[no2id-supporters] NO2ID Newsletter No.45

Thu May 11 14:04:08 BST 2006

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    NO2ID
    NO2ID Supporters' Newsletter No. 45 - 11th May 2006

      Join our 'Renew for Freedom' campaign in May

Now is the time to renew your passport and promote our 'renew for 
freedom campaign'. This is a once only campaign so spread the word. Tell 
everyone you know - mail your friends and colleagues directly, write 
letters to your local newspaper saying why you've renewed your passport 
and encouraging others to do the same. You can also tell them about our 
website (www.renewforfreedom.org), which contains details of the 
campaign and a factsheet about passport renewal.

Remember a 10 year passport will cost £51 and last until after the next 
election. Soon the government will require UK citizens to attend 
interrogation centres to be fingerprinted like criminals, numbered like 
cattle and entered onto the government's big brother database the 
National Identity Register(NIR) at a cost of £93. It is quite possible 
that from later this year the UK Identity and Passport Service(UKIPS) 
could start collecting data of people renewing passports and storing it 
in a holding database, ready to be transferred to the National Identity 
Register at a later date.

Local groups around the country have been promoting the campaign in 
local newspapers and on the radio, and stunts such as NO2ID Glasgow's 
photo op at the passport office in Glasgow next week are planned 
throughout May. An ever growing list of organisations are now signed up 
to the campaign including Liberty, Privacy International, Statewatch, 
UKIP, the Liberal Democrats and Our World Our Say who ran a full page 
advertisement in the Independent promoting our action.

Let's send a message to the government - we don't want ID cards or a 
National Identity Register. £51 spent in May could prove to be one of 
the wisest investments you and your family ever make in their privacy 
and freedom. It's that simple.

For more details and to download our factsheet go to 
http://www.renewforfreedom.org/

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      What's next?

        New local groups

We now have local groups in Llandeilo in Wales, Helensburgh in Scotland 
and Highbury in London.  A list of groups (and a new interactive map) 
can be found at www.no2id.net/localGroups

        11th May -  Swindon NO2ID Meeting

Thursday, 11th May 7.30pm at the Clifton Inn , Clifton street (off Kings 
Hill), all welcome. Contact Lynda at swindon at no2id.net for more details.

        11th May - North West Information Managers Conference- Stockport

Thursday, 11th May 2006 at Stockport Town Hall. Phil Booth, NO2ID 
National Coordinator, will be addressing the day-long conference which 
includes contributions from NADPO, lawyers, journalists, the National 
Consumer Council and the Information Commissioner's Office. More details 
here: http://www.actnow.org.uk/NW.htm

        11th May --- Southwark NO2ID planning meeting and social

Thursday, 11th May 7.00pm at the Barrowboy and Banker pub, 6-8 Borough 
High Street, London Bridge. Further dates have been arranged for the 
next month:14th May: leafleting shoppers at Southwark Tesco, 27th May: 
leafleting shoppers at Borough Market. Southwark NO2ID are also trying 
to arrange a public meeting in June with MPs or politicians from the 
LibDem, Conservative and UKIP parties. For more info or if you are able 
to help contact Martin Smith, southwark at no2id.net, 07974672112

        13th May - Glasgow NO2ID, stall in Glasgow city centre

If the weather is fair on Saturday afternoon(13th May) there will be a 
NO2ID stall in Buchanan Street. If the weather is poor we may instead do 
some discreet subterranean leafleting. If you want to join us, contact 
the group at glasgow at no2id.net. If you see us about, why not say hello 
and grab a badge or buy a T-shirt?

        15th May --- Renew for Freedom in Glasgow

Monday, 15th May 10:00am at Glasgow Passport Office, 96 Milton St, 
Cowcaddens. We need as many local NO2ID supporters as possible for a 
media photo opportunity outside the passport office(whether or not you 
intend to renew your passport). Participants should aim to be there at 
10am, ready for the media at 10:30. Please do feel free to dress 
appropriately for the theme "nothing to hide". Get in touch if you want 
some ideas. For more details, and to let the organisers know who'll be 
coming, please send an e-mail to glasgow at no2id.net

        15th May --- Highbury NO2ID - First Meeting

Monday, 15th May 2006 6pm for a 6.30pm start at the Jorene Celeste pub 
on 153 Upper Street (between Angel and Highbury & Islington tube 
stations). Contact highbury at no2id.net for more details.

