Former DPP predicts information 'hellhouse'

In his most scathing attack yet on the proposed communications superdatabase, former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald has told the Guardian that government assurances on security would prove worthless and warned that a ‘hellhouse’ of personal private information would be created. The cost to the taxpayer could be as high as £12bn, twice the cost of the national ID card scheme.

In a consultation paper to be published next month, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will outline plans to invite the private sector to manage and run the database that will keep track of everyone’s phone calls, emails, texts and internet use. The paper follows on from Ms Smith’s October announcement to postpone the database legislation to allow her to set out proposals for the protection of civil liberties

Mr Macdonald told the Guardian: "The tendency of the state to seek ever more powers of surveillance over its citizens may be driven by protective zeal. But the notion of total security is a paranoid fantasy which would destroy everything that makes living worthwhile. We must avoid surrendering our freedom as autonomous human beings to such an ugly future. We should make judgments that are compatible with our status as free people."

You can read the full story here.

Local politicians unite against ID cards for foreigners

At the end of November, the first of seven centres due to issue 'ID cards for foreign nationals' opened for business. Birmingham NO2ID wrote a letter to local newspapers, signed by a broad range of politicans, to draw attention to what was going on.


Dear Editor

You may be aware that from this month the government begins issuing what it calls, with an obvious nasty spin, ‘ID cards for foreigners’. You may not be aware what this means for Birmingham. First affected will be students and those marrying Britons. The plan is that gradually residents from outside Europe will be fingerprinted and have to account for their movements. (Later, so would we all.)

Successful foreigners such as Randy Learner or Brad Friedel and the overseas students at Birmingham’s universities have a lot of choice where they study or exercise their talents. Some will decide Britain has become too unfriendly. When the US introduced more hostile visa conditions three or four years ago, the numbers applying to study there fell by 15% and Bill Gates complained that Microsoft could no longer hire some of the best software engineers.

If this scheme is continued it will lead to less fee-income and lower international status for Birmingham. British students will have to pay higher tuition to make up, and will have less money to spend with local businesses. Fewer of the world's star performers in every field will choose to make their homes here than do now.

We, the undersigned, value the contribution that these gifted people currently make to our institutions and our society. We think our country should treat them as guests, not criminal suspects. ‘ID cards for foreigners’ is not just a small-minded slogan – Birmingham will suffer culturally and economically.

Yours faithfully

Lorely Burt MP
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

John Hemming MP
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Dr Lynne Jones MP
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Andrew Mitchell MP
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Clare Short MP
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Councillor Matt Bennett
c/o Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BB

Councillor Iain Bowen
15 Coppice Oaks, Birmingham, B13 9DP

Councillor Gareth Compton
c/o Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BB

Councillor Alistair Dow
c/o Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BB

Councillor Jerry Evans
67 Dovey Road, Birmingham, B13 9NT

Councillor Roger Harmer
71 Oak Farm Road, Birmingham, B30 1ET

Councillor Colin Hughes
172 Daisy Farm Road, Birmingham, B14 4QQ

Councillor Jon Hunt
52 Perry Avenue, Birmingham, B42 2NE

Councillor David Osborne
27 Elan Road, Birmingham, B31 5EP

Councillor David Radcliffe
46 Regent Street, Birmingham, B30 2LG

Councillor Peter Smallbone
c/o Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BB

Councillor Robert Wright
c/o Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BB

Councillor Salma Yaqoob
c/o Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BB

Felicity Norman, Prospective MEP, Green Party
c/o West Midlands Green Party

New NO2ID advert

NO2ID has launched a video dramatising some of the dangers of the ID scheme and in particular the national register. The advert is available from:

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v1JqlvnZANA

www.no2id.net/TakeJane

Please forward the links to anyone you think may be interested.

NO2ID defies weather in joint Coventry stall

Defying the icy cold weather, NO2ID Coventry Co-ordinator Claire Boylan and her fellow supporters were joined by two members of the Birmingham group when they set up a stall in their first attempt to give Coventry residents the chance to say no to ID. Birmingham’s co-ordinator Michelle Graham and assistant co-ordinator Ghiyas Somra lent an experienced hand in doling out NO2ID leaflets and pointing people to the petition.

Early Christmas shoppers were keen to add their names to the petition calling for the card and its underlying database to be scrapped, telling the campaigners that they were not happy for this or any other government to be allowed to snoop on every citizen in the country. Privacy seemed to trump cost on the list of priorities expressed by those signing the petition, though at £93 per card this was also a big factor.

By the end of the day, Christine, Phil, Claire, Ghiyas and Ron [not pictured] had collected 65 signatures – a massive success on their first outing. Well done Coventry and thanks too to Nikki who brought free coffee and biscuits.

'Big Brother' database plan shelved

The Independent reports that the Data Communications Bill has been dropped from the Queen's Speech, which outlines the government's legislative plans for the coming parliamentary year.

The paper notes that:

The Home Office has been stung by the strength of opposition. Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, has condemned it as a "step too far" while Lord Carlile of Berriew, the Government's terrorism watchdog, said it was "awful" as a "raw idea".

Some ministers are also worried about the wisdom of pressing ahead with the measures in the face of public hostility to the scheme, particularly in the light of a succession of embarrassing data losses by the Government.

