Kia's World

From the First Amendment Center:

After 12 years of censorship and regimentation, many high school students will graduate this spring with little or no idea about what it means to be a free, active and engaged citizen in a democracy.

Another interesting article by Bill Thompson for the BBC:

Please read the whole article on the BBC site, but some interesting extracts are:

"The issue was recently highlighted by reports that the Canadian government has a policy of not allowing public sector IT projects to use US-based hosting services because of concerns over data protection.

Under the US Patriot Act the FBI and other agencies can demand to see content stored on any computer, even if it being hosted on behalf of another sovereign state.

If your data hosting company gets a National Security Letter then not only do they have to hand over the information, they are forbidden from telling you or anyone else - apart from their lawyer - about it.

The Canadians are rather concerned about this, and rightly so. According to the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group that helped the Internet Archive successfully challenge an NSL, more than 200,000 were issued between 2003 and 2006, and the chances are that Google, Microsoft and Amazon were on the recipient list."

And:

"This is not just a US issue, of course, although attention has focused on the US because that it where most of the cloud data centres can be found. It applies just as much to the UK, where the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act will allow the police or secret services to demand access to databases and servers. And other countries may lack even the thin veneer of democratic oversight that the USA and UK offer to the surveillance activities of their intelligence agencies."

It is worth thinking - how much of your data is stored on servers in the UK & US? and not just data you have put there, such as emails, but also data held by other people - store cards, bank details, credit records - all are there to be used & abused. Once again - ENCRYPTION!!!

From the Texas Observer

Last month, a splintered U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Indiana voter ID law considered the nation’s most stringent.

What is this law?  Indiana has decided to pass a law requiring voters to show a state-issued photo-ID at the polls.  The Supreme Court decided to uphold it, leading the way for other states (such as Texas, which only narrowly defeated a similar bill last election year) to follow suit.

Particularly disheartening to many voter ID opponents is that Justice John Paul Stevens—oftentimes the most outspoken liberal voice on the Court—broke ranks with his ideological brethren and wrote the “lead” opinion (no opinion received a majority), which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a concurring opinion for the Court’s hardcore conservative faction, joined by Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. David Souter issued a strongly worded 30-page dissenting opinion joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while Stephen Breyer authored a more modest dissent.

In other words, the decision is not as strong as it could have been because nobody could actually agree on any one opinion, but the fact that the majority of the justices decided to support some sort of statement upholding the law is still very bad.

To see what a true victory for conservative backers of voter ID laws would have been like, one need look no further than Justice Scalia’s concurring opinion. Scalia would scrap Justice Stevens’ balancing test, and he dismissed the premise that voter-identification laws could impose a burden on certain voters as “irrelevant.” He described Indiana’s measures that allowed absentee voting and provisional balloting as an “indulgence—not a constitutional imperative.” And he warned that by leaving open the possibility of future legal challenges of voter ID laws, the majority opinion was encouraging “constant litigation.”

Gee, thanks Scalia.  Good to know you have no issues imposing an unfair burden on the people, that you view absentee ballots as an indulgence, and that you don't want to see unconstitutional litigation challenged in the courts.  So in our 2012 election, how about we start imposing poll taxes, forbid those members of the armed services on active duty the right to vote, and abolish the Supreme Court?  At least that'd do us the favor of getting rid of you.

Voter ID laws, according to the bill’s opponents, are a solution looking for a problem. Instances of in-person voter fraud are exceptionally rare. And even if some fraud takes place at the polling stations, it is extremely difficult to pull off on a scale large enough to sway an election.

Amen. 

From Yahoo! News

Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was a legal US resident who came to the US on Sept 10, 2001 with wife and children to study computer programming in Peoria, IL.  The next day, the twin towers fell, and not long after that, the feds came to call.  Two years later, he ended up in a military brig through the power of executive order.  The government claims he is an enemy combatant, his defenders claim he is a legal resident and entitled to his rights under the Constitution.  And while the courts are busy fighting it out, al-Marri is forced to wait.