        16th May - NO2ID Volunteers Meting, Central London

Tuesday, 16th May 7.00pm in the Bertrand Russell room at Conway Hall. 
All are welcome to NO2ID's  next volunteers' meeting. The meeting will 
have a theme of 'Work and ID cards', looking at issues such as Criminal 
Records Bureau checks and the National Identity Register. The meeting is 
free to attend but we will be asking for donations to help cover the 
cost of the room hire.

        16th May - Glasgow NO2ID informal meeting

Tuesday, 16th May at 7.30pm in Mono. Everyone is very welcome to attend 
and we hope to see as many new faces this time as we did at the meeting 
two weeks ago. (If for any reason Mono is not suitable on that evening 
then we will instead go to Laurie's across the road). Contact 
glasgow at no2id.net or see http://www.no2id-scotland.net/glasgow/meeting.htm

        19th May --- Preston NO2ID Public Meeting

Friday, 19th May 7.30pm until around 9 pm, at 'Bitter Suite' behind 
Times Square pub, off Fylde Road, Preston, almost opposite the Student 
Union. Phil Booth, NO2ID National Coordinator will be speaking. All are 
welcome. Contact preston at no2id.net for more details.

        20th May --- UK Independence Party's North West Spring Conference

Saturday, 20th May. Phil Booth will be addressing the UK Independence 
Party's North West Spring Conference in Morecambe on Saturday 20th May. 
The two-day conference will be held in Headway Hotel, Marine Drive, East 
Promenade, Morecambe LA4 5AW. More details at 
http://ukipnw.org/events/nwspringconf.gif

        20th & 21st May - Glasgow NO2ID stall at Strathclyde University
        "Neoliberal Scotland?" conference

Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st May, at Department of Geography & 
Sociology, University of Strathclyde Glasgow. Seven years after the 
creation of the Scottish Parliament, Strathclyde University are hosting 
a conference to reflect on the effect of devolution on Scottish society. 
(Event info 
http://gs.strath.ac.uk/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=29). Contact 
glasgow at no2id.net

        24th May - Next meeting of North Staffs NO2ID

Wednesday, 24th May starting at 8pm at St. Luke's Church hall, Fountain 
St, Leek, Staffs starting at 8 for 8.30pm. [Pub opposite!] Everyone 
welcome. Form more details contact Laura Marcus (leek at no2id.net)

        27th May - Bristol No2ID benefit gig

Saturday, 27th May at The White Bear, top of St Michael's Hill, £3. 
Featuring the Grumpy Man DJs, Paul Bradley from The Organelles, 
Mephisto's Island and Chris Beckett. For more info contact Dave 
Gould(bristol at no2id.net)

        3rd June - NO2ID Cambridge will have a stall at Cambridge
        Strawberry Fair

Saturday, 3rd June. Volunteers are needed to man the stall for 2 hour 
shifts from 10am until 10pm: please contact cambridge at no2id.net, or 
text/call Andrew Watson on 07710 469624. We signed up 500 supporters in 
5 hours last year - I'd like to triple that number this year. 
(Strawberry Fair info: http://www.strawberry-fair.org.uk)

        4th July - Homeland and Border Security Conference (£695+vat)

Tuesday, 4 July at QEII Conference Centre, London, UK. a one-day event 
that will look at the next steps for the security community. Featuring 
"key figures from the IT sector, government, the police, justice, and 
the international community". Cost - £695+vat for private sector, 
£175+VAT for public sector.
See http://govnet.co.uk/security/index.php

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      What just happened?

        North Somerset Council say no to ID cards

Almost every North Somerset councillor voted to resist Government plans 
to introduce the cards in the district at a meeting this week. The 
council voted, amongst other things, to "make it a policy of the Council 
to ensure that national identity cards would not be required to access 
Council services or benefits unless specifically called to do so by Act 
of Parliament". A growing number of councils around the country have now 
passed motions against ID cards. Following the local elections last week 
several councils have now changed complexion so over the next few weeks 
we will be looking to encourage more councils to pass similar resolutions.

