2009 saw further encroachments on our freedoms and liberties, without any measurable increase in our security.
Will this increasingly repressive, bankrupt Labour government, be replaced by something kinder, more humane and less inept ?
Spy Blog's articles published in 2009 appear to have been read by, and perhaps influenced, some mainstream print and broadcast media journalists and commentators, some technical IT publications, Members of Parliament at Westminster, various large blue chip companies, and also by UK and foreign government departments, law enforcement agencies and some of the more overt open source collection arms of intelligence agencies and by various private sector "corporate research" outfits.
Spy Blog has also come across some worrying and interesting stuff, which has not been published.
December 2009
- 2009.12.31: If Somalia can detect "underwear bombs" without them, why waste money on intrusive "child porn" / "see through your clothes" image scanners at airports ?
- 2009.12.23: ID Cards / National Identity Register centralised biometric database - further expansion of the Post Code Lottery to inflict the "voluntary" scheme on Liverpool and the North West etc.
- 2009.12.17: Powerless, part time, interim CCTV "regulator" appointed by the Home Office
- 2009.12.12: The Sun: Laptop is stolen at MoD HQ - "plus an encryption key to unlock highly sensitive files"
- 2009.12.12: Mass Gathering in defence of street photography - 12 Noon Saturday 23rd January 2010 Trafalgar Square, London
- 2009.12.11: Intercept as Evidence Report - £2.5 million spent and still no workable "legal model"
- 2009.12.02: RIPA Interception of Communications Commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy and the MPs expenses scandal
- 2009.12.01: Digital Economy Bill 2009 seeks to crush UK Internet Domain Registry industry with bureaucratic red tape and unfair legal costs
- 2009.11.29: "JFL" provides some more details about his imprisonment for refusing to divulge his crytptographic keys under a RIPA Part III section 49 notice
- 2009.11.25: Forced into Prison / Mental Hospital for not revealing cryptographic keys to the Kafkaesque Police and (in)Justice system here in the United Kingdom
- 2009.11.21: Bribery Bill 2009 clause 12 - some Secret Intelligence Service MI6 or Security Service MI5 exemptions, but why should Local Authority Trading Standards etc. ever be allowed to bribe anyone ?
- 2009.11.19: Manchester area post codes where the foolish can apply for an ID Card
- 2009.11.18: Queen's Speech - "mobile phones in prisons" more useless, repetitive, legislation planned
- 2009.11.05: Home Office summary of responses to the public consultation on "Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000: Consolidating orders and codes of practice"
- 2009.10.22: United Kingdom (England & Wales) Census Day / Night - Saturday 27th March 2011 - will you boycott the intrusive, snooping questions ?
- 2009.10.21: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 conviction statistics
- 2009.10.19: Does a Registered Post mass mailing in USA = Communications Data / Banking Secrecy law breach in Switzerland ?
- 2009.10.17: Non-reportable injunctions - Mr. Justice Tugendhat, Mr. Justice Sweeney and Mr. Justice Maddison
- 2009.10.17: Carter-Ruck's Trafigura scandal non-reportable super- injunctions - Mr. Justice Maddison and Mr.Justice Sweeney
- 2009.10.15: More illegal Mobile Phones in Prisons, more re-cycled Answers and Policies from the Ministry of (In)Justice
- 2009.10.13: Manchester Airport "child porn" Rapiscan X-ray scanner trial - why now, after all the other trials at airports or railway stations failed ?
- 2009.10.13: Who are the Judges who are granting secret injunctions on behalf of Trafigura and Barclays etc. ?
- 2009.10.10: Is the "Internet Eyes" CCTV web monitoring "game" merely incompetent, or an actual scam ?
- 2009.10.04: Sunday Times: "recently retired C" lambasts David Miliband for the appointment of Sir John Sawers as the new Chief of SIS / MI6
- 2009.10.01: Sir David Pepper, retired boss of GCHQ, joins Thales UK advisory board - familiar photo in the press release
- 2009.10.01: 5 more National Identity Scheme Statutory Instruments - do Thales Group and 3M Company employees realise that they face up to 10 years in prison for any mistakes or strikes?
