NO2ID News No. 98

22 May 2008

++ PLEASE JOIN NO2ID ? WE NEED YOUR HELP ++

NO2ID has been an active campaign group for almost four years now and during this time we have lead a massive increase in public awareness of "the database state" (a phrase invented to explain the danger we saw). Clearly the database state continues to grow. The ID cards scheme is just starting to bite, but a connected government initiative seems to be launched every other month or so, none of them well thought-out, all of them a danger to privacy and liberty.

To keep up with all this and keep you informed takes time. To do something about it - whether that is campaigning, or lobbying politicians and journalists, printing information leaflets and adverts, or organising public events - inevitably also takes money. Which means we need members. Almost all our funding now comes from membership fees and donations from individual supporters - we are hardly likely to get a government grant and we stay independent of any political patronage of any kind.

Of the 20,000 people who are sent this newsletter, fewer than 1,500 are subscription paying members of NO2ID. If you value the information we send you and the work we are doing then please join.

There is a membership form at: http://www.no2id.net/downloads/membForm.pdf

If you are already a member, then thank you. You are the reason we are able to do our work at all.

+ BBC Politics Show seeks volunteers for surveillance item +

The BBC television programme 'The Politics Show' is looking for volunteers to appear in a film about data-sharing and surveillance. The film is to coincide with the soon to be released report on data sharing by the Information Commissioner and Mark Wallport of the Wellcome Trust. The programme's producer Ian Lauchlan said: "I'm trying to find a young family who might help us illustrate how widely data-sharing and the surveillance culture permeates all aspects of our lives. We'd like to film them trying to get through a week without revealing any data information about themselves." Anyone fitting the criteria who would like to be in this worthwhile film should contact Ian Lauchlan directly on 0207 973 6083 or 07912 583 234.

What's next?

+ Request for volunteers in our London Office +
We are looking for someone who is able to volunteer to do two hours regularly on a Saturday morning at out Vauxhall office packing parcels of NO2ID leaflets/merchandise for distribution to our local groups. If you can help please contact general.secretary@no2id.net

+ Request for technical volunteers +
We are seeking technically competent, experienced PHP developers, and those with proven Drupal experience. Vi over Emacs; experience with RCS/CVS/SVN exceptionally useful. If you're interested, please provide a couple of URIs, and a LinkedIn profile to technical.director@no2id.net (plain text emails only, cheers).

+ 29th May - South Yorkshire regional meeting +
Thursday, 29th May 7.00pm at The Quaker Meeting House, 140 St James St S1 2EW, Sheffield. Matty Mitford (Local Groups coordinator), James Elsdon-Baker (Yorkshire Regional Coordinator) and Phil Booth are in the line up for this meeting for anyone who runs/is interested in running NO2ID campaigning activity - in South Yorks in particular but all are welcome. We are looking for a Sheffield coordinator - Sheffield may now be the biggest city in England without an active group. Contact local.groups@no2id.net or yorkshire@no2id.net for more details.

5th July ? NO2ID at Open Tech
Saturday, 5th July at ULU, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY. NO2ID will be running a couple of sessions at this event which is an informal one-day conference on technology, society and low-carbon living. Doors open at 10am; the event starts at 10.30am. Tickets are £5 on the door.
See http://www.ukuug.org/events/opentech2008

+ LOCAL GROUPS NEWS +

We now have local groups in 44 of the 69 proposed locations for interrogation centres - of which just 3 have yet to open. Parliamentary answers indicate that the most active centres are: Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport, Peterborough and Sheffield.

For information on your nearest interrogation centre, see www.no2id.net/getInvolved/idCentres.php. If you can help set up a local group in one of the remaining locations, or anywhere else in the UK, please contact Matty on local.groups@no2id.net

+ Birmingham +

24th May - Birmingham NO2ID Street Stall
Saturday, 24th May - the NO2ID call will be heard on the streets of Birmingham for the first time this weekend as the city's local group holds its first campaign stall in the city centre. We're aiming to raise awareness of the ID card scheme across the city through face-to-face discussion with the public, distributing leaflets and collecting signatures for the petition and support from any NO2ID sympathisers in the local area will be most welcome!

27th May - Birmingham NO2ID Meeting
Tuesday 27 May from 7.30pm till 9pm in the Seminar Room at The Drum, 144 Potters Lane, Birmingham B6 4UU - behind The Bartons Arms pub in Aston with on-site and street parking; it can also be reached by bus (8, 33, 34, 51, 52, 107 and 113). Among other things this month, we'll be learning how to write a successful letter to the press or local MPs. We've got a number of other events lined up for the summer so come along and get involved.

+ Bradford +

31st May ? Bradford NO2ID Street Stall
Saturday, 31st May, from 11am - 3pm in the city centre on Tyrrell Street (outside the Zavvi superstore).

11th June ? Bradford NO2ID Meeting (2nd Wednesday of every month)
Wednesday, 11th June at Bradford Resource Centre, 17-21 Chapel Street, Bradford BD1 5DT.

