US Arms Company to Run UK Census?

south west | globalisation | news report Saturday June 07, 2008 14:20 by no2ID supporter

No to ID news for the SW Region

No 2 ID newsletter for June 6th, edited for SW region.

++ US Arms Company to Run UK Census? ++

The next UK Census will be in 2011. Help us stop it being run by an arms company with close links to the United States government. The process of running the 2011 Census will be contracted out by the Office of National Statistics to a private company.

One of the two contractors in the final round of selection is the arms company Lockheed Martin, 80% of whose business is with the US Department of Defense and other Federal Government agencies.

http://censusalert.org.uk/

++ RAISE AWARENESS OF THE ID SCHEME ++
It may be surprising to those of us campaigning against the ID scheme but large numbers of the public are still not aware that there is an ID scheme at all. Even those that are aware may be confused after various false alarms in the media that have led them to believe that the scheme has been dropped. We need to raise awareness and ensure that people know that the illiberal scheme is very much going ahead.

There are lots of things you can do to tell others about the ID scheme and about NO2ID. Sign the NO2ID pledge[1] and display it so that others can see it and talk about it. Display a NO2ID window-sticker on your car or house (we'll send you stickers if you send us a request with a self-addressed business envelope, and if possible a donation to help us cover our costs[2]). If you know key workers such as airport staff (who are going to be co-erced into the ID database and issued an ID card first) then encourage them to get involved with their union to see what they are doing to fight the scheme. If you haven't already, get involved with a local group and help out running street stalls and talking to the public about the scheme.

The more that people know about the scheme the less they are in favour of it - so let's spread the word.

Notes:

[1] http://www.no2id.net/news/pledge/
The NO2ID Pledge - a way for people to personally and publicly declare that they will refuse to comply with the government's ID scheme. The pledge is an act of *pre-emptive* resistance and is, as such, entirely legal.

[2] Our address is NO2ID, Box 412, 19-21 Crawford Street, LONDON W1H 1PJ

++ STOP PRESS ++

+ Home Affairs Committee A Surveillance Society? Report to be published +
The Home Affairs Committee will publish its report 'A Surveillance Society?' on Sunday (Fifth Report, Session 2007-08, HC 58). Embargoed copies of the Report will be available electronically to government departments and witnesses today.

What's next?

+ Request for technical volunteers +
We are seeking experienced PHP developers with proven Drupal experience. Vi over Emacs; experience with RCS/CVS/SVN exceptionally useful. If you're interested, please provide a couple of URIs and a LinkedIn profile to technical.director@no2id.net (plain text emails only, cheers).

5th July – NO2ID at Open Tech
Saturday, 5th July at ULU, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY. NO2ID will be running a couple of sessions at this event which is an informal one-day conference on technology, society and low-carbon living. Doors open at 10am; the event starts at 10.30am. Tickets are £5 on the door.
See http://www.ukuug.org/events/opentech2008

+ LOCAL GROUPS NEWS +
We now have local groups in 44 of the 69 proposed locations for interrogation centres - of which just 3 have yet to open. Parliamentary answers indicate that the most active centres are: Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport, Peterborough and Sheffield.

For information on your nearest interrogation centre, see http://www.no2id.net/getInvolved/idCentres.php. If you can help set up a local group in one of the remaining locations, or anywhere else in the UK, please contact Matty on local.groups@no2id.net

SW Local Groups: http://www.no2id.net/localGroups/#South%20West

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What just happened?

+ Local councils begin data-sharing projects +

Just as many local councils around the country are passing motions against ID cards, we now find that many of them are starting to introduce data sharing initiatives. For instance in Dorset they have an information sharing protocol that allows data to be passed between the county's public sector bodies including the police, fire service, education chiefs, social workers and housing staff, and Sunderland City Council has installed Cyber-Ark's Inter-Business Vault to "tackle crime and anti-social behaviour". The data sharing schemes have been set up under the Information Sharing and Assessment (ISA) initiative (formally IRT - Identification, Referral and Tracking). The data sharing is being sold as a way of protecting vulnerable members of society such as children but in reality it is about removing the right of individuals to control the way their personal data is used and the abolition of privacy.

+ Birmingham City Council leader speaks out against 'Transformational Government' project +

Glyn Evans, head of Birmingham City Council’s Transformational Government programme has said he is "frustrated" by the time it is taking for benefits to come out of the programme. Evans told Computer Weekly: "We have got to move away from the central government view that it is all about efficiency savings and shared services. It has got to be more than that". Birmingham City Council has the largest local authority 'Transformational Government' project in the UK - they signed a 10-year deal with Capita in March 2006.

+ ID suppliers ill informed about ID scheme +

The european boss of Fujitsu, one of the contractors to the National Identity Scheme, has said that he isn't worried about the scheme being cancelled if the Conservative party wins the next election. The reasons cited by Richard Christou were that the ID scheme is just one of the contracts, noting for instance that the European Union has mandated the use of biometrics in passports. Of course what Christou should know is that the UK is not a member of the EU's Schengen border-controls agreement and so is not part of the EU biometric passport programme. Of course this hasn't stopped ministers claiming that we are bound by EU regulations on this or even claiming that the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) requires biometrics - which it does not.