Personally, I feel this is both grossly unconstitutional and just plain wrong.  Not only is the evidence cited against him in the article far from conclusive, but holding someone who is a legal resident and not invovled with the military in any way in a military prison, where he does not have access to legal counsel, cannot get out on bail, and can be held indefinitely without justifiable cause, is DEFINITELY unconstitutional.  And he's been there five years!  And what about his wife and kids?  The article doesn't even mention them.

Towards the end of the article:

One judge questioned why there was such anxiety over the policy. After all, there have been no mass roundups of citizens and no indications the White House is coming for innocent Americans next.

Another judge said the question is not whether the president was generous in his use of power; it is whether the power is constitutional.

When rights become privileges to be revoked as necessitated by the dictates of wartime, it is time to be afraid. 

From BBC:

Ministers are to consider plans for a database of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK, it has emerged.

The plans, reported in the Times, are at an early stage and may be included in the draft Communications Bill later this year, the Home Office confirmed.

A Home Office spokesman said the data is a "crucial tool" for protecting national security and preventing crime.

Ministers have not seen the plans which were drawn up by Home Office officials.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Communications Data Bill will help ensure that crucial capabilities in the use of communications data for counter-terrorism and investigation of crime continue to be available.

From BBC:

"The supermarket chain Budgens has installed face recognition cameras in one of its stores to stop children buying alcohol and cigarettes. It is thought to be the first time a UK retailer has used the technology to identify underage customers. The scheme is being piloted at an unnamed branch of Budgens in London. If the system recognises someone who has previously been unable to prove they are 18, a signal alerts the cashier who will refuse to serve them."

Were this not bad enough the really interesting part in the article comes later:

"Charlie Willetts, managing director of Charton Ltd, which is supplying the software, said about 1,500 images were currently stored on computer, but it had the capacity for almost two million.  He said other supermarkets and convenience stores were interested in linking the scheme to their own shops to create a giant database of customers. But Mr Willetts said the system had to overcome a number of technical issues first and ensure that it was compliant with data protection laws."

Now, I am sure the words 'giant database of customers' will leap out to us all, but what is really interesting is the admission that it may not be 'compliant with data protection laws' - if they are not rolling it out due to this then why the hell is it installed anywhere? It should be PROVEN to be complient with the law BEFORE it is used ANYWHERE. If I were to build a super power jet car and drive it up and down my street I think the DVLA would want me to PROVE it was safe & compliant with the law FIRST - I don't think "I'm only trying it on one road officer" would be much of a defence.

From the independent:

"All of the worst aspects of this Government's record on law and order were in evidence in the measures outlined by Jacqui Smith yesterday. The Home Secretary is promising to establish an anti-social behaviour "action squad". Ms Smith envisages this body identifying those guilty of nuisance behaviour and checking whether they have paid their car insurance, TV licence and council tax. The purpose is "to ensure the tables are turned on offenders so that those who harass our communities are themselves harried and harassed"."

Later this month the National Staff Dismissal Register (NSDR) will go live - backed by the likes of Harrods, Selfridges, Reed Managed Services and Mothercare. This particular national database has been set up by Action Against Business Crime to store the details of workers ACCUSED of theft, fraud or damage to company property, and will be used by employers to check employees before they are hired.

The only - and somewhat obvious problem with this - is that NOTHING has to be proved - nobody has to actually be CHARGED with a crime - only ACCUSED of it. They have stated that people will be able to appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office to have there details removed - but, as the database is only open to MAJOR employers and not the general public how will they know they are on it? - And more to the point - why should it fall to the individual to prove his/her innocence to the Information Commissioner's Office? Surely it should fall to the company to prove to the police that a crime took place.

This truly is disgusting - and completely re-writes the basic 'innocent until proven guilty' premise of our justice system - and now it applies to everyone - not just 'terrorists'.

These will take place at 7pm GMT (8pm UK time, 3pm NY, 1pm California) every Sunday starting on 11th May 2008, and will continue for the foreseeable future.

The topics will be varied and announced before the event each week. If you have any suggestions for topics, or things you would like to be brought up for discussion, please let me know in advance.

This week’s topic (for 11^th May) will be – Our current situation, and where we go from here.

Look forward to seeing you all there.