        NO2ID Glasgow address the Anti-Racist Alliance

On Wednesday 10th May, Geraint Bevan of Glasgow NO2ID explained some of 
the issues that will arise from the ID scheme if the government get 
their way. Copies of the presentation will soon be available from the 
Glasgow NO2ID website: http://www.glasgow-no2id.org.uk

        IT industry and academics criticise ID card scheme

Last week(3rd May) the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee 
heard evidence on the government's handling of scientific advice in 
relation to the ID card scheme. Representatives of industry and academia 
said that they had not been sufficiently consulted. Professor Martyn 
Thomas from the UK Computing Research Committee said: "Looking at what 
has been done rather than what has been said would lead the man from 
Mars to assume that the real objective was to create a database of the 
nation's biometrics and that everything else was just window dressing." 
On the parliament-live website audio recording of the session at the end 
of the first evidence session, committee member and Labour MP Dr Desmond 
Turner can be heard saying to the committee chairman: "I'm starting to 
go off ID cards quite badly". Don't worry Dr Turner, most people tend to 
go off the government's scheme when they start to understand what it 
actually is.
The audio recording of the session is at 
www.parliamentlive.tv/Console.aspx?Encoding=4684

        UKIPS announces location of new passport interrogation centres

Last week the United Kingdom Identity and Passport Service (UKIPS) 
announced the location of the 69 interrogation centres that will be used 
to interview first time passport applicants and later enrol people onto 
the National Identity Register(NIR). Locations include Yeovil, Norwich, 
Skye, Sussex and Aberystwyth. In a press release relating to the Sussex 
centre, the Home Office estimate that "7,425 applicants from across 
Sussex will be required to attend 20-minute inter-views every year". But 
the government's aim is to get 80% of the population's personal details, 
fingerprints and iris scans into the giant centralised database. Over at 
blairwatch.co.uk they've done some back of an envelope calculations, 
based on 70 interrogation centres (the originally predicted number). 
They reckon each centre will need to process 400 citizens per day. They 
conclude that "from NIR Day 1 for the next ten years you've got to keep 
processing people at the rate of 50 per hour at every centre, or one 
every 72 seconds!" The best way to avoid this chaos of course is renew 
your passport now as part of our renew for freedom campaign.
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4967276.stm and 
http://www.blairwatch.co.uk/node/945

        UKIPS advertises brand post

This week's Media Guardian carried a job advertisement for the position 
of 'Brand Development Manager' at the United Kingdom Identity and 
Passport Service(UKIPS). Fortunately, this is not about applying hot 
irons to the citizenry. But the lucky appointee will be expected to 
"establish a brand that resonates with customers, both UK residents and 
the private and public sector. This role will champion the development 
and implementation of the agency brand and over time manage a portfolio 
of product and service brands." (!?)

        How to tell if you have an e-Passport

Several readers have asked how to tell if their passport contains a 
Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) chip. The new 'ePassports' have the 
International Civil Aviation Organisation(ICAO) ePassport logo on the 
front page. Silicon.com have pictures of the new passport on their 
website at 
http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/idcards/0,3800010140,39154696-1,00.htm

        Mauritian Lawyers - The ID card debate

Last Friday (5th May) about 120 people, mostly from ethnic minority 
communities, met in Tooting, South London for a debate on ID cards. A 
motion was put forward to the effect that ID cards are a good idea, 
which was then debated by the proposer and an opposer of the motion. 
Questions were raised about the impact of ID cards on ethnic minorities, 
in particular, people were worried that carrying them would become 
compulsory and that they would then be stopped and checked much more 
often than anyone else. On a show of hands at the end, roughly 100 
people out of 120 voted against ID cards.

        Contactless Mugging

If the plans to include some form of contactless chip on the UK ID card 
and passport actually come to fruition it could be possible for identity 
thieves to pinch your details simply by walking past you in the street.
http://www.no2id.net/news/newsblog/?p=402

        The Creep becomes a rush to add features

Quite contrary to what ministers have assured parliament and the public 
during the legislative and propaganda process, the Home Office is 
planning on adding much much more information on each of us to the 
national identity register than the fifty items they cheerily listed in 
the Bill.
http://www.no2id.net/news/newsblog/?p=396