- 2009.09.28: China tries to block Tor
- 2009.09.28: Compulsory dog ID microchips plan - Yet Another National Database of human names and addresses is not acceptable
- 2009.09.27: Castrol roadside billboard ANPR snoopvertising - another DVLA database privacy scandal
- 2009.09.26: David Mery gets an apology for his unlawful arrest after 4 years - it should have been 4 days at most
- 2009.09.21: RIPA Commissioner and illegal Property Interference by the Environment Agency
- 2009.09.14: Sir Joseph Pilling appointed as National Identity Scheme Commissioner - how can a former Whitehall "Sir Humphrey" be "independent" of the Home Office ?
- 2009.09.14: How can we have confidence that the HMRC online tax return system is safe to use ?
- 2009.09.06: News of the World politics blog: alleged CIA intelligence sharing threat and the Operation Pathway intelligence failure
- 2009.09.06: Why is there a need for a "Big Brother Watch" campaign by the TaxPayers' Alliance ?
- 2009.09.04: MI5 Security Service web site re-fresh - shadow people and foreign language version inconsistency
- 2009.09.01: The Identity Cards Act 2006 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2009 - who will be apponted as the National Identity Scheme Commissioner ?
- 2009.08.27: ACPO eCrime Strategy - no clarity on international Extradition, nor on Collateral Damage to the innocent caused by eCrime investigations
- 2009.08.25: Climate Camp Twits - 6consulting and the Metropolitan Police Service
- 2009.08.25: Snooping on the Climate Camp Swoopers via SMS text messages
- 2009.08.16: International Action Day "Freedom not Fear 2009 - Stop Surveillance Mania!" on 12 September 2009
- 2009.08.13: I'm a Photographer Not a Terrorist !
- 2009.08.10: New Enemies - part 3 of BBC Radio 4 - MI6: A century in the shadows
- 2009.08.02: ACPO policy on ANPR: The Management and Use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition
- 2009.07.31: Home Office: UK identity card image unveiled
- 2009.07.29: Which was worse - the MI6 website spelling mistakes or the MI5 website Cross Site Scripting vulnerability ?
- 2009.07.25: Gordon Brown maintains the dilution the Wilson Doctrine again
- 2009.07.22: RIPA Commissioners Annual Reports for 2008
- 2009.07.21: Terrorism Threat Level SEVERE reduced to SUBSTANTIAL - what is anyone doing any different from before ?
- 2009.07.20: How they do Lawful Interception of mobile phones and broadband internet in Switzerland
- 2009.07.20: Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill - SOCPA to be replaced by Public Order Act powers in 250 metre Area around Parliament Square
- 2009.07.20: Satellite jammers in Iran ?
- 2009.07.17: RIPA Commissioners Annual Reports to be published on Tuesday 21st July 2009, just as Parliament breaks up until 13th October
- 2009.07.15: National Policing Improvement Agency annual report and accounts 2008-09 - mobile handheld computers, ANPR database, DNA database, PNC, IMPACT, Aircell for the Tube, Prüm
- 2009.07.12: BBC Radio 4 - MI6: A Century in the Shadows - Monday July 27th 2009
- 2009.07.11: Metropolitan Police Service incomplete "war on photographers" advice
- 2009.07.11: "suspect your neighbours" Climate of Fear propaganda posters campaign cost £1.7 million, Terrorism Hotline costs £120,000 a year
- 2009.07.10: Reminder: Home Office RIPA CoP Con closes today
- 2009.07.05: Facebook, Mail on Sunday and Sir John Sawers incoming Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service MI6
- 2009.07.02: Alan Johnson lies about ID Cards and £1.2 billion a year identity fraud
- 2009.06.27: UK Cyber Security Strategy - even more bureaucracy, but no financial budget, legislative power or democratic accountibility
- 2009.06.21: Tor relays and exit nodes for Iran, and for the rest of us
- 2009.06.17: NightJack blog versus The Times newspaper - are there wider implications for anonymous sources and writers ?
- 2009.06.17: London School of Economics: Briefing on the Interception Modernisation Programme
- 2009.06.16: Sir John Sawers KCMG appointed as the new Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service MI6
- 2009.06.15: ID Card scheme function creep - sneaky compulsory registration of mobile phones by the back door ?
- 2009.06.14: Will Home Secretary Alan Johnson bother to listen to opponents of the ID Cards scheme, during his supposed review "by the end of the summer" ?