This one is going to burn up like rocket fuel! (A joke for the chemists among you). Now, I know many of the readers are not technophiles like me, so I shall try to keep this simple – JavaFX is a programming language – a ‘new’ version of Java if you will. It is being written by Sun Microsystems (the creators of Java) and is being aimed at creating applications for the desktop, internet, mobile, & set-top box (think tivo & dvd players) platforms.

I really thought Sun were getting it together when they started ‘open sourcing’ Java & Solaris – up until this point JavaFX was looking great – a perfect replacement for Java, Flash & Adobe’s AIR – I guess this will work out well for developers & for Google’s Adsense – just not quite so good for the users.

From the BBC:

Huge investment in closed-circuit TV technology has failed to cut UK crime, a senior police officer has warned.

Det Ch Insp Mike Neville said the system was an "utter fiasco" - with only 3% of London's street robberies being solved using security cameras.

Although Britain had more cameras than any other European country, he said "no thought" had gone into how to use them.

...

Det Ch Insp Neville's unit is now piloting a new database of CCTV images which police hope will help track and identify offenders.

The unit is also looking at ways of using software which can follow distinctive brand logos on the clothing of unidentified suspects.

In addition, from next month, his team will be putting images of suspects in muggings, rape and robbery cases on the internet.

"If criminals see that CCTV works they are less likely to commit crimes," Det Ch Insp Neville added.

There are more than 4.2 million cameras in the UK, but until Viido was set up in September 2006 there had been no dedicated police unit to deal with the collection and dissemination of CCTV evidence.

If Viido, based at Southwark Police Station, is judged to be a success it could lead to the development of specialist CCTV units across the country.

Interesting times indeed.

1. Do not reveal personal information inadvertently.
2. Turn on cookie notices in your Web browser, and/or use cookie mangement software or infomediaries.
3. Keep a “clean” e-mail address.
4. Don’t reveal personal details to strangers or just-met “friends”.
5. Realize you may be monitored at work, avoid sending highly personal e-mail to mailing lists, and keep sensitive files on your home computer.
6. Beware sites that offer some sort of reward or prize in exchange for your contact information or other personal details.
7. Do not reply to spammers, for any reason.
8. Be conscious of Web security.
9. Be conscious of home computer security.
10. Examine privacy policies and seals.
11. Remember that you decide what information about yourself to reveal, when, why, and to whom.
12. Use encryption!

It has been around 3 months since the KiasWorld redesign - and our 100th member has just joined. I thought I would take this opportunity  to thank you all for your help, let you know what we have achieved so far, and of cause where we are going.

So, firstly, a big thank you to all members & for all your input - long may it continue.

So, where are we now - and where have we come from? I guess to start I shall go through a few figures:

Over the last 3 months KiasWorld has seen a 150% - 200% increase in traffic.

Most of our traffic either comes direct to KiasWorld or via Google.

Other than Google, RAP and wikipedia send the most people to KiasWorld.

A few users are now starting to come from facebook - hopefully this will increase.

So, where are we? we now operate www.kiasworld.co.uk, forum.kiasworld.co.uk, off-the-grid.kiasworld.co.uk, &  blog.kiasworld.co.uk - www & forum are used a good deal, off-the-grid & blog are not used so much - though they are newer and will hopefully pick up soon.

My main focus at the moment is the blog & facebook stuff. In the short term there will also be the stickers & meetups.

Where do we go from here? People - that has to be a major focus - both 'on site' and off. Also, I would like some help with content for KiasWorld - if anybody wants to write for KiasWorld - please let me know.

There has been lots of talk on the forum of the pace which this should all move at - the simple answer is that we have very little control over the pace - it will all set its own pace and we must all 'dip in' when we can.

Once again - thank you all for your input over the last few months - and here's to the next three - cheers!

Follow up to this post:

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It seems to be all the rage to leak data at the moment.

From San Francisco Chronicle:

Information on thousands of UCSF patients was accessible on the Internet for more than three months last year, a possible violation of federal privacy regulations that might have exposed the patients to medical identity theft, The Chronicle has learned.

The information accessible online included names and addresses of patients along with names of the departments where medical care was provided. Some patient medical record numbers and the names of the patients' physicians also were available online.

The breach was discovered Oct. 9, but the medical institution did not send out notification letters to the 6,313 affected patients until early April, nearly six months later.