Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
UK Police: Designate Children as Pre Criminals Based on DNA
March 17th, 2008Via: Guardian: Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain’s most senior police forensics expert. Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said […]
Right Now, Feds Might be Looking Into Your Finances
March 14th, 2008Yeah, they need to steal money from you to bail out the crooks on Wall Street. “Mr. Smith, we see here that you leaned left instead of right the last two out of five times you farted. We’ll need to seize your funds until you can provide us with an itemized, externally audited report of […]
FBI Made ‘Blanket’ Demands for Phone Records
March 14th, 2008Via: New York Times: Senior officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation repeatedly approved the use of “blanket” records demands to justify the improper collection of thousands of phone records, according to officials briefed on the practice. The bureau appears to have used the blanket records demands at least 11 times in 2006 alone as […]
House Agrees to Rare Secret Session on Spy Bill
March 14th, 2008The following passage is from, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45 by Milton Mayer: “What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on […]
NSA’s Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data
March 10th, 2008Is it tinfoil if it’s on the front page of the Wall Street Journal? Via: Wall Street Journal: NSA’s Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data Terror Fight Blurs Line Over Domain;Tracking Email By SIOBHAN GORMAN March 10, 2008; Page A1 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program […]
Britain: New Surveillance Camera “Sees” Under Clothes
March 10th, 2008Via: Reuters: A British company has developed a camera that can detect weapons, drugs or explosives hidden under people’s clothes from up to 25 meters away in what could be a breakthrough for the security industry. The T5000 camera, created by a company called ThruVision, uses what it calls “passive imaging technology” to identify objects […]
Britain: Domestic Air Travelers to Be Photographed and Fingerprinted
March 9th, 2008Via: Telegraph: Millions of British airline passengers face mandatory fingerprinting before being allowed to board flights when Heathrow’s Terminal 5 opens later this month. For the first time at any airport, the biometric checks will apply to all domestic passengers leaving the terminal, which will handle all British Airways flights to and from Heathrow. The […]
Bush Says Feds Can Open Mail Without Warrant
March 7th, 2008Via: Seattle Times: President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans’ mail without a judge’s warrant. Bush asserted the new authority Dec. 20 after signing legislation that overhauls some postal regulations. He then issued a “signing statement” that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and […]
National Dragnet Is a Click Away
March 6th, 2008Ministry of Pre-Crime and Magic 8 Ball Affairs. Via: Washington Post: The expanding police systems illustrate the prominent roles that private companies play in homeland security and counterterrorism efforts. They also underscore how the use of new data — and data surveillance — technology to fight crime and terrorism is evolving faster than the public’s […]
Google Reveals Plans for Health Database
February 29th, 2008Oh sure. A convenient new service for the undead hordes, while the mind boggles at what it will actually be used for. Must Read: Pookie’s Comment Via: Financial Times: Google on Thursday laid out plans for one of its most anticipated new services, a digital health records system meant to give users more control over […]