- 2009.06.11: The Guardian reveals details of the mechanics of the failed Hotmail plot by the anti-Gordon Brown faction of Labour MPs
- 2009.06.09: HMRC tax records centre left unguarded by Mapeley, who also run the Passport / ID Card interrogation centre buildings
- 2009.06.09: Postman Patel - Edward Teague - Rest in Peace
- 2009.06.09: Home Office ministers re-shuffled
- 2009.06.08: Who's Watching You ? - GCHQ's Sir David Pepper interviewed - but still too many surveillance topics in one tv documentary
- 2009.06.06: DVLA still selling drivers names and addresses to dodgy Private Wheel Clampers, according to The Times
- 2009.06.04: signonnow@hotmail.co.uk - The Email Address Most Likely To Be Snooped On ? - Labour in crisis: the Hotmail conspiracy
- 2009.06.02: Has any other political blogger been spammed by The Jury Team ?
- 2009.06.02: Steve Moxon - Home Office Immigration whistleblower vindicated by FOIA disclosures about Beverely Hughes
- 2009.06.02: Jacqui Smith to resign as Home Secretary - but when exactly ?
- 2009.06.01: Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6 / SIS worries about lost civil liberties
- 2009.05.30: Richard Tomlinson versus MI6 rapprochement ? Is this due to the amended Terrorism Act ban on eliciting or communicating information about former intelligence agency officers ??
- 2009.05.26: 38 Degrees - will the data protection issues inhibit sign up ?
- 2009.05.25: RAF Innsworth stolen personnel security vetting files coverup
- 2009.05.23: BBC2 tv documentary Who's Watching You ? starts Monday 25th May 9pm
- 2009.05.23: Illegal retention of Police surveillance photos of innocent people
- 2009.05.20: Home Office and research about the (lack of) effectiveness of CCTV in reducing crime
- 2009.05.19: ISC report (again) on the 7th July 2005 London bomb attacks - some jargon explained, but still no blame on MI5 or the Police for intelligence failures
- 2009.05.17: Naming of the MP Expenses whistleblower leak intermediaries ?
- 2009.05.14: SOCA Annual Report 2009/09 - Appendix III: SOCA Reports and Assessments 2008/09 - will these be made public ?
- 2009.05.12: Gordon Brown pretends that "knife crime" is a "new kind of crime"
- 2009.05.12: National Identity Cards Scheme creep - 4 Draft Orders laid before Parliament under the Identity Cards Act 2006
- 2009.05.10: UK computer forensics expert Jim Bates wins High Court appeal against a police search warrant
- 2009.05.09: Operation Algebra child rape convictions in Scotland: open WiFi tracking, digital camera image forensics
- 2009.05.07: Home Office spinning about 6 and 12 years data retention for innocent people's DNA profiles and Fingerprints
- 2009.05.04: GCHQ: our Intelligence and Security mission in the Internet age
- 2009.04.27: Communications Data public "consultation" with only one permitted option
- 2009.04.22: Jacqui Smith: more weasel words about the harassment of innocent photgraphers
- 2009.04.21: BBC Radio 4 iPM - Can U See Me ? CCTV camera spotting and sousveillance
- 2009.04.18: Public Consultation on reforming parts of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
- 2009.04.18: Damian Green MP arrest - Police tampering with computer evidence or political snooping on civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti ?
- 2009.04.17: The arrest of opposition Senator Stuart Syvret in Jersey - another Damian Green MP style scandal ?
- 2009.04.15: Operation Pathway arrests - where are the explosives or weapons ?
- 2009.04.04: Re-appointment of the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner
- 2009.03.29: Is Huawei really more of a security risk to the UK Critical National Infrastructure than other foreign telecommunications equipment companies like Cisco or Ericsson ?
- 2009.03.23: How much "war on terror" training for "tens of thousands" of people is the Labour government providing ? As little as 3 hours (including a coffee break)
- 2009.03.23: The state of the UK Database State
- 2009.03.19: OGC finally publish the two Stage Zero Gateway Reviews of the ID Cards programme - 1510 days = 4 years 1 month 18 days after the initial Freedom of Information Act request
- 2009.03.19: Passion and Dalliance blog: Why you need balls of steel to operate a Tor exit node
- 2009.03.17: The Polygraph Rules 2009 - more "Lie Detectors", but not for the politicians and spin doctors
- 2009.03.16: Metropolitan Police terrorism fear Propaganda Poster lies about bombs, reconnaissance and CCTV cameras - updated 25th March 2009
- 2009.03.16: The Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009 come into force on 6th April 2009
- 2009.03.14: The BBC botnet - UK cyber crime policing is still hopeless
- 2009.03.10: National Security Forum appointees - why is there no pandemic disease or biotech or financial markets or cyber security expertise ?