Thanks to Andy.

NO2ID Birmingham November meeting

The next NO2ID Birmingham meeting will be on Thursday 27 November at 7:30pm. As usual, we'll be meeting in the Boardroom at Bennett's Bar.

£1,000 fine for wrong ID details

On the BBC News website:

Women who change their name after marriage could face fines of up to £1,000 if they fail to tell the government, under new proposals.

Anyone with a biometric passport or ID card will be required to notify the National Identity Register of changes to the personal data it holds.

The £30 fixed fee for an ID card is likely to rise after 2010, draft laws published earlier also reveal.

Redditch stall massive success

Birmingham NO2ID took to the streets of Redditch to make the case against ID cards in Jacqui Smith's constituency. With local journalists reporting on the event and the town's Conservative party spokesperson lending a hand, the stall was a massive success.

The group gathered 86 signatures on the petition, which was a massive spur of encouragement for what was an icy cold day of campaigning.

Ghiyas Somra, Birmingham's Assistant Co-ordinator said: " I think people realise that spending £20 billion on this scheme in today's economic climate just isn't worth it."

Tory Party spokesperson for Redditch Karen Lumley said: "I was delighted to see so many people signing up to the NO2ID campaign. We have seen again this week data being lost and many people are unsure how exactly an ID card they are going to have to pay for is going to make this country safer."

Karen Lumley, Tory Party spokesperson for Redditch, joins Gill, Steve W, Lesley and Ghiyas. Also there on the day: Steve A, Kelvin, Anthony, Jennie, Andy M and Michelle.

Gordon Brown's terror claims are 'bunkum' says GCHQ expert

In today's Telegraph:

Speaking at an IT security conference in Wales, Mr Mattinson, a former senior official at the Cabinet Office who now advises GCHQ's Communications-Electronics Security Group, rubbished ministers' claims that the multi-billion pound scheme would enhance national security.

Mr Mattinson is not the first figure from Britain's intelligence community to reject Government claims for ID cards. Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has also questioned their value in fighting terrorism.

Thanks to Val.

Taking Liberties at the British Library

Taking Liberties: the struggle for Britain's freedoms and rights 31 October 2008 – 1 March 2009

The British Library will be holding a free exhibition, 'Taking Liberties: the struggle for Britain’s freedoms and rights', uncovering the roots of British democracy over a period of more than 900 years.

The exhibition will include:

• iconic documents that paved the way for liberty and democracy, many of them rarely displayed, from Magna Carta to the Good Friday Agreement
• computer interactives that compare your views on liberty and freedom with everyone else's
• a series of outstanding events with top speakers who address today's hottest political debates, such as human rights, ID cards, and detention without charge
• learning workshops on history and citizenship

One of the iconic documents, the Magna Carta, can be see using the British Library's Magna Carta Viewer here.

Birmingham NO2ID October Meeting

The next NO2ID Birmingham meeting will be on Tuesday 28 October at 7:30pm. As usual, we'll be meeting in the Boardroom at Bennett's Bar.

ID cards plan in crisis as the ‘guinea pigs’ revolt

Toby Helm writes in The Observer:

Plans to build support for identity cards by introducing them among ‘guinea pig’ groups, such as airport staff and students, are in crisis after 10,000 airline pilots vowed to take legal action to block them and opposition swept through Britain’s universities and councils.

In a move that could wreck the government’s strategy for a phased introduction beginning next year, the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) said it would seek a judicial review rather than see its members forced to adopt ID cards at a time when pilots are already exhaustively vetted.

Balpa’s vehement opposition is a hammer blow for the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, who had hoped to win the wider public over to ID cards by demonstrating that they were crucial to anti-terrorism policies. She intends to introduce them among groups "who operate in positions of trust in our society".

NO2ID General Secretary on the database state

NO2ID General Secretary Guy Herbert talking about the database state at the UKIP Conference.

Part One



Click here for part two.

The all-seeing state is about to end privacy as we know it

Jenni Russell writes in the Guardian:

The shocking element to the new plan is that the authorities want their own database only because they find the current limitations frustrating. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act rules, the 700 or so bodies already licensed to watch us must make a certified request to phone or internet firms for individual records. More than 500,000 such requests were made last year. But the companies are reluctant to hang on to the data, and the security services would find a single, accessible database so much more convenient.

Stop and consider this for a moment. Think about how happy any of us would be to have our lives laid out to official view. All our weaknesses, our private fears and interests, would be exposed. Our web searches are guides to what is going on in our minds. A married man might spend a lot of time on porn websites; a successful manager might be researching depression; a businessman might be looking up bankruptcy law.

We all have a gulf between who we really are and the face we present to the world. Suddenly that barrier will be taken away. Would a protester at the Kingsnorth power station feel quite so confident in facing the police if she knew that the minute she was arrested, the police could find out that she'd just spent a week looking at abortion on the web? Would a rebel politician stand up against the prime minister if he knew security services had access to the 100 text messages a week he exchanged with a woman who wasn't his wife? It isn't just the certainty that such data would be used against people that is a deterrent, it's the fear. As the realisation of this power grew, we would gradually start living in the prison of our minds.