+ University academics pass anti-ID motion +

Cambridge academics have led Britain's largest academic trade union in opposing the government's ID cards scheme. The Cambridge branch of the University and College Union (UCU) proposed a motion condemning the widely-criticised plans at the annual congress in Manchester on Wednesday 28th May. Representatives of the 120,000-strong union accepted the Cambridge proposal, voting unanimously to oppose ID cards plans and affiliate to NO2ID. Dr Toby White, a NO2ID activist and UCU member who helped organise the motion by the Cambridge branch, said: "UCU delegates from several other universities spoke strongly in support of our motion, which was passed with overwhelming support."
See: http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu104.html

+ UK signs up to EU-wide ID pilot +

A pilot project for cross-border electronic identity recognition has been officially unveiled by the European Commission. And although the scheme is in no way mandatory at this stage, the British government is among the first 14 to sign up. Announced on 30th May, the project will "run for three years and receive €10 million (over £7.9m) funding from the European Commission and an equal contribution from the participating partners". The aim is to "enable EU citizens to prove their identity and use national electronic identity systems (passwords, ID cards, PIN codes and others) throughout the EU". The scheme will "align and link" national systems rather than replacing them. Function creep seems to be part of the agenda. As the Commission emphasises, "throughout the EU, some 30 million national eID cards are used by citizens to access a variety of public services such as claiming social security and unemployment benefits or filing tax returns". Through "its size and momentum", the project will "overrun traditional barriers and encourage the mutual acceptance of other countries' electronic identities ". The project is officially known as Project STORK, which obviously stands for Secure idenTity acrOss boRders linKed.
For more info see: http://tinyurl.com/54gyll

+ German anti-surveillance protests - Europe-wide soon? +

Thousands of people across Germany demonstrated against the surveillance state on 31st May. It was the latest in a series of protests under the slogan "Freedom Not Fear". Telecommunications data retention is currently the hot topic in Germany, but the demonstrators also took in other surveillance issues. The organisers want to spread the protests across Europe from September onwards. They are currently translating their wiki into English and are looking for help with this: http://wiki.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/Main_page

+ Their pigeon (and nobody else's) +

A group of Dutch artists is training carrier pigeons to transport data files. They say it's the only secure form of data transfer left.
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"ID" in the news

+ A quarter of UK adults to go on child protection database - The Register 4/6/08 +
>From next year, all those who wish to work, either paid or unpaid, with children or vulnerable adults will need to be vetted. Those who fail the vetting will be barred from obtaining such work. Individuals who seek to work in these areas, knowing that they have been barred, will be committing a criminal offence.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/04/government_data...eers/

+ Nursery fingerprinting criticised - The Press Association 3/6/08 +
Fingerprint scanning technology which was fully introduced to control entry at two nurseries has been criticised by a children's rights group. "By introducing this in nurseries, we are also normalising fingerprint scanning. Children are growing up thinking it is perfectly normal to throw your biometrics about."
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gNQJQvkGbL0PuWY...kmrmQ

+ Government picks 3M to print initial biometric identity cards - PrintWeek 29/5/08 +
3M's security printing arm has been appointed by the government as the production partner in the first phase of its ID cards scheme.
http://tinyurl.com/5c459y

+ Interview with UK´s IPS - Identity Loop 27/5/08 +
With five suppliers – all those still left in the procurement race – having been chosen to work with the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to deliver the UK’s National Identity Scheme (NIS), and 3M-SPSL being awarded a contract to produce ID cards for critical workers, Identity Loop posed some pressing questions to Bill Crothers, Commercial Executive Director at IPS.
http://www.identityloop.com/interviews/i/302/

+ Campaigners taste victory in ‘backdoor ID cards’ battle - Sunday Herald 25/5/08 +
Civil liberties campaigners have won a review of Scotland's controversial microchipped entitlement card scheme. Ministers are to scrutinise the project amid fears that it is a "back door" to compulsory ID cards. Around one-third of Scots now have the plastic swipe cards, which are backed by a database and far-reaching legislation. Opponents insist that, while the programme may appear harmless, it is almost identical to the Home Office's plans for a National Identity Register.
http://tinyurl.com/5d87up

+ Five survive the cut as doubts grow about Government's ID card scheme - The Times 24/5/08 +
The credibility of the Government's tendering process for its £2 billion biometric identity card scheme was cast into doubt yesterday after all the remaining companies interested in the scheme's IT contracts advanced to a shortlist of qualified bidders.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/arti...8.ece

+ A picture of something chillingly Orwellian - The Herald 22/5/08 +
Imagine a world where the government knows where you are all the time. Imagine a world where a man you've never met knows you are about to get married before your beloved has even popped the question. Imagine a world where you can be refused a mortgage or life insurance because someone has mislaid or sold your personal detail. This week we hear that in drawing up the forthcoming Communications Data Bill, Home Office officials are seriously suggesting a database holding details of every phone call made and e-mail or text message sent in the UK.
http://tinyurl.com/5hw63p

+ UK ID card set up costs to rise - Securiry Document World - 8/5/08 +
The UK’s Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has said that the while the set up costs associated with the introduction of the national identity card scheme have risen, the total costs over a ten year period have fallen from £5.43 billion to £4.565 billion.
http://www.securitydocumentworld.com/public/news.cfm?&m...=1320

+ Private sector saviours wanted for desperate ID scheme - The Register 7/5/08 +
Plans for the widespread introduction of fingerprint passports and ID cards, already delayed until 2012, have receded further into the distance with the publication of the latest Identity & Passport Service cost report for the ID scheme. This effectively pulls the plugs on the network of IPS-run interview centres, and lobs future responsibility for these and for biometric enrolment over to private sector companies.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/07/id_scheme_2008_...osts/

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