31 December 2005

I wrote the following document in 2004 when it became clear to me that AT&T, at the behest of the National Security Agency, had illegally installed secret computer gear designed to spy on internet traffic. At the time I thought this was an outgrowth of the notorious Total Information Awareness program, which was attacked by defenders of civil liberties. But now it’s been revealed by The New York Times that the spying program is vastly bigger and was directly authorized by President Bush, as he himself has now admitted, in flagrant violation of specific statutes and constitutional protections for civil liberties. I am presenting this information to facilitate the dismantling of this dangerous Orwellian project. […]

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70947-0.html?tw=wn_technology_1

Note how this corageous man understands that these ‘Orwellian projects’ can be dismantled.

This is the most important understanding and fundamental point that anyone today can grasp; none of this nonsense that they are trying to roll out is permanent. Any and all of it can be removed and destroyed.

http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/att_klein_wired.pdf

http://www.filecloud.com/files/file.php?user_file_id=164248

http://tinyurl.com/q5dk6

The UK based, xVista says that it has developed a portable iris scanning and verification system which could be built into a mobile phone. Developed through a US$3.4 million, six year partnership with the University of Sussex, the xVista system is designed to discreetly and securely map the iris for individual characteristics. The iris is first registered on to a central database creating a template that can be checked against all further scans to verify the user’s identity.

The system is capable of running from any low power computing device or camera equipped mobile phone. A 256 Mb mobile phone memory card will be able to hold over 250,000 separate iris templates and from a database of 1,000,000 irises, it will take less than one second for it to verify an individual iris.

Previously the realm of science fiction, biometrics are increasingly becoming an important part of modern security systems, with a pilot iris scanning scheme having recently been introduced into passport control at Heathrow’s Terminal One. There are now plans to introduce similar biometric security systems into other airports across the country.

Karlis Obrams Managing Director of xVista says “The xVista technology performs a similar task to the traditional signature, photograph or pin number in confirming an individual’s identity, but is far more reliable. The fact that the system can run from portable devices like the mobile phone and SIM card opens up fantastic potential for its use, making it far more effective than other scanning systems that are usually bulky and limited to fixed points.

“Using an airport as an example, the xVista system can be deployed across all members of a security team in a discreet handheld device, enabling staff to know within seconds whether a pilot, crew member or baggage handler is who they say they are, offering peace of mind against threats such as identity theft and terrorism.”

xVista is currently in discussions with the Defence Diversification Agency – the government agency responsible for identifying new civil technology with potential for defence and homeland security application.

[…]

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17473.php

Like I have said many times before, the police will have mobile thumbprint scanners to ID you whenever they cordon off an area and do a sweep. Now they will have a very inexepensive way to scan your eye for an instant check, and of course, they will use the GSM network both to connect to the NIR / IVS and to instantly collect any payment for the record check.

Think about it; anyone will be able to do a check on you with their mobile phone, and be charged, say, one pound to do it. That means that the system will be fleecing in millions of pounds per day as the perverted fetish for ID’ing people takes off.

And of course, that is what this really is, a perverted sexuall fetish, where people are allowed to ‘get into you’, and ‘get into your stuff’. The myriad ways that this is being done, the feindish permutations of different scenarios and devices is no different to the filthy sex toy industry, and the public are the unwilling providers of the soft flesh that is to be violated.

And now for the obligatory tearing apart:

University of Sussex

Shame on you. Shame on you for participating in something that is to be used to abuse millions of people. Shame on you for participating in fraud.

The iris is first registered on to a central database

Bad bad bad. But you know this.

Previously the realm of science fiction

Where it should have stayed, and to where it will eventually be resigned, filed under, “how we got the face of the future wrong”.

biometrics are increasingly becoming an important part of modern security systems

This is a double talk lie. Biometrics are not ‘modern’, and they do not provide security, as this line tries to imply.

The xVista technology performs a similar task to the traditional signature, photograph or pin number in confirming an individual’s identity, but is far more reliable.

This is a fantastic lie. You can change your signature whenever you like. No one ever made you sign you name in front of a guard in order to check your identity before letting you through a door; that is nonsense. Pin numbers and photographs can be changed; in essence, they are disposable. You can have a different picture for each of your photo IDs if you choose. Your iris is not disposable. Once you let it out, you can never get it back. Everyone knows that this technology is not reliable, and that is not a problem in itself, because these things can improve; the problem is that everyone is putting absolute trust in biometrics, meaning that if there is an error, it will be harder to get redress.

the xVista system can be deployed across all members of a security team in a discreet handheld device…

‘Security team’ means the Police. And they know it. And that’s bad.

