governments have spoken about freedom and democracy in the struggle against their enemies, the more the freedom part, at least, has been curtailed. In Britain, the Thatcher government tightened the screws on freedom of expression. The Blair government went further in curtailing historical rights such as habeas corpus and free speech. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196022-Freedom-for-Sale-How-we-made-money-and-lost-our-liberty Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:59:33 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196021-San-Jose-Police-Often-Use-Force-in-Resisting-Arrest-Cases Scott Wright was fixing the emergency brake on an old Cadillac in a parking lot near Willow Glen last year when the San Jose police rolled up. Within minutes, he had been shot with a Taser and beaten with batons, breaking his arm. The cause of the trouble? Wright reached into his van to wash his greasy hands. Police said they feared he was going for a weapon, but no weapon was found. Wright was charged with resisting arrest, but the district attorney dismissed the case before it got to trial. What happened to Wright is no isolated event. Hundreds of times a year interactions between San Jose police and residents where no serious crime has occurred escalate into violence. Many times the reason for the encounter is as innocuous as jaywalking, missing bike head lamps, or failing to signal a turn. But often, as the incidents develop, police determine the suspect is uncooperative and potentially violent and strike the first blow. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196021-San-Jose-Police-Often-Use-Force-in-Resisting-Arrest-Cases Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:57:12 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196011-CCTV-not-spying-but-guardians-for-people- The use of CCTV often sparks debate and divides opinion. The police and the Government say they are vital crime prevention tools, protecting and reassuring the public. The critics argue they are an invasion of privacy and another example of a nanny state. When the Journal spent an evening in the CCTV control room in North Devon on Saturday evening, the operators were anxious that Barnstaple was not portrayed as a town rife with alcohol-fuelled disorder and that we avoid references to "Big Brother". "We don't see ourselves as spying on people," said the CCTV control room manager, who we are referring to only as Steve. "We are very proud to serve the people of North Devon and to protect them and provide reassurance. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196011-CCTV-not-spying-but-guardians-for-people- Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:55:32 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196009-Europe-s-own-surveillance-state It's not just Whitehall we have to keep an eye on - to defend our civil liberties we must watch Brussels too As eloquently expressed in this forum before, the defence of our civil liberties is now a war on two fronts. While the UK government pushes ahead with new ways to stockpile our personal data and watch us at every street corner, the European Union is quietly getting on with establishing its very own Europe-wide version of the surveillance state. Despite the stalwart efforts of groups such as Statewatch, most people, including in the media, have not yet woken up to this. Perhaps it is the sheer scale of the erosion of citizens' freedom in the UK that leaves the majority numb to anti-privacy developments that are already well underway in Brussels. Through the use of CCTV, UK citizens are among the most surveilled in the democratic world. Our DNA is collected and stored by the state at five times the rate of the next highest EU country (Austria), and telecoms service providers are obliged to hold records of our phone calls, emails, and text messages for 12 months. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196009-Europe-s-own-surveillance-state Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:50:54 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196007-Europe-plots-black-boxes-for-cars Project Veronica not a privacy problem The European Commission's study into feasibility of fitting black box recorders to cars to record 20 types of data in case of accidents looks set to recommend the devices are fitted to all European cars. Project Veronica, which began in 2003 and cost £2.4m, has dismissed privacy concerns because the boxes only record data in the event of an accident. The boxes will be triggered by sudden deceleration and will only record movement in the 30 seconds prior to an accident, and a few seconds afterwards. The Commission hopes the boxes will have an impact on road safety by improving accident reconstruction, as well as helping police and insurance companies. The project team said there were no data privacy problems because the boxes do not continuously monitor cars and do not contain other personal information. They will however need a secure download path so that the data contained may be used in court. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196007-Europe-plots-black-boxes-for-cars Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:45:59 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195957-NSA-to-build-1-5B-cybersecurity-center-near-Salt-Lake-City Facility will support Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative The National Security Agency (NSA) is setting up a new $1.5 billion cybersecurity data center at the Utah National Guard's Camp Williams near Salt Lake City. At 1 million square feet, the center will form the hub of the highly-classified Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) launched during the Bush Administration. It is not clear, though, whether that is the only purpose that the new data center will serve, or whether it will support other NSA cybersecurity activities. News of the planned center was announced on Friday by Glenn Gaffney, NSA's deputy director of national intelligence for collection, during an address to lawmakers at the Utah state capitol. Joining him at the announcement were Utah Governor Gary Herbert and Sens. Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah), and Bob Bennett, (R-Utah). http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195957-NSA-to-build-1-5B-cybersecurity-center-near-Salt-Lake-City Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:03:20 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195952-Legalising-Big-Brother-in-Canada-New-bill-keeps-tabs-on-prisoners-conversations The province's latest plan to crack down on Alberta's bad guys will allow prison inmates' written and spoken conversations to be organized in databases and mined for evidence and threats to jail security or potential victims. While officials characterize it as a matter of "housekeeping," critics charge the new rules being considered by politicians treat inmates like they have no rights to privacy. "When you're in prison you lose your freedom, you don't lose your rights," said Alberta Civil Liberties Association president Stephen Jenuth. "I don't know that it's tough on crime . . . it has to do with treating people like they have little or no rights, and they're essentially garbage." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195952-Legalising-Big-Brother-in-Canada-New-bill-keeps-tabs-on-prisoners-conversations Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:33:44 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195942-Ultrasecret-NSA-Has-Conspicuous-Role-in-New-Federal-Cybersecurity-Center Congress and civil libertarians have always been twitchy about involving the ultrasecretive National Security Agency - masters of electronic spying - more deeply in domestic security matters. Revelations that George W. Bush authorized the NSA (Motto: Never Say Anything) in the wake of 9/11 to expand warrantless electronic eavesdropping on Americans caused heartburn for both intelligence officials and private industry. Dragged into the controversy were phone companies and Internet service providers who took part in the program, although Congress later passed legislation that both tweaked and largely ratified Bush administration practices. (Congress gave retroactive immunity from civil lawsuits to private firms that collaborated.) http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195942-Ultrasecret-NSA-Has-Conspicuous-Role-in-New-Federal-Cybersecurity-Center Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:56:21 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195835-Best-Buy-Sells-Surveillance-Tracker Only $99.99: Keep tabs on your child at all times with this small but sophisticated device that combines GPS and cellular technology to provide you with real-time location updates. The small and lightweight Little Buddy transmitter fits easily into a backpack, lunchbox or other receptacle, making it easy for your child to carry so you can check his or her location at any time using a smartphone or computer. Customizable safety checks allow you to establish specific times and locations where your child is supposed to be -- for example, in school -- causing the device to alert you with a text message if your child leaves the designated area during that time. Additional real-time alerts let you know when the device's battery is running low so you can take steps to ensure your monitoring isn't interrupted. Presumably it can also be used to track people who aren't your kids. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195835-Best-Buy-Sells-Surveillance-Tracker Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:10:40 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195834-EU-goes-to-next-stage-in-privacy-action-against-Britain UK government gets a final warning on claims that its laws don't protect Britons from ad targeting companies such as Phorm Given the amount of CCTV there is everywhere, we know the UK tolerates spying on its citizens more than other EU countries. But now Britain might be taken to court by the EU for failing to provide the UK citizens with enough privacy and personal data protection. The EU just launched the second step of legal action to force Britain to bring its data protection framework into line with its rules, which guarantee the confidentiality of electronic communication such as emails and internet surfing. Before being internationally embarrassed, the UK has two month to comply with the detailed opinion, which was sent to the UK by the European Commission yesterday and marks the second stage of infringement procedure. The EU Commission has basically identified three failings. First, there is no independent authority supervising the interception of communications and hearing related complaints. Second, there is an excessively wide interpretation of the principle of consent given in Britain's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. Third, its sanctions against the interception of personal data are too limited. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195834-EU-goes-to-next-stage-in-privacy-action-against-Britain Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:06:29 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195831-UK-New-vetting-checks-designed-to-protect-children-have-gone-too-far-judges-rule Criminal record checks have gone 'too far' and must be tilted back towards those wanting to work with children, the new Supreme Court ruled yesterday. In a victory for campaigners fighting the rise of the Big Brother state, the Justices ordered an overhaul of enhanced criminal records bureau checks against anybody seeking a job with a vulnerable adult or child. In particular, the presumption in favour of disclosing 'soft intelligence' against an applicant came under attack. Each year, around 20,000 people have details of this type of information disclosed to potential employers, in many cases scuppering their hopes of gaining a job. But Lord Neuberger said soft intelligence may constitute nothing more than 'allegations of matters which are disputed by the applicant, or even mere suspicion or hints of matters which are disputed by the applicant'. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195831-UK-New-vetting-checks-designed-to-protect-children-have-gone-too-far-judges-rule Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:41:33 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195830-UK-Secret-Court-Seizes-3-2-Billion-from-Elderly-and-even-Forces-Furious-Families-to-Pay-to-Access-Own-Bank-Account A secret court is seizing the assets of thousands of elderly and mentally impaired people and turning control of their lives over to the State - against the wishes of their relatives. The draconian measures are being imposed by the little-known Court of Protection, set up two years ago to act in the interests of people suffering from Alzheimer's or other mental incapacity. The court hears about 23,000 cases a year - always in private - involving people deemed unable to take their own decisions. Using far-reaching powers, the court has so far taken control of more than £3.2billion of assets. The cases involve civil servants from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), which last year took £23million in fees directly from the bank accounts of those struck down by mental illness, involved in accidents or suffering from dementia. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195830-UK-Secret-Court-Seizes-3-2-Billion-from-Elderly-and-even-Forces-Furious-Families-to-Pay-to-Access-Own-Bank-Account Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:35:36 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195783-How-the-EU-is-watching-you-the-rise-of-Europe-s-surveillance-state As ratification of the EU Lisbon Treaty draws closer, new research from Open Europe warns that the Treaty will help accelerate moves towards an EU surveillance state. The Lisbon Treaty marks a significant shift of power from national governments to the EU in the field of justice and home affairs. It will lead to an increase in the volume and scope of EU legislation, which is already having a profound impact on EU citizens' civil liberties and privacy. As well as measures on asylum and immigration policy, EU ministers and the European Commission are currently negotiating a raft of controversial new proposals, which are set to radically increase the EU's role in policing, criminal, and security matters. EU leaders hope to reach formal agreement on many controversial new initiatives by the end of the year. They include: a target to train a third of all police officers across the EU in a "common culture" of policing; the mass collection and sharing of personal data including DNA records into an EU-wide database; controversial surveillance techniques including 'cyber patrols'; the creation of a fledgling 'EU Home Office' with powers to decide on cooperation on police, border, immigration and criminal justice issues; an EU "master plan" on information exchange; the transfer of criminal proceedings among EU member states; a three-fold increase in the number of controversial EU arrest warrants; access to other member states' national tax databases; and EU laws on citizens' right to internet access, among many other things. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195783-How-the-EU-is-watching-you-the-rise-of-Europe-s-surveillance-state Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:37:46 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195781-Brussels-Home-Office-Euro-NAZI-plot-to-snoop-on-all-of-Europe- Brussels bureaucrats are plotting a massive expansion in the use of surveillance and controversial extradition powers, a report warned last night. At the same time they will also increase their meddling in Britain's justice system, it was claimed. The EU wants to create its own version of the Home Office to oversee the policy changes, and even has plans to train a third of the police service to create a Blocwide 'common culture of policing'. There would be an increased sharing of British DNA, health and tax records with foreign governments and investigators, as well as the introduction of new Big Brother surveillance techniques. Cash from the EU's £1billion justice and home affairs budget is being used to look at whether CCTV cameras can be installed to predict whether somebody is about to commit a crime - not just to catch them if they do so. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195781-Brussels-Home-Office-Euro-NAZI-plot-to-snoop-on-all-of-Europe- Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:28:43 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195779-MI5-comes-out-against-cutting-off-internet-pirates The police and intelligence services are calling on the Government to drop plans to disconnect persistent internet pirates because they fear that this would make it harder to track criminals online. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has vowed to use the Government's forthcoming Digital Economy Bill to introduce new measures to fight illegal file-sharing of music and films. He has also proposed that persistent pirates should have their internet connections suspended temporarily. But The Times understands that both the security services and police are concerned about the plans, believing that threatening to cut off pirates will increase the likelihood that they will escape detection by turning to encryption. Law enforcement groups, which include the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the Metropolitan Police's e-crime unit, believe that more encryption will increase the costs and workload for those attempting to monitor internet traffic. One official said: "It will make prosecution harder because it increases the workload significantly." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195779-MI5-comes-out-against-cutting-off-internet-pirates Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:20:23 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195778-UK-How-Coventry-City-Council-spies-on-you Coventry council has used secret surveillance techniques intended to fight serious crime at least 300 times to spy on anybody from suspect fly-tippers to staff bunking off work, dog foulers and litterbugs. The techniques include monitoring people's mobile phone calls, texts and emails, data obtained by the Coventry Telegraph under Freedom of Information laws reveals. Yet the council has refused to tell us for what purpose they obtained phone and computer data from service providers in a third of 67 cases. Council officers use covert spy cameras and hang around street corners, often acting on tip-offs. In many instances, secret filming is used as evidence in court. On other occasions, they have followed people in the street. The surveillance powers are available to public bodies under the Regulation and Investatory Powers Act (RIPA) of 2000. But Home Office information states the more intrusive techniques are supposed to be reserved only for serious crime and national security, including counter-terrorism. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195778-UK-How-Coventry-City-Council-spies-on-you Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:16:52 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195776-Eurostar-frustrated-by-illegal-e-Borders-scheme Still waiting for government response Government legal officials are still investigating whether aspects of the £1.2bn e-Borders scheme are illegal, a year after concerns were raised by Eurostar. Lawyers for the cross-channel train operator believe the system will require it to break European data privacy laws. They have been pressing the UK Border Agency to clarify the situation since November last year. At their most recent meeting in September, officials told Eurostar they were still mulling the problem. "There's been no progress at all," said a spokesman for the firm. "They said they were still looking into it." The ultimate goal of e-Borders is to centrally log every single traveller in and out of the UK, which will mean obtaining personal details before they travel. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195776-Eurostar-frustrated-by-illegal-e-Borders-scheme Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:09:46 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195775-UK-Public-mistrust-grows-over-gov-t-data-policy A survey on behalf of the Taxpayers' Alliance has found that nearly two thirds of people strongly mistrust the state sector to protect their personal information. The research, carried out by PoliticsHome with 1,353 adults, found that 62 percent of respondents strongly disagreed with the statement "The government can be trusted to keep our personal information secure", while a further 24 percent somewhat disagreed. Only 12 percent agreed. The survey found that mistrust varied depending on respondents' politics: 78 percent of Conservative supporters strongly disagreed with trusting the government to protect their data, compared with 64 percent of Liberal Democrats and 36 percent of Labour supporters. However, even among the last group, the number trusting the state sector to protect data was still half those expressing some degree of mistrust. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195775-UK-Public-mistrust-grows-over-gov-t-data-policy Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:05:56 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195769-Councils-Get-Al-Capone-Power-to-Seize-Assets-Over-Minor-Offences Draconian police powers designed to deprive crime barons of luxury lifestyles are being extended to councils, quangos and agencies to use against the public, The Times has learnt. The right to search homes, seize cash, freeze bank accounts and confiscate property will be given to town hall officials and civilian investigators employed by organisations as diverse as Royal Mail, the Rural Payments Agency and Transport for London. The measure, being pushed through by Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, comes into force next week and will deploy some of the most powerful tools available to detectives against fare dodgers, families in arrears with council tax and other minor offenders. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195769-Councils-Get-Al-Capone-Power-to-Seize-Assets-Over-Minor-Offences Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:57:00 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195728-Apres-Vous-Lord-Mandelson-follows-French-lead-with-3-strikes-internet-law Campaign against illegal filesharers will begin with warning letters only, but with option of blocks from summer 2011 Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, warned internet users today that the days of "consequence-free" illegal filesharing are over as he unveiled the government's plan for cracking down on online piracy. Mandelson, speaking at the government's digital creative industries conference, C&binet, confirmed that the internet connections of persistent offenders could be blocked - but only as a last resort from the summer of 2011. He added that a "legislate and enforce" strategy was the only way to protect the intellectual property rights of content producers. "Three strikes is a reasonable way of describing our approach," he said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195728-Apres-Vous-Lord-Mandelson-follows-French-lead-with-3-strikes-internet-law Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:34:46 -0400