No2ID: Trades Union Congress Votes No 2 ID!

south west | globalisation | news report Tuesday September 16, 2008 07:25 by no2id supporter

and info about Bristol Meeting

Trades Union Congress (TUC) voted at their Congress in Brighton to resist the National ID scheme with all means at its disposal, "including consideration of legal action to uphold civil liberties" and more news, including Bristol meeting info.

NO2ID News No. 106

11 September 2008
++ TUC PLEDGES TO RESIST THE NATIONAL IDENTITY SCHEME "WITH ALL MEANS AT ITS DISPOSAL" ++

This week the Trades Union Congress (TUC) voted at their Congress in Brighton to resist the National ID scheme with all means at its disposal, "including consideration of legal action to uphold civil liberties". The motion was put forward by the British Air Line Pilots’ Association (BALPA) in light of government plans to require workers in aviation to enrol in the National Identity Scheme in 2009. The motion states: "Congress sees absolutely no value in the scheme or in improvements to security that might flow from this exercise and feels that aviation workers are being used as pawns in a politically led process which might lead to individuals being denied the right to work because they are not registered or chose not to register in the scheme." The motion puts unions on a collision course with the government over civil liberties and contradicts government spin that "unions approve ID cards" issued after the Labour Party National Policy Forum at Warwick at the end of July.

+ NO2ID NEEDS YOUR DATABASE STATE STORIES +

NO2ID is in the middle of putting together a comprehensive briefing document which explains the concept of 'The Database State' and sets out in plain language exactly why it's such bad news for everyone of us in this country.

What we need from you are examples of how the database state has affected you as an individual - real stories of the consequences of data sharing and invasion of privacy which will help illustrate exactly why Transformational Government and The Database State is such a calamitous project. We're looking for things that have happened to ordinary people as a ramification of unfettered data sharing and storage. Things like being mistaken for someone else whilst under the care of the NHS, being wrongfully blacklisted, loosing or not getting a job. Has something that should have remained private been revealed with serious consequences for you or someone close to you?

Please let us know your stories. The more specific examples we have, the better we can bring home to those in positions of influence the nature of the threat we are all fighting against and far reaching effects it will have on all our lives.

Of course, NO2ID is a privacy organisation and any stories will be treated in the strictest confidence. If you can contact us initially by email at local.groups@no2id.net we can proceed in the manner most convenient for you.

*For clarity's sake, by 'The Database State' we mean the The National Identity Register, the CRB checking system, the DNA database, Entitlement Cards, the NHS spine, Contact Point, biometrics in schools, e-borders and e-passports, Club Scan (or other club and bar fingerprinting schemes) and all related systems.

+ Many thanks for JRRT donations +
Many thanks to all those who have sent campaign donations as part of our Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd (JRRT) matched funding initiative. The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd has generously agreed to match, pound for pound, any new income that NO2ID receives. Which means that for every pound you give NO2ID will receive TWO pounds to spend campaigning against the ID scheme and database state. We have already received around £3,500 specifically marked as for the matched funding appeal. Please continue to send your donations by cheque to our office (address at the end of this newsletter - please mark your envelope 'JRRT') or you can donate by credit card or via PayPal using the 'Donate' button on our website, http://www.no2id.net (left hand column).
What's next?

+ Consultation on Data Retention Directive +
The government has launched a consultation on the Electronic Communications Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations. Responses should be sent by 31st October by e-mail to commsdata@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk or by post to Andrew Knight, Home Office, 5th Floor, Peel Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.
See http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-2008-transp...inary

+ LOCAL GROUPS NEWS +

+ Bristol +

+ 1st October - Bristol NO2ID meeting +
Wednesday, 1st October at Deco Lounge on Cotham Hill from 7 - 8pm. Come and meet your friendly local campaigners on the first Wednesday of every month.

What just happened?

+ ContactPoint children's database delayed +
The government's ContactPoint database, holding the details of every child in England and Wales, will be delayed by three months due to "technical difficulties". ContactPoint was due to be launched in October, having already been put back from April after data security fears in the aftermath of the HMRC child benefits data loss in November of last year. It seems the delays are centred around the issue of "shielding", whereby users of the system will be able to partially shield records of vulnerable children. Professor Ross Anderson, an expert in security at the University of Cambridge, said: "The public sector wastes huge amounts of money on software that ultimately doesn't work. The most likely explanation is that they can't get ContactPoint to work."