Hundreds wrongly dubbed criminals

The CRB is an executive agency of the Home Office

Nearly 1,500 people have been wrongly labelled as criminals by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), it has emerged. The Mail on Sunday said the mistakes had led to some people being turned down for jobs or university places.

The Home Office said the errors arose when personal details were similar to those of people with a conviction, but were “a tiny proportion of cases”.

It said 90% of disputes were resolved within 21 days and, while errors were regrettable, it would not apologise.

Only 0.03% of the nine million “disclosures” the agency makes had been wrong in this way, it said.

[…]

“We err on the side of caution in these rare cases precisely because it is vital to ensure that the disclosure individuals do not fraudulently try to claim they have no criminal convictions when in fact they have.”

[…]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5001624.stm

And there you have it. Because they are incapable of keeping records correctly, they ‘err on the side of caution’ and brand you as a criminal. Even though you have done nothing, they prevent you from going to university or getting a job, and then do not even have the decency to apologise. This short circuits the principle that you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. It short circuits the courts. It makes a mockery of every idea of justice held by decent people.

If the tories do not win the next election and the NIR / Identity Verification Service comes on line, the number of people suffering this nonsense will increase by orders of magnitute. This will not only be through the brute incompetence of the Home Office, but deliberate swapping of your identity for a criminal’s by employees of the government.

Of course, if you refuse to go into the system, you will not have your records in there to be swapped.

The ‘position’ of these animals is precisely the same as the DVLA and their attitude to the users when they get it wrong; they take no responsibility whatever for their own incompetence. You will not be entitled to compensation. You will not be able to sue them for defamation of character. You will simply be fucked, and there is nothing you will be able to do about it.

Now to those imbeciles who say, “checking that you do not have a criminal record will not be possible with the NIR; its not in the legislation”; you are truely amongst the most retarded of the retards. Not only will the NIR be used for this, but the Home Office says that you will be able to do this explicitly. This means that many people will be branded as criminals when they are no such thing, and then of course, there are the subtle sub-criminal gradations of activity that can brand you as an ‘unnaceptable type’. Buying ‘too much’ alcohol. Too many trips to the pharmacy. Too many stays in the same hotel in London when you are a Londoner. I’m sure that the Blogdialers can (and indeed they have) come up with their own scenarios.

I had the most unpleasant experience of having to speak to one of the reactionary, illiterate, educationally subnormal poorly spoken ‘men of the street’ yesterday, who trumpeted loudly that he would gladly hand over his DNA, eye scan and fingerprints, “to stop the baarstards”. It was when I pointed out to him the recent ‘scandals’ involving Whitehall, the Home Office, the Koreans, and the fact that (and this was the killer) he does everything he can to avoid paying VAT, and that his little games will be given ‘the kibosh’ by this scheme, that he blanched and turned completely against ID cards.

This subhuman, this idiot was screaming about how he didnt care who knew what alcohol he was buying and even said he would be willing to thumbscan for petrol…untill I pointed out to him that anyone that wanted to employ him would be able to find out how much alcohol he buys a week, whereupon he quickly retreated with a, “Oh! I see your point there”.

Honestly; its clear that there is MUCH more work that needs to be done, since the lowest common denominator still doesn’t get it!

Iran eyes badges for Jews

Law would require non-Muslim insignia

Chris Wattie

National Post

Friday, May 19, 2006

Jews were made to wear stars to identify them in Nazi Germany.

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country’s Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

“This is reminiscent of the Holocaust,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. “Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis.”

Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical “standard Islamic garments.”

The law, which must still be approved by Iran’s “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.

Iran’s roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

“There’s no reason to believe they won’t pass this,” said Rabbi Hier. “It will certainly pass unless there’s some sort of international outcry over this.”

Bernie Farber, the chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said he was “stunned” by the measure. “We thought this had gone the way of the dodo bird, but clearly in Iran everything old and bad is new again,” he said. “It’s state-sponsored religious discrimination.”

Ali Behroozian, an Iranian exile living in Toronto, said the law could come into force as early as next year.

It would make religious minorities immediately identifiable and allow Muslims to avoid contact with non-Muslims.

Mr. Behroozian said it will make life even more difficult for Iran’s small pockets of Jewish, Christian and other religious minorities — the country is overwhelmingly Shi’ite Muslim. “They have all been persecuted for a while, but these new dress rules are going to make things worse for them,” he said.

The new law was drafted two years ago, but was stuck in the Iranian parliament until recently when it was revived at the behest of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa refused to comment on the measures. “This is nothing to do with anything here,” said a press secretary who identified himself as Mr. Gharmani.

