Identity Cards in the UK

from Privacy International, 6 April 2008: "Privacy International and the UK's NO2ID have launched a campaign to show the dangers of the collection of fingerprints into central government databases. We are offering a reward for the first person to collect and submit the UK Prime Minister's and Home Secretary's fingerprints..." more

from theregister, 23 March 2008: Here are two articles from www.theregister.co.uk on developments in the UK police's intention to have real-time access to all CCTV camera and Oyster card data. The top cops at ACPO are looking into how all cameras could be a) improved to give better images and b) registered and integrated into a pig-heaven national, searchable, real-time monitoring system. Facial recognition, sus behaviour, looking foreign in a white man's area. more

from manchesterno2id 07/03/2008: Manchester campaigners have condemned the Home Secretary's announcement on identity cards as a "meaningless smokescreen", under which the Government will continue their plan to coerce people into state control. Under new proposals, airport workers and non-EU foreign nationals will be forced onto the Government's databases, and biometric passports may replace identity cards as physical ID documents. more

from The Register, republished here 2 February 2008: "Various forms of coercion" could be used to accelerate the rollout of ID cards, the idea being that ID cards will remain 'voluntary' for as long as possible, while not having an ID card will become more and more uncomfortable. This, precisely what the government has intended to do all along, is stated baldly in an Identity & Passport Service leak cited by the Sunday People. more

from imc-uk, 21 November 2007: "The use of biometric ID cards in Fallujah perhaps gives an insight into the likely reasoning behind their introduction in UK society ... Three years after a devastating U.S.-led siege of the city, residents of Fallujah continue to struggle with a shattered economy and infrastructure and a lack of mobility..." more

from infoshop, 30 October 2007: From the company that brought you the C programming language comes Hancock, a C variant developed by AT&T researchers to mine gigabytes of the company's telephone and internet records for surveillance purposes. more

from email, 24 October 2007: Recent news, upcoming events and ongoing campaigns from Manchester NO2ID. Manchester NO2ID has been organising further screenings of the "Taking Liberties" documentary which is now available on DVD. +++ Manchester NO2ID will be holding our monthly meeting in the upstairs function room of the Town Hall Tavern, Tib Lane, Manchester.  more

Interesting article on what is really behind the UK government's identity cards scheme. A panopticon is a type of prison built in such a way that all prison cells face inwards to a central point, from where the prisoners can all be constantly observed by the guards.

Monday, June 25 2007 : "The British State want iris scan, fingerprint, photo, NINO, and the old chestnut “if you're doing nothing wrong you've got nothing to hide” is being aired again. The type of info required they claim is only the basic necessary to prove your identity and to fight crime..." more

repost: By OUT-LAW.COM → Wednesday 11th April 2007.
The Government's DNA retention policy combined with increasingly sophisticated statistical techniques means that eventually most citizens in the UK will be linked to data stored on the police's DNA database, according to a privacy law expert. more

"Talking" CCTV cameras that tell off people dropping litter or committing anti-social behaviour are to be installed in 20 areas across England.

They are already used in Middlesbrough where anyone seen misbehaving can be told via a loudspeaker, controlled by control centre staff, to stop. more

'Voices of Resistance from Occupied London' is the city's newest anarchist journal. It is free (as in freedom!) and available in both paper and electronic form.

It contains interviews with Mike Davis, Bill Brown (from the NYC Surveillance Camera Players), articles by another eight contributors, comic strips and call-outs for the forthcoming anti-G8 mobilisations in Germany. Everything is available on-line here more

Articles from external newswires on the surveillance society, CCTV, compulsory identity cards, sharing of data inside and between states. more

More than 600,000 people a year applying for a passport for the first time will from May have to attend a compulsory interview up to 20 miles from their home, it was announced yesterday.

The new applicants, half of whom will be aged 16 to 19, will be asked to prove their identity by responding to a stock of about 200 possible questions on their family and financial history. more

Proposals for a centralized database of fingerprints across the Continent were revealed on Thursday, fuelling fears on all sides of a Big Brother Europe. The scheme for a computerized collection of personal details drawn from all 27 countries in the EU is the latest in a raft of anti-crime measures in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the United States. more

The UK government has revised its plans for a national compulsory biometric identity card. The original proposal was for a new 'clean' central database to hold all personal information - name, date of birth, NI number, address, biometric data (iris scans, fingerprints, DNA?) as well as extra options for immigration status, medical and criminal records.  more