Category: UK
Home Office spokeswoman talking complete shit.
Just read this BBC article .
Starts well:
"DNA profiles of those not convicted of a crime should be removed from the database in England and Wales, a government-funded inquiry has said.
Control of the database should be taken from government and police and...
David Davis resigns from Commons
While this would not normally be an interesting topic - his reason is - David Davis has resigned to force a by-election in his constituency - which he will fight on the issue of the 42-day terror detention limit.
I never thought I would find myself supporting a conservative - but this...
Councils snoop into phone records of 1,000 callers
From The Mirror :
Nearly 1,000 people's phone records have been investigated by council snoopers, it was revealed yesterday.
The surveillance powers for tracking terrorists have been used to probe everything from a bogus faith healer to dog smuggling.
A survey of Big...
Bill Thompson on Cloud Computing
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...
If you're not using GPG - Start!
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...
Facial recognition - coming to a supermarket near you!
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...
Another cynical gimmick
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...
National Staff Dismissal Register - Don't piss-off your boss!
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,...
CCTV boom 'failing to cut crime'
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...
600 Staff disciplined for data breach
Once again from the BBC:
More than 600 staff at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have been disciplined for accessing personal or sensitive data, it has been revealed.
In a Commons written reply, Treasury Financial Secretary Jane Kennedy said that in many cases the penalty for...
BT and Phorm
BT secretly intercepted and profiled the web browsing of 18,000 of its broadband customers in 2006 using advertising technology provided by 121Media, the alleged spyware company that changed its name to Phorm last year.
BT Retail ran the "stealth" pilot without customer consent...
2011 UK Census
In 2011 the UK government will carry out the next census. It is debateable whether this is a good idea in itself, but what is worse is it will also be including things like 'household income' 'second homes' etc.
I think we all know how reliable the UK government is with our...
Are the watchers being watched?
"Not even MPs are exempt from the surveillance state they have created, notes regular columnist Bill Thompson.
Members of the British Parliament have been shocked to discover that one of their number was bugged by the secret service, violating the forty-year old "Wilson...