“We are not here to answer such questions.” […]

canada dot com

I dont give a flying fuck what they are doing in Iran, and you monsters are going to have to do MUCH better than these stale chestnuts of total bullshit if you want to convince people that we need to ‘take care of Iran’.

It would be far more advisable for people in the UK to think about how they are going to mark Jews, Muslims, Foreigners, HIV sufferers, TB carriers, the un-vaccinated etc etc with the NATIONAL ID CARD, whcih will indelibly mark everyone who lives in the UK with a mark that is FAR WORSE than the alledged ‘badges for Jews’ that are allegedly going to be rolled out in Iran.

Precisely the same thing is being done in the UK, only the mark is visible exclusively to the government.

You idiots need to wake up and smell the stink of tyrrany as the cesspool of democracy begins to backup, overflow, stink up your house and drown you in shit!

Civil servants have sold the personal details of hundreds of thousands of
people to criminal gangs
By Francis Elliott and Sophie Goodchild
Published: 14 May 2006

An internal investigation at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has found that civil servants are colluding with organised criminals to steal personal identities on “an industrial scale”.

Ministers have been privately warned that the investigation will show that hundreds of thousands of stolen personal details have been ripped off from official databases, often with inside help. Key personal details such as national insurance numbers can be used to commit benefit fraud, set up false bank accounts and obtain official documents such as passports.

The ID theft from DWP and Revenue and Customs databases is currently the subject of an internal investigation, codenamed Trident, carried out in conjunction with the Government’s official data-protection watchdog.

One government figure said: “We have been told that DWP staff have been colluding with organised criminals to commit identity theft on an industrial scale. It is far wider than just tax credits and reaches right across Whitehall.” […]
Independent on Sunday

My emphasis. And don’t let anyone tell you that the biometric aspect of the NIR will prevent this fraud. All that will happen is that they will take your biometrics and substitute them for the identity that you are buying. What the NIR does is put everyones ID in one place so that these people can fleece everyone.

If you dont enter the NIR, that scenario does not apply to you of course.

Stable. Horse. Bolted.
Pandora. Box. Opened.

WASHINGTON–Democratic and Republican politicians on Thursday both promised to enact new federal laws by the end of the year that would restrict some commercial uses of Social Security numbers, which are often implicated in identity fraud cases.

“Whether Social Security numbers should be sold by Internet data brokers to anyone willing to pay, indistinguishable from sports scores or stock quotes… to me, that’s a no-brainer,” Texas Republican Joe Barton, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, said at a hearing. Such a practice should not be allowed, he said, “period, end of debate.”

In both the House and the Senate, there are at least three pieces of pending legislation that propose different approaches to restricting the use and sale of SSNs. Politicians have expressed astonishment at what they see as a rising identity fraud problem, frequently pointing to a 2003 Federal Trade Commission survey that estimated nearly 10 million consumers are hit by such intrusions each year.

One bill, sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey, would require the FTC to make new rules limiting the sale and purchase of those identifiers, with exceptions for law enforcement, public health, certain emergency situations and selected research projects.

Another measure, sponsored by Florida Republican Clay Shaw, would restrict the display of SSNs on credit reports and on various government-issued documents and identification tags. It would also make it illegal in certain cases for anyone to refuse to do business with people who decline to supply their SSNs.

Testifying at Thursday’s hearing, FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz stopped short of endorsing either bill, but he readily acknowledged that the identifiers “are overused, and they are underprotected.”

“Users of Social Security numbers should migrate toward using less-sensitive identifiers whenever possible,” he said, adding that companies also need to do more to protect the data they possess.

The SSN hasn’t always had such broad applications. Back in 1935, Congress first directed the Social Security Administration to develop an accounting system to track payments to the fund. Out of that mandate came a unique identifier that has ultimately found applications in everything from issuing food stamps to tracking down money launderers.

One use of particular concern to the privacy community is the vast databases compiled by commercial “data brokers” about the American population that financial institutions can use to verify identities. One such company, ChoicePoint, grabbed headlines last year after a breach of its database came to light. That incident and other high-profile breaches unleashed a number of proposals in Congress, some of which target what some deem unregulated data brokers.

The controversy over the connection between SSNs and identity fraud is hardly new, and a number of states have already enacted restrictions in that area. Several federal laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA, also include restrictions on use and disclosure of the identifiers.

As they pursue new laws, politicians said they’re facing a difficult “balancing act” between rooting out abuses of Social Security numbers and protecting uses that tax collectors, the financial sector and law enforcement officials, among others, claim are invaluable.