- 2009.03.08: Weekend newspaper briefing spin that the controversial Data Orders Clause 152 of Coroners and Justice Bill is to be abandoned
- 2009.03.07: Intelligence and Security Committee report for 2007 - 2008 - SCOPE Phase 2 cancelled, even more snooping planned
- 2009.03.03: MPs vote to try to keep their constituency home addresses secret
- 2009.03.02: The Convention on Modern Liberty is over - now what are you going to do to save our freedom and liberty ? Get rid of Clause 152 from the Coroners and Justice Bill
- 2009.02.28: Convention on Modern Liberty video streams
- 2009.02.26: Liberal Democrats - Freedom Bill 2009
- 2009.02.25: Sir David Omand on Protint - 'protected information' data mining of personal sensitive data by intelligence agencies
- 2009.02.23: Practical things to do and bring to the Convention on Modern Liberty
- 2009.02.20: Privy Council Intercept as Evidence Advisory Group interim progress report 9th February 2009
- 2009.02.20: Information Tribunal orders publication of the early ID Cards Programme Gateway Reviews, again
- 2009.02.17: Former MI5 Director General Stella Rimington's interview with La Vanguardia
- 2009.02.16: Where are all the Home Office press releases ? 177 spin doctors but only 5 press releases a week ?
- 2009.02.14: Chilcot Advisory Group on Intercept Evidence (lack of) Progress Report
- 2009.02.12: A couple of photos of some Police officers and VIP vehicles - whilst we still can
- 2009.02.12: Home Office response to Consultation on second phase of EU Comms Data Retention Regulations (internet email, internet telephony etc.) coming into force on 6th April 2009
- 2009.02.12: Sir James Crosby's Review on Identity Assurance being written out of history by Gordon Brown ?
- 2009.02.10: Serious Crime Act 2007 used to harass Indymedia server colocation administrator - updated
- 2009.02.09: Mass photography protest - 11 am Monday 16th February 2009, Metropolitan Police HQ, New Scotland Yard
- 2009.02.08: Sunday Telegraph - British Jobs For British Spies ? MI5 overwhelmed, or lobbying for even more resources ?
- 2009.02.07: Surveillance: Citizens and the State - HoL Constitution Committee report
- 2009.02.06: Exactly what correspondence or communications between MPs and their Constituents is protected by Parliamentary Privilege ?
- 2009.02.05: Lords Constitution Committee report "Surveillance: Citizens and the State" to be published on Friday 6th February 2009
- 2009.02.03: Metropolitan Police seeking MPs Parliamentary privileged emails without a warrant
- 2009.02.03: London Calling Photographers debate - Know your rights: Facing the police crackdown on public photography
- 2009.01.29: Ralph Bendrath: Privacy in Germany 2008: A new fundamental right, a privacy mass movement, and the usual surveillance suspects
- 2009.01.26: How sneakily are Blue State Digital tracking NGO political campaign emails ?
- 2009.01.26: Do not donate money via the Disasters Emergency Committee DEC website
- 2009.01.26: Coroners and Justice Bill - Information Sharing Orders and other controversies
- 2009.01.23: Counter Terrorism Act 2008 - "attempting to elicit information" and secret DNA sampling and data sharing etc. come into force on February 16th 2009
- 2009.01.21: Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski - parliamentary office searched and constituency correspondence handed over to the Police, without a warrant - updated
- 2009.01.20: A plague on The Sun ?
- 2009.01.20: Lobby your MP to vote against the Freedom of Information (Parliament) Order 2009 this Thursday - update - have we won ?
- 2009.01.17: Rest in Peace: Patrick McGoohan and Sir John Mortimer QC
- 2009.01.15: Coroners and Justice Bill - a further crippling of the Data Protection Act
- 2009.01.14: ICO Guidance on FOIA requests name and address for correspondence - another attack on Anonymity
- 2009.01.10: Communications Data snooping - MI5 Jonathan Evans, BBC, DPP Kier Starmer
- 2009.01.05: Remote Searching of Computer Hard Disks - remember that RIPA etc. do not protect business premises from arbitrary intrusive surveillance, property interference etc.
- 2009.01.04: Google.co.uk - politically insensitive and inaccurate Metropolitan Police Service "Extremist" Sponsored Links and AdWords campaign
- 2009.01.02: Tom Watson and the US Air Force Blog Response Flowchart