BULLY-BOY STATE PICKS ON SOFT TARGETS & Bristol and Plymouth Group News

south west | policing | news report Tuesday September 30, 2008 12:57 by no2id supporter

no to the datebase state!

Desperate to shore up support for the ID scheme, the Home Secretary this week brandished a new plastic card to be issued to some foreign residents from November, calling it an "ID card" for foreign nationals. This cynical branding exercise with its sly appeal to xenophobia should fool no-one....read on..

BULLY-BOY STATE PICKS ON SOFT TARGETS

Desperate to shore up support for the ID scheme, the Home Secretary this week brandished a new plastic card to be issued to some foreign residents from November, calling it an "ID card" for foreign nationals. This cynical branding exercise with its sly appeal to xenophobia should fool no-one.

Having failed to convince industry and employers, the unions and the public at large that ID cards are necessary or desirable, the government has resorted to picking on soft targets - anonymous individuals seeking marriage visas or education - those who have no choice but to keep quiet and comply. And if the statements of junior minister Meg Hiller at Labour Party conference are to be believed, they also intend to target children as young as 14.

Ministers try to give the impression that their National Identity Scheme is inevitable It is not. All the opposition parties are committed to scrapping it and, without the National Identity Register (the database at the heart of the scheme) and with the repeal of the Identity Cards Act we can - and shall - go back to being a free country.

FREEDOM NOT FEAR

On October 11th, freedom-loving people across Europe will be holding a day of protest against the current *international* assault on privacy and civil liberties. NO2ID, the Open Rights Group and others in the UK will be participating with an action in London that YOU can join from anywhere in the UK by simply sending us a photo.

We would like you to send us a picture of 'the database state' in YOUR life. We want images of the signs of mass surveillance, and any form of intrusive ID or state control - cameras, cards, scanners, forms, whatever you like. Take a photograph with your (digital) camera or mobile phone and send a copy to FreedomNotFear@no2id.net

And on October 11th keep any eye out for the big picture...

Many thanks for your Database State stories
Many thanks to all those who have sent their stories of how the database state has affected them. 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. Anyone who would still like to contribute should contact us initially by email at local.groups@no2id.net and we can proceed in the manner most convenient for you. Of course, NO2ID is a privacy organisation and any stories will be treated in the strictest confidence.
What just happened?

Government spins ID scheme by re-announcing "ID cards for foreigners"
Today the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith closed the Labour Party conference by re-announcing "ID cards for foreigners". In fact a system of biometric visas is being introduced for some foreign residents from November but it is not really part of the National Identity Scheme which hasn't been built yet! This fact has not stopped the government using the words "ID cards", together with a sly appeal to xenophobia to drum up support for its unpopular scheme. It seems the BBC knows a thing or two - halfway down an item 'Foreign national ID card unveiled' on its website, there is a video box labelled "How an identity card will work". Knowledge-hungry surfers who clicked the little arrow were confronted with a black screen. It bore the words "This content doesn't seem to be working. Try again later."

NO2ID has an identity crisis at Labour conference
NO2ID's national co-ordinator Phil Booth was unable to get into a Labour Party conference fringe meeting this week because he couldn't get an ID card! Phil was due to debate the ID scheme with Home Office minister Meg Hillier but Labour's pass office in Manchester told him there had been a problem with his application and it would cost him £600 for a temporary pass to enter the conference for an hour! If this is how they organise ID for their own party conference it makes you wonder how the are they going to organise ID cards for 50 million people.

They're coming for your kids - Part 2
This week Meg Hillier told a Labour party conference fringe meeting (the one Phil Booth couldn't get into) that she saw no reason why ID cards couldn't be given to children as young as 14. The Identity and Passport Service has since denied that plans are afoot to lower the age from 16 (as laid out in the ID cards act). Hillier also hinted at attempts to fetter future governments when she said: "There isn't an easy way to unpick this [ID] scheme", and going on to claim, "quite rightly because it is invaluable". Meanwhile Action on Right for Children has put in a Freedom of Information request for the full security review of the government's children's database Contactpoint, following publication of the executive summary and the recent controversy over problems with "shielding" records of vulnerable (see last newsletter).

Germany to renationalise ID producer
Private-sector manufacture of passports and ID cards is too risky, the German government has decided. ID producer Bundesdruckerei, which was privatised eight years ago, is to be bought back by the taxpayer for an undisclosed sum. The move will "safeguard national security interests," the firm says. Its renationalisation "meets a security requirement for awarding Bundesdruckerei GmbH the contract to produce the electronic identity card". The company has been making German ePassports since 2005. ID cards are compulsory in Germany, which plans to phase in eID from 2010. Bundesdruckerei will build a new production plant in Berlin, at a cost of "up to 50 million Euro" (almost £40m).