Numerous industries have found a number of “beneficial uses” for SSNs, said Oliver Ireland, who testified on behalf of the Financial Services Coordinating Council. That group represents trade associations for the banking, securities, and insurance industries.

The numbers, for instance, “are critical for fraud detection,” Ireland said in prepared testimony.

Also on Thursday, a California Senate committee approved an identity fraud bill that would improve state residents’ ability to freeze their own credit reports when mischief is suspected. […]

News . Com

So.

In a country where no one has the equivalent of an SSN, NeuLabour in its infinte wisdom wants to roll one out, so that every bad thing that happens with SSNs in the USA can be replicated here.

Only the most stupid or totally ignorant person thinks that the NIR and ID Card are a good thing. By not introducing this nonsense to the UK, the British will be far more protected from ID fraud than almost any other country. The British will be able to control and manage their identities,  minimise the repair time caused by fraudsters and generally have a much more free society.

The ACLU has confimation that the US DHS has been sharing PNR information from EU flights despite assurances it would not do so.

With an NIR linked passport it will become possible for agencies such as the DHS to request NIR (i.e. 2011 Census, etc.) information on ‘suspected individuals’ via their passport details gathered at border controls and this is followed up by an NIR request either directly or via SOCA. Say for instance if you do not stay at the address they requested you provide (maybe because it was a poor hotel, or your hosts take you on a surprise road trip, …).

Nevermind the fact that these people will likely be keeping the data they can glean from passports anyway. So information sufficient to access your NIR entry (in perpetuity) will be in the hands of whichever agency the DHS wants to share it with, beyond the scrutiny and accountability of UK data protection laws. There will be people in these agencies (and DHS) willing to sell such information and the cloak of government secrecy (in the name of security) will help them.

These are just the people you’re asked to trust!!!

Well well well; another instance of everything being moved to a centralized database. Note how it says that the paperwork is not proof of you having your MOT, the only proof being held at the computer itself. If that is the case, why issue the certificate at all?

Clearly this is the desired end result of the NIR rollout; only your entry at the NIR will be taken as proof of your identity, presentation of a card will not be enough. The reason that will be given will be as follows:

• Cut down on ID theft and ID fraud
• Provide better information and protection for busineses when they give you service
• Improve the standards and consistency of ID verification
• Enable you to pay your tax automatically

If you want to rent a room to someone and want to be sure that they do not have a criminal record, we suggest that you use the new internet or telephone services. Think that this is a way out extrapolation? The Identity service already touts this as one of the things it will do for you, and it gives the example of a parent wanting to check if a potential nanny has a criminal record or not. They WILL allow you to do this by telephone, because the demand for this service will be so great it will be impossible to put people in charge of handling the requests.

Now, on to the subject of the MOT itself. On the reverse of this leaflet, it says that:

The MOT test is not a substitute for regular servicing, and passing the MOT test does not mean that your vehicle will remain safe for the following twelve months.

So, what on earth is the MOT actually for? It is not a guarantee of safety, it cannot be relied upon by a third party, so why are you compelled to do it every 12 months? It is totally absurd, and another tax, plain and simple.

Other countries do very well without this pointless exam; its just another way to fleece the car driving population.

You should not have to pay for an MOT unless you are getting something in return. That means that it should be voluntary, and that if you do decide to get an MOT, HMG should underwrite your car for faults for a period of time. ‘Not going to happen’ I hear you cry. I agree. Government has no business doing anything like the MOT.

But you know this.

This man:

… is now in charge of UK transport policy. He is “a professional politician, whose rise in Labour ranks has been relentless, from the moment he started to work as a researcher for Gordon Brown in 1990“.

A professional politicain. Uber-Gimp, he will dress in your favoured costume and perform un-nameable feats for your delight as long as it progresses his career.

He has no background in transport, knows nothing of running multi-billion pound turnover enterprises. Yet he now sets UK transport policy.

Uber-Gimp, most importantly, does not have the best interests of the public at heart. For one, he has no heart. And two, he does not believe he serves the public, despite being nominally a public servant. He believes, in fact, that the public are fortunate to have him to run their pathetic little lives for them.

Uber-Gimp believes only he can Make Life Better©.

And his first declaration is: to announce a £10m fund for the development of nationwide road charging schemes.

He hopes new technology will allow drivers to be charged by the mile.

[…]

What new technology, pray tell? Without even unwrapping our crystal ball we see through the swirling mists to a near-future Utopia, where your car is registered via the DVLA to your NIR entry.