+ Cambridge +

31st May - NO2ID Cambridge Stall
Saturday, 31st May at 10am in the usual spot outside Cambridge Guildhall. Location Map: http://tinyurl.com/eo42r. As ever, volunteers to help very welcome - please email cambridge@no2id.net, or text/call Andrew on 07710 469624 if you can make it.

7th June - NO2ID Stall at Cambridge Strawberry Fair
Saturday 7th June, volunteers needed to man the stall for 2 hour shifts from 10am until 6pm: please contact cambridge@no2id.net, or text/call Andrew Watson on 07710 469624. We signed up 700 supporters last year - we'd like to improve on that number this year. (Strawberry Fair info: http://www.strawberry-fair.org.uk)

+ Canterbury +

14th June - Canterbury NO2ID Street Stall
Saturday 14th June - Next Canterbury NO2ID High St Stall. Please get in touch if you are happy to help out (canterbury@no2id.net).

+ Dorking +

3rd June ? Dorking NO2ID Meeting (every 1st Tuesday of month)
Tuesday, 3rd June 7.30pm at The Barn, The Old House at Home pub, West Street, Dorking. All welcome.

+ Dover +

31st May ? NO2ID Dover Street Stall
Saturday, 31st May, from 10am (weather permitting) in Folkestone at the Sandgate Road precinct, between Debenhams and Westcliff Gardens.

+ Edinburgh +

Saturdays 1pm - 3pm - NO2ID Edinburgh street stall
Every week, weather permitting, you will find our campaigning stall at the east end of Princes Street, opposite the Balmoral Hotel. Do drop by for a chat. New volunteers - please contact John(edinburgh@no2id.net), and for more group information see http://www.no2id-scotland.net/edinburgh/

27th May - NO2ID Edinburgh meeting
Tuesday, 27th May at 7.00 pm in The Library, Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2JL. Where do we go next with the Scottish ID Card? Under the guise of improving and coordinating IT systems, Scotland's 32 Local Authorities are introducing an ID card directly against the policy of the Scottish Parliament and apparently without the knowledge of most MSPs. The bus pass for students and seniors is being extended as a local services 'entitlement card'. As a result NO2ID recently organised a briefing meeting for MSPs. What happened there and what has happened since will be discussed. All welcome.

+ Glasgow +

Most Saturdays 2pm - NO2ID Glasgow street stall
Most Saturdays there are stalls in Glasgow city centre (usually Buchanan Street) from about 2pm. Volunteers are always welcome, please contact Geraint if you would like to help: glasgow@no2id.net

3rd June ? Glasgow NO2ID Meeting
Tuesday, 3rd June, 8pm in Mono. All welcome!

+ Leeds +

+ Leeds University Students pass Anti-ID motion +
Leeds University and College Union (UCU) has passed an anti-ID scheme motion following much hard work from a member of the Leeds NO2ID. The motion which follows on the heels of a motion by Leeds University Student Union states that: ?The national ID scheme is: unnecessary; flawed; discriminatory; costly; and threatens individual security and privacy. Over £30m has already been spent on 'consultants' to the scheme, with the cost of implementation at over £20bn, at a time when public sector pay and higher education funding is under significant threat?.

24th May - NO2ID Leeds Street Stall
Saturday, 24th May meeting 1pm on Briggate. We may move down to the art gallery after meeting. Look forward to seeing lots of new faces.

+ Leicester +

28th May ? Leicester NO2ID Meeting
Wednesday, 28th May, at 8pm in the Blues pub, Uplands Road, Oadby.

+ Selby +

Our 'Say NO2ID' song on youtube is now at over 2000 views and rising. If anyone wants a copy on CD to use (better quality than on Youtube), email selby@no2id.net.

+ Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells +

31st May ? Tunbridge Wells NO2ID Street Stall
Saturday, 31st May. If you are able to help then please email tunbridge.wells@no2id.net

What just happened?

+ Surveillance Inquiry evidence sessions +
On Wednesday (21st May) the House of Lords Constitution Committee held an evidence session as part of their Surveillance and Data Collection inquiry. The Committee took evidence from Sir Christopher Rose (Chief Surveillance Commissioner) and then from Sir Paul Kennedy (Interception of Communications Commissioner). On 14th May the committee took evidence from Dr Victoria Williams and Professor Ian Loader.
Listen to the evidence sessions at:
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/VideoPlayer.aspx?meetingId=1834&rel=ok
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/VideoPlayer.aspx?meetingId=1816

+ Crewe and Nantwich by-election and ID cards +
One of our supporters recently managed to corner some of the prospective candidates in today's (22nd May) Crewe and Nantwich by-election to ask them their views on the government's ID scheme. David Roberts (English Democrats) said he was personally in favour and when pressed as to why said it was mainly to distinguish between those who are 'English' and entitled to use public services and those who come from elsewhere and are not. He also said that it would reduce crime but didn't elaborate on how. Elizabeth Shenton (Liberal Democrats) said she is opposed on grounds of infringement of civil liberties, cost and unworkability. Edward Timpson (Conservative) also said he was opposed on cost, doubt as to its usefulness and civil liberties concerns. Meanwhile the Labour campaign has been mired in controversy over a leaflet attempting to turn voters against the conservative candidate because he opposes (to quote the leaflet)?making foreign nationals carry an ID card?. (See ?ID in the News? section below for more on this story).

