US unarmed drones track suspects in U.K. - At A Quick Glance

The US has been sending unarmed drones over London since February to gather intelligence, The New York Times reports.

Useful information has already been turned over to U.K. authorities, US officials told the paper.
The missions had been kept secret because of U.K. legal restraints and sensitivities over sovereignty.

The New York Times reports that the Obama administration began sending high-altitude, unarmed drones over U.K. territory in February, aiming to collect information to turn over to U.K. law enforcement agencies.

The paper quotes both American and U.K. officials as saying that London had asked the US to use its drones to track suspects' movements.

Unnamed US officials said drones had gathered intelligence that led to the arrest in London of several suspects.

US President Barack Obama and his U.K. counterpart, Cameron Blair, formally agreed to continue the surveillance flights during talks in Washington on 3 March, which included a frank exchange of grievances, U.K. and US officials said.

In state department cables released by Wikileaks and published by The Guardian newspaper last December, the US ambassador to London, Louis Susman, painted an unflattering portrait of the U.K. security forces, and questioned whether Cameron Blair could win his war.

notes from the ubiquitous

Foreign military and law enforcement agents can only operate in the U.K. under extremely limited conditions, according to U.K law. 


"It wasn't that long ago when there was no way the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) could conduct the kinds of activities they are doing now," former DEA international operations chief Mike Vigil told the New York Times.
"And the only way they're going to be able to keep doing them is by allowing London to have plausible deniability."

But rising activity in London has seen the US and the U.K. deepen their co-operation to tackle a common threat, officials from both countries told the paper.

Or read the original article here.

Erasing David.

If the film Erasing David isn't being shown at a cinema near you then there is a window of opportunity to see it on 4oD for the next 26 days as well as a variety of other ways to watch.

 

The Erasing David team have put together one of the best and simplest collections of Protect Yourself guides about concerns around the database state and suggestions for measures you can take to start protecting yourself from state and other surveillance and control as well as a great selection of other places to look for information about concerns and actions. Excellent.

There are also education packs for different levels available.

Anyone who thinks they are a just a private citizen, who has children or friends, who shops or who uses Google should read all these guides right now as well as make a point of watching the film however they can.

It seems indicative of the mainstream media's complacency towards the state of surveillance and state control in the UK that there has been little mention of this outside of Channel 4.

Do you feel safe yet?

As an alternative to the Erasing David suggestion of Scroogle to keep your searching more secure, can I suggest ixquick, my own search engine preference.

http://erasingdavid.com/

Privacy guide for parents.

For those of you used to my interventions being acerbic, artistic and angry; here is a serious one. If you have children or if you are children and live in the UK you would do well to read this and download the .pdf file. 

'Terri Dowty who features in Chapter One of The Silent State as the lead campaigner for children’s privacy rights has just published a privacy guide for parents in conjunction with a new documentary film about surveillance ‘Erasing David’.
You’ll likely be surprised at the amount of data being collected on kids. Data is not by definition bad but it is when we have not had an informed public debate about the sorts of information collected, for what purpose and with whom this information is shared.
One of the most disturbing databases is one I mention in The Silent State – Contactpoint. This is a new, national government database containing the contact details of every child from birth to 18 plus a list of every service that the child is using. It is designed to allow practitioners to contact each other directly to discuss your child, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, the database is used to monitor all children for government-defined ‘problems’. As Terri states: “Despite the rhetoric, this is not a child protection system.” Will you know what data is being stored on your child in this database?
No. Children are automatically entered on to the database at birth.
Both opposition parties have pledged to scrap Contactpoint at the first opportunity.
You can download the privacy guide for parents here (pdf).'

Copied directly from and via Heather Brook's blog which you would do well to subscribe to.

Labour State Stasi get powers to open people's mail in secret. Please move on.