In this heavenly, terror-free, fraudless hinterland every journey you make will be logged as your number plate is scanned at every junction.

Imagine the freedom that comes with such luxury! Imagine, some other upwardly-mobile Gimp sat at a console somewhere diligently refusing road access to all the undesirables. Imagine…

Addendum:

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonourable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.”

Uber-Gimp.

H L Mencken said it better.

ONE of America’s most famous fraudsters arrived in London yesterday to warn Britain about identity theft.

Frank Abagnale, 58, whose life story inspired the Leonardo DiCaprio film Catch Me If You Can, is to advise banks, utility companies and large retailers on how to combat fraud.

His advice to the Government is that identity cards will provide new and greater opportunities for identity theft. And he has told the public: never trust e-mail, buy a “criss-cross” shredder and employ a security company to monitor your bank account 24 hours a day.

Mr Abagnale’s CV includes a five-year spell in which he cashed $2.5 million (£1.3 million) from bad cheques, successfully assumed eight identities and passed himself off as a paediatrician, a lawyer and a pilot for Pan Am.

When he was finally arrested in 1969, Mr Abagnale was wanted by authorities in 26 countries and, after serving sentences in France and Sweden, was returned to the US and jailed for 12 years.

In 1974 he was released on the condition that he worked for the FBI. He has since worked for the US Government for 30 years and built a business advising American banks and companies on fraud prevention. He told The Times yesterday that identity theft, which began in America, was rapidly taking hold in Britain.

“I wrote a book about it in the 1980s,” he said. “There were few victims at that time, about 750,000. In 2000 I wrote another book called The Art of Steal. By then there were ten million victims. Now there is one every four seconds.”

In Britain, according to recent figures released by Cifas, the not-for-profit fraud prevention organisation set up by the credit card industry, identity theft rose by 17 per cent in the first three months of this year.

Besides being permanently suspicious of e-mails, Mr Abagnale said, individuals should regularly monitor their credit file — the information held by the credit reference agencies — to check which organisations have accessed it.

When destroying financial documents they should use a “criss-cross” shredder, which turns them into confetti, rather than one that cuts to strips as they can be reassembled.

In a list of 14 tips Mr Abagnale also urged people to take out “identity theft protection”. PrivacyGuard is one of a number of companies that monitor credit reports, alerting customers by text message if anyone attempts to tamper with or steal their identity.

If a theft is detected the company offers £10,000 of cover, which will also go towards the cost of reclaiming your identity. Three credit bureaus in Britain provide a similar service for between £50 and £70 a year.

Plans to introduce identity cards will be even more problematic because “there will be so much information about someone on one card”, Mr Abagnale said. “It’s more information to steal. You will be dealing with someone in a government office on a low salary. The details are going to be vulnerable. These sorts of cards are very easy to forge.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,200-2171374,00.html

Petrol giant Shell has suspended chip-and-pin payments in 600 UK petrol stations after more than £1m was siphoned out of customers’ accounts.

Eight people, including one from Guildford, Surrey and another from Portsmouth, Hants, have been arrested in connection with the fraud inquiry.

The Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) said the fraud related to just one petrol chain.

Shell said it hoped to reintroduce chip-and-pin as soon as possible.

Plastic crime
The racket is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police cheque and plastic crime unit.

“These Pin pads are supposed to be tamper resistant, they are supposed to shut down, so that has obviously failed,” said Apacs spokeswoman Sandra Quinn.

She said Apacs was confident the problem was specific to Shell and not a systemic issue.

A Shell spokeswoman said: “Shell’s Chip & PIN solution is fully accredited and complies with all relevant industry standards.

Chip and pin cards are designed to prevent fraud

“We have temporarily suspended chip and pin availability in our UK company-owned service stations.

“This is a precautionary measure to protect the security of our customers’ transactions.
“You can still pay for your fuel, goods or services with your card by swipe and signature.
“We will reintroduce chip and pin as soon as it is possible, following consultation with the terminal manufacturer, card companies and the relevant authorities.”

Shell has nearly 1,000 outlets in the UK, 400 of which are run by franchisees who will continue to use chip-and-pin.

BP is also looking into card fraud at petrol stations in Worcestershire but it is not known if this is connected to chip-and-pin.[…]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4980190.stm

And of course, the braind dead imbecile ‘journalist’ who wrote this did not relate it to ID cards, which is the logical extrapolation. Let us now, BLOGDIAL style, recast it from the future:

The National Identity Authority has suspended the NIR after more than 1m identities were compromised and personal details were siphoned out of citizen’s accounts.

