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Moving On
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(mostly in German)
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notes from the ubiquitous surveillance society - blog by Dr. David Murakami Wood, editor of the online academic journal Surveillance and Society
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Spy on Moseley - "Sparkbrook, Springfield, Washwood Heath and Bordesley Green. An MI5 Intelligence-gathering operation to spy on Muslim communities in Birmingham is taking liberties in every sense" - about 150 ANPR CCTV cameras funded by Home Office via the secretive Terrorism and Allied Matters (TAM) section of ACPO.
FitWatch blog - keeps an eye on the activities of some of the controversial Police Forward Intelligence Teams, who supposedly only target "known troublemakers" for photo and video surveillance, at otherwise legal, peaceful protests and demonstrations.
I'm suprised it hasn't been suggested that the database outlined in the Children Act ought to contain biometric identifiers....
The list of information to be held is fairly extensive, and there is the cropping up of the "unique number" to be attached to each individual again (will this be the migrated to the NIR at age 16?), but can it be read in anyway that suggests the door is open for a move to biometrics?
I'm not sure it can, but it is always worth asking around :-)
There's nothing like being databased from birth 'till death is there, and justimagine the look of glee on the state owned face of your child when they reach their sixteenth birthday, and the invitation from nanny to a special "iris scanning" party drops through the letterbox..
"Ohh mummmy, can we go now!Pleeease!"
Biometrics are useless for new born infants.
Even though iris scans are allegedly stable after the age 6 months, how long would the registration process be if the child is asleep and then cries when woken up ?
Even infant children would need to be repeatedly processed. How many times would you need to take them to the appointed secure biometric scanners as they grow bigger and their faces change, remember that the economies of scale and time that postal applications offer are all thrown away if you rely on biometrics, which need to be done face to face.
Do not forget the backup plan B, the Citizen Information Project which still seems to be rumbling along in secret
c.f. our Freedom of Information Act request, which reveals that there are over 5000 documents related to this project:
http://www.spy.org.uk/foia/archives/foia_requests_in_progress/ons_request_re_citizen_information_project/index.html
Yes, i understand what you are saying about biometrics there.
I don't know about how stable fingerprints are, but you are probably correct regarding iris scans, and definitely correct about facial images.
Could it be then that DNA is to be the identifier of choice?
Des Browne has told me that DNA is to play no part in the NIR, but is there legal room for it on the Childrens Act database, or on the CIP?
The order of stability and accuracy is iris scans of both eyes, then a single iris scan, then multiple fingerprints i.e. the full set of 10 plus palm prints as per criminal records fingerprints, then multiple say, thumb prints. At some points at the lower number of fingerprints, they become worse than facial recognition which would otherwise be the "worst" biometric identifier under consideration.
This has been known for years, and further improvements in technology will not make enough difference to change the relative strengths and weaknessses of these different biometric identifiers and technologies. There are plenty of other biometrics which could be used, but nobody has any widespread experience with them.
You would have thought, that knowing this, the Identity Cards Bill would specify exactly what Biometric Identifiers are to be used, but it does not. Future changes in technology, in the light of experience, should require a full Parliamentary debate on new primary legislation, for the simple reason that to change technologies midstream will cost literally hundreds of millions or billions.
There is absolutely nothing to prevent DNA being used under the Children's Act and the Citizien Information Projecy envisages a cradle to grave register with "life events" like marriages etc.
However there are massive technical problems with DNA at the moment i.e. no chance in the forseeable future of conducting an accurate, with no cross contamination from other DNA samples rapidly i.e. seconds or even minutes, with mobile equipment.
The Human Tissue Act 2004 of course, allows your DNA to be analysed without your permission for research purposes and for the usual catch all "for the prevention or detection of crime".
However the whole field of genetic information databases is likely to change far quicker than the law,. Even this Human Tissue Act 2004 ignores RNA analysis, chromosome analysis or protein folding etc. all of which could identify an individual, but none of which are "DNA fingerprints".
The Human Tissue Act 2004 of course, allows your DNA to be analysed without your permission for research purposes and for the usual catch all "for the prevention or detection of crime".
---But I assume you have to give permission in the first place for a sample to be taken for DNA analysis. Of course, no one in their right mind should ever give permission for any DNA sample to be taken, for any reason, medical research or otherwise, if you don't have to -- but then, it would appear that you'll soon have to submit to DNA testing if you so much as drop a fag end in the street (all offences arrestable, all those arrested subject to DNA testing. What a wonderful country we live in!).
The Human Tissue Act was nominally a response to the Alder Hey dead baby organs for research without parental permission scandal.
How does a new born baby in hospital object to having a DNA tissue sample e.g. blood or even amniotic fluid etc. to which DNA or other genetic fingerprinting techniques could be applied later ?