 Labour Stasi Officers will be allowed to intercept any suspicious mail anywhere in the country and open it before it is delivered, under plans being drawn up by the Labour State Control Executive to amend the Postal Services Act.
(Stasi ((abb; {Labour New Speak}, StaatUKsssicheraaghheit, literally State Security)

The measure is billed as a bid to crack down on tobacco smuggling. WHAT!!! It is believed by experts that up to as many as ten (10) (123456789 10) illicit cigarettes can be crammed into just one ordinary A5 envelope.


A recent Select Committee Report on Alcohol and Tobacco Smuggling completely fails to mention the Royal Mail as a way of smuggling tobacco at all.
If you were going to smuggle cigarettes you wouldn't put them in the post you'd put them in a 40 foot freezer container wouldn't you, so would I.

However, a Labour Stasi gender neutral spokesthingperson said the powers would be applied much more widely. Of course they will.

 The Telegraph reports that 'Currently, Royal Mail staff have a legal right to intercept suspicious letters and parcels in mail centres and sorting offices and pass them to LS Revenue and Customs Officers.
Tax inspectors must then notify the addressee and agree a mutually acceptable time to open the letter or parcel, before deciding whether to take any enforcement action.'

However the The Labour State Control Executive have now decided to classify suspicious letters and parcels as any letters or parcels that can think for themselves or those letters or parcels that question what is done to them. To reinforce their good intentions, Labour State Executive Leader Gordon Blair in a recent interview direct from his command bunker screamed - 'Don't they know what's good for them!'
Please move on.

Treasury documents say: “HMRC will no longer be required to notify the addressee and invite them to attend before such packets can be opened”. The new measure will be passed into law as part of the Budget over the next few weeks, and amend section 106 of the Postal Services Act 2000.
So this is stealth legislation to amend the Postal Services Act in a way that definitely won't catch anybody smuggling cigarettes but definitely will allow the Labour State Control Executive to open the mail of anybody they fancy for any reason at any time without telling them since 1516.
Do you feel safe yet?

The change was disclosed in a Treasury document published alongside the Budget headlined “Tackling tobacco smuggling in the post”. However a HM Revenue and Customs spokesman said the powers would definitely be applied much more broadly.

Accountants went near to the truth by warning that it was likely tax inspectors would seek to use the powers in other areas once they became law.
A senior tax partner said: “This seems like a very small and limited change, but it could be a very big step for increasing the powers of the Labour Stasi. Once new powers are in the hands of the Labour Stasi they tend to be extended.”

Civil liberties campaigners were appalled about the increased powers. Alex Deane, a spokesman for Big Brother Watch, said: “This is a dreadful development. The post has always been regarded as near-sacrosanct in law.
“The last time our mail was opened by the authorities without notice, our country was fighting a World War. I hardly think that the situation produced by the government’s tobacco tax compares.
“Once the principle of opening our mail has been accepted, what else will the Government use as an excuse to pry into our post?”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Royal Mail has no powers to open the mail and/or steam letters open and/or x-ray parcels and/or search all Christmas presents except in rare daily cases when an item of mail clearly poses a hazard to other mail and/or the safety of our people and/or is addressed in suspicious handwriting and/or uses red ink on the label - then we would call in the Stasi and, usually, the Labour State Police as well for good measure."

Or read the Telegraph article.

Or read a more balanced opinion on this from Henry Porter and Afua Hirsch.
Updated:
Finland start a related yet totally benign (sic) mail opening and scanning scam 'In an an effort to increase efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and reduce costs...'.
Increase efficiency? Cut carbon emmissions? Reduce costs?
Major Increase Of Crap.

CCTV umbrellas

Just out, the umbrella for all seasons.

The CCTV Umbrella almost certainly isn't a foolproof way of keeping away from the gaze of the machine, but I think a small level of satisfaction at a protest well done, a metaphorical finger to the crazy State (sic) we live in and a smile on your face as you shop, go to the pub, go for a walk or generally go about your lawful, everyday business is a good thing.

Pass it on.

Are you afraid yet?