Eight people, including one from Guildford, Surrey and another from Portsmouth, Hants, have been arrested in connection with the hacking inquiry.

The NIR said the fraud related to a petrol chain, where the NIR terminals had been subjected to a networked hack.

The NIR said it hoped to reintroduce the Identity verification service as soon as possible.

Plastic crime
The racket is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police ID and plastic crime unit.

“These NIR terminals are supposed to be tamper resistant, they are supposed to shut down, so that has obviously failed,” said NIR spokeswoman Sandra Quinn.

She said the National Identity Authority was confident the problem was specific to Shell and not a systemic issue.

A Shell spokeswoman said: “Shell’s NIR solution is fully accredited and complies with all relevant government standards.

ID cards are designed to prevent fraud

“We have temporarily suspended NIR availability to prevent further compromise of personal information.

“This is a precautionary measure to protect the security of our citizens data.
“You can show your card for level three verification of your identity to buy fuel, goods or services with your card by swipe and signature.

“We will reintroduce full NIR service as soon as it is possible, following consultation with the terminal manufacturer, card companies and the system administrators.”

Shell has nearly 1,000 outlets in the UK, 400 of which are run by franchisees.

BP is also looking into NIR hacking at petrol stations in Worcestershire but it is not known if this is connected to the Shell hack.

heh… ‘Shell hack’!!

And there you have it. This WILL happen if the NIR is rolled out, and your data WILL be compromised if you join it.

Do not register for the NIR under any circumstances. There. I said it again.

Someone just sent me this by email:

Hi. You probably saw this, but tie it with ID cards and you get a recipe for disaster…

A deer hunter who took his photographs to a supermarket for processing was shocked to find himself reported to police.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/30/ntesco30.xml

Sir Terry Leahy, the chief executive of Tesco, replied that staff had acted appropriately: “On being asked to view the prints, our store’s management team decided that there was cause for concern and as such contacted the police.”

A second letter on behalf of Sir Terry said: “Tesco does not discriminate against any lawful section of the community? We are confident that the actions of our staff were? within the law.”

Yet they set the police on someone who had not broken any law merely because the store’s management team decided there was cause for concern?

Imagine what they could do to you if you had to have your ID card scanned when you dropped off the film. […]

Imagine indeed. Someone of the level of a Tesco’s checkout counter staffer being able to affect your NIR record detrimentally. This will happen, there will be no avenue of redress, and the boss of Tesco thinks its ‘appropriate’.

It’s your own fault if this happens to you. First of all, you should not be shopping at Tesco. Secondly, if you are INSANE enought to enter the NIR, this and much worse will happen to you and it will be YOUR FAULT for OBEYING LIKE A SHEEP.

We got our electricity bill today; our provider announces on the envelope that it is now a member of Nectar.

Opening the envelope, we see that we have been sent a registration form, that gladly declares:

The form has your customer account number on it, and your post code under the space where you sign and date.

Now, if a national ID card scheme is introduced, (this translates to “If Labour win the next General Election” because the Tories have promised that they will scrap the idea…ha ha) Your NID will be connected to your Nectar card to your Electricity bill, to your postcode, to your telephone number etc etc, and all of this will be available to any one of the entities that you are getting a service from, and ALL of this will be available to Nectar, since they are clearly trying to forge relationships with anyone who sells anything to anyone on a large scale.

Nectar will have information on every shopper – fine grained information that would make any marketer faint with extacy at the prospect of the super detailed profiles that could be built with the data.

Imagine it; you already get personalized postcards from supermarkets, printed with your name made of flowers; imagine this data being used to tell you about things that you are 100% certain to be interested in. Its a very compelling and seductive idea – from both ends – because it would be useful as a shopper to be informed of things that you might want to eat or read, just like TIVO tells you what you might want to see on TV. Oh yes, they WILL be joining Nectar, them and SKY also.

You would never miss a bargain, a new product or special offer, and you get points for buying these things that you know you want. That is pure seduction. That is a cause to give up your privacy.

Of course, all of this could be done anonymously, but then the benefit would be purely to the customer, and the essential demographic analysis bussiness model of Nectar would be destroyed.

Privacy will be taken very seriously when Nectar is everywhere, and there is very little privacy; in other words, when it becomes scarce. When that happens, people will pay for privacy.

There will be legions of people and services providing privacy, in the same way that there are professional dog walkers in the major cities of the world. You will pay someone to do your shopping for you, in their name though the goods will be going to you. These Dorian Greys will take on all the sin of your shopping, and heap it onto themselvs, leaving your record clean and lean. Your ID will show that you never buy anything, except (if you are careless) the services of one or two people, who might not even be real people, who will seem to have the buying power of 100 human economic units.