+ Statewatch releases new report on EU security policy +
Today Statewatch has released a new 60-page report entitled 'The Shape of Things to Come' that looks at the EU's new five year strategy for justice and home affairs. The report details how European governments and EU policy-makers are pursuing unfettered powers to access and gather masses of personal data on the everyday life of everyone – on the grounds that we can all be safe and secure from perceived 'threats'. Statewatch's press release says: "The report shows how the EU Future Group is seeking to harness the power of what it calls the 'digital tsunami' – a rather insensitive concept – for the benefit of law enforcement and security agencies."
Download the report at http://www.statewatch.org/analyses/the-shape-of-things-...e.pdf

+ ID Scheme firm advertises for managers +
Thales, who recently won the first contract in the National ID scheme, has begun advertising for Contracts Managers (with salaries of £65k plus benefits of taxpayers' money). Last month Thales was awarded a contract worth 18 million pounds to design, build, test and operate the technology that will deliver the National Identity Register (NIR). Now Thales wants Contracts Managers to do some "commercial interfacing with customers, suppliers and internal organisations". In their recruitment advert Thales claims that the National Identity Scheme "is an easy-to-use and extremely secure system of personal identification for adults living in the UK. Its cornerstone is the introduction of national ID cards for all UK residents over the age of 16". Seems a strange description for a system that hasn't even been designed or built yet, and that will facilitate lifelong surveillance of UK citizens!

+ More fingerprint technology woes +
A supporter reports that: "A frequent traveller who visits the US regularly and is enrolled on their fingerprint database for foreign nationals was refused entry on arrival from New Zealand. When she eventually proved who she was and was admitted, the immigration officer stated 'This quite often happens with long-haul passengers, the aircraft pressurisation alters the fingertip geometry beyond the tolerance of the biometric measurements'."

+ Germany's ID supermarkets +
German firms are illegally trading millions of sets of personal data drawn from the official registration system. State government officials have admitted as much, following revelations in the press. In Germany, everyone is legally required to provide an address and other details for the official population registers linked to the ID system - and to keep that entry up to date. Traditionally, these details have been held in town halls, but some federal states are moving towards centralised databases and there are proposals for a national register. The data firms usually act as intermediaries for commercial clients who want to check an address. In most cases, it is quite legal for the population registers to give out this information on individual, identified citizens. But some intermediaries have been overstepping the mark in a wholly predictable way. They have been adding the information to mass databases of their own, which they then sell on to other clients and traders.

"ID" in the news

+ French storm the Bastille over 'Sarkozy's Big Sister' database - 11/9/08 +
Imagine, if you will, an announcement by the UK Government that it is going to create a new database to track anyone over the age of 13, who has been "active in politics or the trade unions or who has a significant role in business, the media, entertainment or social or religious institutions". Let's say 20 million individuals who the authorities believe are "likely to breach public order".
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/11/france_database...ulte/

+ Saatchi to promote foreigners' ID cards - Kable 10/9/08 +
The Home Office will use advertising agency M&C Saatchi to tell employers about the introduction of identity cards for foreign nationals.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/10/saatchi_id/

+ ID scheme plans 50,000 cards by April - Kable 8/9/08 +
In response to a parliamentary written question from Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary Chris Huhne, home secretary Jacqui Smith said that about 50,000 identity cards will be issued between the scheme's launch for foreign nationals between November and April 2009.
http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/57B0CF1437842A...ument

+ DNA database costs soar - Kable 5/9/08 +
Home Office figures show that the cost of running the national DNA database has more than doubled since 2002-03. Minister Meg Hillier MP said that in 2002-03 the cost of DNA database services was £774,300, but that service and IT development delivery costs for 2008-09 are projected as £1.77m. In 2006-07, that figure reached £2.04m, although it dropped to £1.6m last year.
http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/EE163A4B1B7862...ument

+ Why the delay in launching database? - The Guardian 2/9/08 +
The sudden postponement of the government's flagship ContactPoint database last week was immediately shrugged off by ministers and civil servants as being due to technical problems. Embarrassing, perhaps, for a project costing the taxpayer £224m, but simply a matter of taking a bit more time to iron out glitches such as drop-down menus.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/02/schools...dren1

+ Innocent MP fingerprinted after his uncle's murder discovers his details are still on DNA database one year on - Mail on Sunday 3/8/08 +
A Tory MP fingerprinted after the murder of his 80-year-old uncle claimed last night that he is an innocent victim of Labour’s ‘Big Brother’ surveillance state.
http://tinyurl.com/6zbmrd