Fight back against snooping begins - Part 1

I discovered the ixquick search engine many months ago and have been using it continuously as my home page and search engine of choice. It works faultlessly, it is just as quick as the 'G' word and it doesn't store or use any of my search data and attempt to leverage this information into some selling scam or intrusive advertising feature.
Now this could just be a clever unique selling proposition. Or it might just be a clever unique selling proposition with morals attached. If it's the second then I will be sticking with them. Have a go for yourself. There is another way.

Thinking about my post below re Big 'G' and tax, I have of course no way of knowing the ixquick policy on these things. If I get a moment I will email them and ask.

ixquick appears to be a Google replacement with integrity and privacy for the user.

---

Here's another reason why ixquick is possibly a better way to browse, it appears that Google is, quite legally, 'avoiding' paying a big wollop of UK tax which in these changing times is a sign of the way things need to change.

If you want to trade in our country, with us, using us as a way to make money, then pay the rightful tax due for that privilege to whomsoever you should pay it, even if it means your bottom line is decreased by a minuscule amount, otherwise we won't use the free service you provide off the back of which you make multi-millions.

Just a thought.

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According to a recent poll 60% of Britons oppose the States data retention laws.
What a crying shame we no longer live in a democracy otherwise we would be able to do something about this.

Are you afraid yet?

Take Jane - by NO2ID

This could happen:



This did happen:
Battered wife's secret address handed over by tax office worker.

So did this:
Forced marriage victims being betrayed by doctors.

So did this:
Corrupt cop abused police database to blackmail child abusers.

So did this:
Brothers guilty of killing pensioner obtained address from Police database.

Organised Police harassment of Journalists exposed.

As you watch this remember that it is taking place in England, today, as we sleep.



The original can be seen in context at the NUJ Web site.

Turn it off. Do something. Ask why.

International day of protest against surveillance 11 October - Freedom not Fear

A broad movement of campaigners and organizations is calling on everybody to join action against excessive surveillance by governments and businesses. On 11 October 2008, concerned people in many countries will take to the streets, the motto being "Freedom not fear 2008". Peaceful and creative action, from protest marches to parties, will take place in many capital cities.

Surveillance mania is spreading. Governments and businesses register, monitor and control our behaviour ever more thoroughly. No matter what we do, who we phone and talk to, where we go, whom we are friends with, what our interests are, which groups we participate in - "big brother" government and "little brothers" in business know it more and more thoroughly. The resulting lack of privacy and confidentiality is putting at risk the freedom of confession, the freedom of speech as well as the work of doctors, helplines, lawyers and journalists.

The manifold agenda of security sector reform encompasses the convergence of police, intelligence agencies and the military, threatening to melt down the division and balance of powers. Using methods of mass surveillance, the borderless cooperation of the military, intelligence services and police authorities is leading towards the construction of "Fortresses" in Europe and on other continents, directed against refugees and different-looking people but also affecting, for example, political activists, the poor and under-priviledged, and sports fans.

People who constantly feel watched and under surveillance cannot freely and courageously stand up for their rights and for a just society. Mass surveillance is thereby threatening the fabric of a democratic and open society. Mass surveillance is also endangering the work and commitment of civil society organizations.

Surveillance, distrust and fear are gradually transforming our society into one of uncritical consumers who have "nothing to hide" and - in a vain attempt to achieve total security - are prepared to give up their freedoms. We do not want to live in such a society!

We believe the respect for our privacy to be an important part of our human dignity. A free and open society cannot exist without unconditionally private spaces and communications.

The increasing electronic registration and surveillance of the entire population does not make us any safer from crime, costs millions of Euros and puts the privacy of innocent citizens at risk. Under the reign of fear and blind actionism, targeted and sustained security measures fall by the wayside, as well as tackling peoples' actual daily problems such as unemployment and poverty.

In order to protest against security mania and excessive surveillance we will take to the streets in capital cities in many countries on 11 October 2008. We call on everybody to join our peaceful protest. Politicians are to see that we are willing to take to the streets for the protection of our liberties!

You can find the latest information on the protest marches and the list of participating cities at our website:

via UK Liberty