Dont worry, this does not mean that you will loose your Nectar points. The Dorian Greys will keep perfect accounts of what was spent on your behalf, anynmoysly, and your points will be redemed for you on whatever you desire. You will get it all, the anonymity AND the privacy.

I personally know people who already do this. They use a network of friends to collect packages for them, who dont mind if their address is used on forms, and who know what to do when an unexpected package arrives for that “JANE EYRE” woman whose mail always ends up at the house unexpectedly. These people use cash only of course, and when they need to buy something from Amazon, they have a friend who does that for them, including recieving the books of course.

Obviously this being the age of the internet, there will be organized identity swapping sites so that you can break the trail that follows you around. “NctarSwap.com” register it right now. There is a problem with this however, if you have a Nectar card and swap it for one that was used to collect points when someone was buying someting fradulently, you could be swept up when you tried to use it. Also, these cards will have so much information on them that is personal to you, it would be …unwise… to swap it with anyone at all, so scratch that last paragraph. Partially. You get the picture; identity swapping will be organized on a massive scale, by the same type of vigilante that creates sites like bugmenot. Demand will make these services appear.

Scarcity.
Demand.

“Never before have we been so contented”^*

[…]

From BLOGDIAL

That post was made on Saturday, the July 24th, 2004, at 7PM.

^*Never before have we been so contented, never before has life been so satisfying…

A referendum of bliss, a fabrication of gratification sustained by the benevolence of authority…

the inadequacies of the human personality are rapidly being overcome by the social processes of advancing technology. Component lowness, a sophisticated stimulation is the answer.

The humanity of authority is proudly contemporary.

Control through companionship, combined with economic advantages of the mating structure far surpasses any disadvantages in increased perversions. A final…an infinite translate in the mathematics of tolerance and charity among artificial memory devices is ultimately binary.

Stimulating rhetoric. Absolute. The theater of noise is proof of our potential. The circulation of autotypes. The golden talisman underfoot is the phenomenon approaching, and, in the history of now, our ethos of design.

In order to address the ongoing problem of teenage pregnancies the government has launched their latest programme. In addition to safer-sex education teenagers will now be able to verify their ID cards in order to buy subsidised contraceptive devices (or receiving them free of charge from their GP), a spokesman said “this will also allow teachers to provide additional support to teenagers who are sexually active” when asked whether this would simply deter people from buying contraception he replied “within the framework of effective sexual education throughout secondary education youngsters will realise the necessity of safe sex and appreciate the chance to buy contraception at a price they can afford.

—

Since the scheme was introduced earlier this year it has had some embarrasing consequences for a small number of teenagers. JT a 16 year old boy, has a typical story, he had bought condoms and verified his ID card, he then went to the cinema with his 15 year old girlfriend who showed her junior ID card in order to see a 15-rated film. “I was surprised on the monday morning, I was told to see to the school’s health care worker who gave me a lecture on underage sex and how I could get an ASBO or worse if I carried on”. Unfortunately for JT he ignored this advice another three times and found himself with an ASBO barring him from contact with his girlfriend until she reaches 16, his parents were also fined £200 for not correcting his behaviour after being sent a letter outlining the situation.

Personal data to be shared without consent

Minutes released in relation to the CIP show the NIR will be used in conjunction with the Census and could check that citizens are eligible to vote at elections.

My Emphasis. This means your religion WILL be recorded on the register, even if it is Jedi or ‘none’ because this was asked at the last census, and will most certainly be asked in the next:

And are there any amongst you who are retarded enough to believe that because this form says ‘voluntary’ that this is what it really means? We all know what ‘voluntary’ means to these venal gangsters don’t we now?!

The 2001 Census also took the following ‘race’ information:

They also took this, and more:

etc etc By all means, download a copy of the 2001 census form and read it. ALL of the information in the Census (and you can bet it will be longer than the last one) will be included in the NIR, and then all of that information will be available to EVERY CIVIL SERVANT, including council workers etc etc, you name it:

The CIP’s final report (29 page/404KB PDF) states (at page 17), that secondary legislation will allow “public services to be provided with NIR data without the need to obtain specific citizen consent”.

‘Public Services’ in this case means EVERY public servant; you must remember how computer terminals work, and how people can shoulder surf while an authorized person is logged in (for example). These people and the other CRIMINALS will get clandestine access to all of this.

Now that really is astonishing.