Data leaks - they're happening everywhere

The dangers of assigning a unique identifier (like the UK National Identity Register number) to every citizen have become all too clear in Norway. Each year, the tax department there sends the media a list of all the country"s taxpayers, and the amount of tax paid. But this time, the CD received by journalists also links each person"s details to the "birth number" that follows every Norwegian from the cradle to the grave. "We've no idea how it happened," a spokesperson said. Large-scale identity theft is now a real possibility.

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

New consultation on Connection for Health and secondary uses of patient data
"NHS Connecting for Health are gathering people's views to help them make important decisions about the ways the NHS can use information it collects about patients. Such patient data is mainly used to provide care and treatment but can also have additional uses such as research, auditing the quality and safety of care, management planning, etc. This consultation is focusing on additional uses." Responses should be sent to Chrissy Brand (FREEPOST RRXB-TTRR-HJGB, Tribal Consulting, Palatine Road, Manchester, M22 4DB) by 10th December.
See http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservice...ation
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LOCAL GROUPS NEWS
The size, influence and activity of NO2ID's local group network is unique amongst single-issue campaigning and is growing all the time. Groups raise awareness of the work of NO2ID, inform their local politicians and journalists about the depth of the ID scheme and provide us with our now main method of attracting new members and supporters. Their work is vital and effective and enables us to maintain a relatively high local media presence that many campaigning groups envy. To see if there's a group in your area check our list at http://www.no2id.net/localGroups/
Or, if you're interested in starting a group yourself, please contact Matty on local.groups@no2id.net to discuss what's involved and what we have in place to support coordinators and their groups.

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.

Plymouth

27th September - Plymouth NO2ID Street Stall
Saturday 27th September from 9:00am - 5:00pm at Armada Way, Plymouth City Centre. If you're interested in helping with the stall, contact Simon on plymouth@no2id.net. For more information about the group, please join the mailing list on http://lists.no2id.net/mailman/listinfo/no2id.plymouth

"ID" in the news

Anger as Jacqui Smith prepares to unveil ID card design - The Telegraph 25/9/08
The design of the Government's controversial ID card is to be unveiled by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, in what critics have labelled a "softening up exercise" to win public approval.
http://tinyurl.com/42ncxx

Deadlock over ID card move - Financial Times 24/9/08
Talks over the summer have failed to resolve the deadlock over plans for an accelerated introduction of identity cards to airport staff, the Financial Times has learnt %u2013 a situation that threatens to derail government efforts to push ahead with a national roll-out.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0166b804-8a7c-11dd-a76a-00007....html

Migrant ID cards to be unveiled - The Sun 24/9/08
The first ID card for foreign nationals will be unveiled by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith tomorrow. The credit card-like pass will replace stickers and other immigration documents which have been subject to fraud.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article172772...8.ece

Scotland reviews rules on DNA - Kable 23/9/08
A two month consultation exercise will consider proposals to allow police to retain forensic evidence taken from suspects who are dealt with by a fine, compensation or work order, rather than prosecuted in courts.
http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/FrontpageRSS/2DB0A2EC59F...4C3C8!OpenDocument

Labour minister says 14 year olds should get ID cards - The Register 23/9/08
A government minister has spoken glowingly of the prospect of kids as young as six handing over their biometrics as she boasted that the Tories and LibDems would find it impossible to unpick the government%u2019s ID card scheme.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/23/id_cards_offies/

ePassport tests put biometrics through their paces - The Register 19/9/08
Results have emerged from tests held in Prague last week designed to put 'second-generation' electronic passports through their paces, and guess what - no-one failed. The tests are partly designed to address recent security and privacy concerns about electronic passports that feature RFID chips containing biometric data.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/19/eu_epassport_tests/

Government whittles down ID scheme suppliers - ZDNet 17/9/08
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has further whittled down the companies shortlisted to deliver parts of the ID card system and passport-application scheme.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39489326,...0.htm

Anger as car journey data stored - Evening Standard 15/9/08
Civil liberties campaigners have expressed alarm that millions of car journeys are to be stored on a national database for five years. Already some 10 million journeys a day are being recorded using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), but this is set to rise to 50 million. It will be collated at a new National ANPR Data Centre in Hendon, north London, for use by police.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23555544...Anger as car journey data stored/article.do