Biometric scanners have been installed in pubs and clubs

Pubs and clubs in Yeovil are to start scanning the fingers of drinkers in an attempt to make the town safer. Biometric scanners have been installed in a number of venues and from Friday revellers will be asked to register and provide a photograph and a finger scan.

Once registered, they can be asked to give a fingerprint as proof of identity and age when entering pubs.

The scheme, believed to be the first networked finger scanning system in England, is voluntary.

Sgt Jackie Gold, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “There are many benefits, which include being able to easily verify the age of a person who is registered.”

Easily updated

She added: “It will identify those who have previously been intent on causing trouble.

“The system is protected by the Data Protection Act and can be updated in real time.

“If somebody is causing trouble in one pub and is removed from the premises, from the time it takes for that person to walk to another venue, the system will have been updated and the doorstaff at other venues will be aware.”

She said the scheme had the added benefit that people who choose to sign up will not need to carry ID with them on a night out.

The ‘Frances Stonor Saunders’ email is on the money once more:

“By itself, you might think that this register is harmless, but you would be wrong to come to this conclusion. This new card will be used to check your identity against your entry in the register in real time, whenever you present it to ‘prove who you are’.

Every place that sells alcohol or cigarettes, every post office, every pharmacy, and every Bank will have an NIR Card Terminal, (very much like the Chip and Pin Readers that are everywhere now) into which your card can be ’swiped’ to check your identity. Each time this happens, a record is made at the NIR of the time and place that the Card was presented. This means for example, that there will be a government record of every time you withdraw more than £99 at your branch of Nat West, who now demand ID for these transactions. Every time you have to prove that you are over 18, your card will be swiped, and a record made at the NIR. Restaurants and off licenses will demand that your card is swiped so that each receipt shows that they sold alcohol to someone over 18, and that this was proved by the access to the NIR, indemnifying them from prosecution.”

And to digress for a moment, some mentally retarded Union workers have been baying to get everyone sheared:

Retail union Usdaw is supporting Government plans to introduce national ID cards after delegates voted to support the scheme at its annual conference.

The union has supported introducing a national ID scheme since 2001 and its 340,000 members on the frontline see clear benefits for workers in Britain’s booming retail sector.

“As shopworkers, our members have to ‘police’ the high street,” says Usdaw General Secretary John Hannett. “Every day they are confronted by youngsters seeking to buy alcohol or cigarettes, and by people with stolen credit cards or cheques.”

“They need a recognised identity card system in order that they do not have to make arbitrary decisions whether a young person is the age they say they are, or whether a signature matches the faded scrawl on the back of a credit card.”

Usdaw members at the conference also agreed that ID cards could play a key role in rooting out illegal workers in the retail sector.

“Our members are also hard-working but low paid,” John Hannett said. “They want to make sure that others are not able to de-fraud the benefits system, or that illegal workers undermine already low rates of pay.”

“For these reasons Usdaw called on the Labour Government to introduce Identity Cards. We fully supported the Warwick agreement which included the commitment on ID cards, and we support the current Bill before the House, although we will strive to ensure that ID cards are not brought in at an excessive cost to individuals.“

[…]

http://www.usdaw.org.uk/usdaw/news/1119868748_10840.html

I’m not making this up obviously. From June 2005.

It has to be pointed out that Chip and Pin has taken all responsibility away from retail staff, without the need for this absurd NIR scheme. Chip and Pin, for all its faults, is an example of how private business should solve its own problems, and how properly designed technology can increase security without violating anyone.

Back to the point, if the crackpots who are rolling out this bar system can do it all in real time, you can bet that eventually HMG will get its act together and do it in realtime also, with or without the ID card. In other words, when the NIR has your fingerprints in it (if you allow yourself to be fingerprinted) a system like this, consisting only of thumbprint scanners in every pharmacist, off licence, pub, club, doctors office, bank, undedrground station and post office can be set up to control you without you needing to carry a physical ID card; your thumb becomes the card.

And let us not forget the mobile thumbscanners that are sure to be deployed, based on this technology:

Sony FIU 810 Puppy Scanner

Part #: FIU810/PERS

The Sony fingerprint reader is an identity device that features on-board fingerprint imaging, processing and storage. Equipped with Puppy Suite, this software makes daily computing more convenient and secure by removing the need to remember passwords and using your fingerprint in it’s place. End-users can replace passwords on web sites, applications and sign documents with a digital certificate. With other features like standards-based cryptographic technology and on-board file storage capacity, the FIU-810 Puppy unit is a best-of-breed product.

• Scanner Type: Biometric Scanner
• Device Type: Fingerprint Reader
• Interface Type: USB
• Flash Memory: 64MB
• Connectivity: 1 x USB – 4 pin USB Type A
• Environments: PC Compatible
• Warranty: 1 Year Parts, 90 Days Labor

Your Price:$154.99

[…]

Superwarehouse

This product is aptly named, since you will be turned into a creature lower than a dog by this.

It will be trivial to put this into a mobile device that can connect to the NIR. It will look something like the devices used by traffic wardens:

Your face and details will turn up on the screen shown here, along with instructions to arrest you for whatever thorught crime you committed on your blog, phone calls, text messages etc etc etc…

lobeTech’s gTicket is used by Town Councils and Local Authorities to manage the complete end-to-end parking ticket enforcement.The system uses wireless handheld devices which reduces costs and improves efficiencies, freeing the traffic warden from having to physically connect the handheld at the end of each day.

The system has a web-based interface, and any employee of the town council can monitor the system, which is carefully controlled using digital certificates for each PC.

Like all other mobile applications from GlobeTech, it can operate on a variety of mobile computing devices.

Complete end-to-end parking ticket enforcement, with rugged handheld computers, printers, and office system

[…]

G Ticket

All of these pieces of the puzzle, which can be bought “off the shelf” can be assembled to do exactly what I am saying, if it has not already been done, or at the very least is in the advanced stages of planning.

The ultimate piece of the puzzle is your co-operation. Your submission is the key that unlocks the pandora’s box and initiates the nightmare scenario. Without your submission, the system cannot reach critical mass and will die.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 29th, 2006 at 5:49 pm and is filed under NIR.