+ Thanks +
On the subject of the Crewe and Nantwich by-election ? many thanks to the benefactor that paid for our NO2ID adverts in the Nantwich Chronicle.

+ Belgian banks: Bring us your ID or we?ll keep all your money +
Banks in Belgium are warning customers that their accounts will be blocked from 15th May unless they take their ID cards round to a local branch. The banks are legally obliged to take copies of each client?s ID.

+ Global data leaks +
The personal data of six million Chileans were stolen at the beginning of May and briefly published on a website. They included names, e-mail addresses and street addresses. A hacker said he stole them online from the health ministry, the electoral authority and the state-run phone company. Not to be outdone, the highly official website of the Swiss Justice and Police Ministry has just published a confidential document about Europe?s Schengen immigration control arrangements. But it was all a ?mistake? a ministry spokesman said ? prompting some Swiss to wonder what the ministry might get up to with even more important data, namely theirs. Next door, the German government has admitted that 189 desktop computers, 328 laptops, 38 data storage devices and 271 mobile phones belonging to the federal authorities went missing between 2005 and 2007. 48 of them disappeared outside Germany. Some contained sensitive or secret data.

"ID" in the news

+ Big Brother? database for phones and e-mails - The Times 20/5/08 +
A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article3965033.ece

+ Why the police now have to ask teenage muggers: 'Do you eat chips?' - Daily Mail 17/5/08 +
Imagine a country where strangers have the right to ask intrusive questions and store the answers on a database. Where everyone from police officers to leisure-centre staff can demand: "Tell me who you feel close to?"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-567003/Why-police-ask-teenage-muggers-Do-eat-chips.html

+ NHS IT 'at least four years late' ? BBC News online 15/5/08+
It will be at least 2014 - four years later than planned - before a single NHS electronic patient records system is in place in England, say auditors. The head of the National Audit Office, Tim Burr, said the challenge was "far greater than envisaged".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7403286.stm

+ Labour activists' rage over 'racist' Crewe campaign - Politics.co.uk 13/6/08 +
Labour activists are condemning their party's by-election campaign in Crewe and Nantwich after an election leaflet was released which party members say appeals to BNP voters. The leaflet in question shows a checklist of policies which Edward Timpson, the Conservative candidate, opposes - one of which reads: "Do you oppose making foreign nationals carry an ID card?"
http://tinyurl.com/6gkygd

+ Web passports system canned as costs soar - ComputerWeekly 13/5/08 +
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has cancelled an over-complicated replacement online passport applications system after rising costs and glitches, which led to about 5,000 applications becoming stuck in the system. The IPS told Computer Weekly that it has written off £10.9m in development costs because of the cancellation of the Electronic Passport Application system EPA2.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/05/13/230654/web-passports-system-canned-as-costs-soar.htm

+ We'll be able to sign up for ID cards at Tesco - The Telegraph 12/5/08 +
Almost unnoticed last week, the Government announced it had shaved another £1 billion off the cost of its proposed identity card scheme. It did so by deciding to let the "open market" capture citizens' biometrics, effectively outsourcing the cost of enrolling people on to the ID database. You could end up getting your fingerprints taken at a supermarket, rather than at a passport office as originally proposed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/05/12/do1202.xml

+ Update: government admits ID cards have no business case - ComputerWeekly 12/5/08 +
The government has, for the first time, admitted publicly that it cannot quantify in financial terms the expected benefits from its controversial £5.4bn National Identity Scheme (NIS). James Hall, chief executive of the Identity & Passport Service, said, "Many of these benefits [of the NIS] may be hard to quantify and potentially harder to articulate in financial terms within the scheme's business case."
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/05/12/230638/update-government-admits-id-cards-have-no-business.htm

+ Data dunces ? The Sun 10/5/08 +
There's nothing more private than your medical records. Yet it seems anyone can access the NHS computer database. The Government promised it couldn?t happen. Yet a GP finds he can log in without security checks. Labour insist that the ID cards database will be totally secure. But how can we believe them?
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/sun_says/article1150607.ece

+ Sunderland council deploys secure information sharing to tackle anti-social behaviour - ComputerWeekly 8/5/08 +
Sunderland City Council has installed Cyber-Ark's Inter-Business Vault to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. The Information Sharing and Assessment (ISA) initiative is a multi-agency project that allows the services within Sunderland, including the police and council, to share information and work closely together.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/05/08/230615/sunderland-council-deploys-secure-information-sharing-to-tackle-anti-social.htm

(Please send me any items of interest you encounter - Editor(newsletter@no2id.net) )

Publication details: © NO2ID 2013 - This document may be freely redistributed in one-to-one communications or physical copies as long as it is reproduced in its entirety including this notice. It may not be mass-mailed without the prior permission of NO2ID.
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