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      "ID" in the news

        Fighting back on ID theft

        Frank Abagnale spent his late teens and early 20s ripping off
        everyone he could. And how about ID cards - like the one the UK
        government is pushing to introduce as quickly as possible? "I
        give it six months before someone replicates it perfectly," he
        says. "Everything you need to clone an identity is in one place."
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4754733.stm

        Public will "pay twice" for ID cards

The public will be forced to fork out for a costly replacement if the 
biometric chip in their future passport or ID card breaks down, the 
government has admitted.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39267257,00.htm

        Database State, NHS IT :Patient records may only be shared
        locally, say CfH

Detailed electronic patient records will not be accessible outside of 
the local groups of organisations that created them, in direct 
contradiction of the government's vision of records available "wherever 
and whenever you need them", it has emerged.
http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/item.cfm?ID=1876

        Fingerprint scanners call time on yobs in Britain's Wild West

Customers entering the town's six main late-night drinking and dancing 
joints were being asked to register their personal details, have their 
photograph taken and submit to a biometric finger scan.The InTouch 
scheme, the first of its kind, has created huge interest from around the 
world. Police forces across the UK and the Home Office, which provided 
funding to get it up and running, are monitoring it and if it works in 
Yeovil it could spread around the country.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1764978,00.html

        RFID-style ID cards 'won't wear out'

RFID-style ID cards will last for 10 years without wearing out but will 
cost up to a third more than a standard smartcard, according to the 
Identity and Passport Service (UKIPS). Contactless cards would cost 15 
to 30 per cent more than a standard contact-based smartcard.The 
procurement process for the ID cards project is expected to begin soon. 
UKIPS revealed that spending has reached £56m before any tenders have 
gone out.
http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/idcards/0,3800010140,39158477,00.htm

        Why Oyster's e-money plans hit the buffers

Plans to add electronic wallet functionality to the Oyster smartcard 
ticketing system have suffered a major setback. At the end of April, TfL 
announced that none of the shortlisted suppliers had been able to meet 
their criteria and the rollout had been put on hold for the time being.
http://www.silicon.com/financialservices/0,3800010322,39158733,00.htm

        Concern as school takes children's prints

A Yorkshire school is taking fingerprints from pupils -- to keep a check 
on payments for school trips. The system, which means pupils can be 
instantly identified when they touch a scanner attached to one of the 
school computers, is expected to recoup the £2,500 cost of its 
installation by saving time on form-filling. If the experiment in 
"biometrics" works, it might be extended.
http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1486866

        ID Card database to be used as population register

The Office of National Statistics had promoted a separate adult 
population register as part of the Citizen Information Project (CIP) for 
these functions, but the announcement states that the CIP project has 
been wound up and its functions incorporated into the wider use of NIR 
data. The announcement also changes many undertakings given to 
Parliament when it considered the ID Card legislation.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/28/nir_uturn/print.html

        Database State: The UK's Electronic Prison - Part One

The UK has lapsed into a database surveillance state, an electronic 
prison where every aspect of the lives of its citizens is determined by 
the control and flow of personal information between companies and 
government departments.
http://infowars.net/articles/april2006/200406Database.htm

        US : New RFID travel cards could pose privacy threat

Future government-issued travel documents may feature embedded computer 
chips that can be read at a distance of up to 30 feet, a top Homeland 
Security official said Tuesday, creating what some fear would be a 
threat to privacy.
http://news.com.com/New+RFID+travel+cards+could+pose+privacy+threat/2100-1028_3-6062574.html

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

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      What you can do

You can help us by:

        1. Promoting our 'renew for freedom' campaign throughout May

The ID card Act turns your passport into a one-way ticket to control of 
your identity by the government. If you renew your passport now you can 
buy ten years of freedom for £51. Encourage others to do the same and 
write to your local paper telling them about the renew for freedom 
website: http://www.renewforfreedom.org

        2. Writing to your local paper

2. Getting involved with your local group
Organise leafleting, a stall or a public meeting to educate the public 
about the database that lies behind the proposed ID card scheme.
See http://www.no2id.net/localGroups

* We also maintain a list of things you can do on our website at 
http://www.no2id.net/getInvolved/other.php
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Publication details: © NO2ID 2005 - 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.

NO2ID, Box No.412, 78 Marylebone High Street, LONDON W1U 5AP
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