* “DWP targeting the 300,000 eligible citizens not currently claiming pensions”;

How do they know that its 300,000? Clearly they have enough information to make up this number; that means that they could reach each of these people right now, if they had the will. This is rather like those 1000+ prisoners who they released; they know where everyone is already, they just don’t have the will or organization to do things correctly. The NIR will not help them get organized.

* Taxation authorities “contacting employees required to complete self assessment”;
* Managing passport application peaks by getting customers to apply early;
* Department for Education and Skills “tracing children at risk via their guardians addresses”;
* “Local councils collecting debt from citizens who have moved to another authority”;
* “NHS targeting specific citizen groups for screening campaigns”;

Screening of people by the NHS is impossible without full medical information on every person being placed in the NIR. This means ALL your health records will be kept, including HIV status, vaccination status and ‘race’. Your ‘race’ will be kept because the treatments for some diseases like high blood pressure are different for people who have different genetic backgrounds. Sounds entirely reasonable right? The problem is that this information is available to everyone wether they need it or not, and wether you give permission to see it or not.

Genetic and hereditory diseases cannot be targeted unless your familial relationships are recorded in the NIR. This is why they want to put your children in there also. Once they have a profile of you, and all of your relatives, they can, say, mail all ‘black’ people to have their blood pressure checked, or mail all parents who have not vaccinated their children to say that they must do so or get a fine automatically sent to them.

* “reducing the overall administrative burden on bereaved people”

All of these points involve taking something away from the citizen. The NIR is about setting up a frictionless inescapable financial control net. Even the last point is not about helping the ‘administrative burden’ on bereaved people, it is about collecting ‘Death Duties’ in a more effecient way. Administrative Burdens are only felt by beaurocrats, Death Duties are what the relatives of the dead have to do to bury their loved ones and disperse their property according to a will. This government is expert at turning language inside out.

Finally:

The CIP Minutes also show that a draft of the 18 April announcement was prepared for release nine months earlier. The minutes state: “The board noted that the timing of the CIP announcement needed to be considered against the ID Cards programme.”

So, for NINE MONTHS the infinite pig ‘Bastard’ Burnham has known that they were going to fold the CIP into the NIR, and he knew what that meant while he lied to the public about what was explicitly planned. This should come as a surprise to no one.

Before your very eyes, and before the NIR has a single table in it, it is being specified as the ultime tool of control over the British Citizen. Every reassurance that was given on an already intolerable scheme has turned out to be a lie, and the proposal has uncloaked to be more horrible by orders of magnitde.

If you have been reading any of the forums where this is being discussed, you will find that people think the description in the Stonor email is ‘too far stretched’ (SIC) but in fact, it didn’t go far enough. The incorporation of the Census data, and the ability of any agency to be able to ‘upload to the NIR’ means that it will become a space of infinite storage for every detail of your life, and by every detail, I mean LITERALLY every detail, down to wether you have a loo or not.

This must be stopped. It must be stopped and prevented from ever being tabled again. We must stop it RIGHT NOW.

“There are times, Mr. Speaker, when we must look beyond the mundane and the pragmatic, and take a stand based on our values, and our vision for the state we are, and the kind of state we wish to become. And I believe this is one of those times.

“This bill is very straightforward. It says that the state of New Hampshire will not participate in the REAL ID drivers license program established by the federal government. The reason is simple. The REAL ID program creates a de facto national identification card. It does so by making the fifty states drivers licenses meet uniform federal standards. Among other things, they must be machine readable, and all of the data, not just name, photograph, address, but driver’s records, violations, suspension and points, must be entered into a interstate database and shared with all other states and the federal government. Of course, being machine readable, merchants and others will be in possession of this information when they require your driver’s license for identification and scan your card into their readers. But that’s a story for another day.

“I don’t believe that the people of New Hampshire elected us to help the Federal Government create a National Identification Card. We care more for our liberties than to meekly hand over to the Federal Government the potential to enumerate, track, identify, and eventually control.

“But there is a price to be paid for such for independence. If we don’t participate the REAL ID system, we will have to use passports or other similar documentation to gain access to federal properties and to use air transportation. If we don’t participate in the REAL ID system, we may lose a 3 million dollar earmark (federal grant) to update our motor vehicle department computers to make them REAL ID compliant. There is little doubt that both these consequences will impose real burdens on our citizens.”

His voice rose. “But I ask you, “What price liberty?” If I may adapt the words of an American patriot, whose resounding sentiments moved the Virginia House of Burgesses to action in 1775, “It is in vain, Mr. Speaker, to extenuate the matter. Members may cry ‘Peace, Peace,’ but there is no peace. The war on our civil liberties is actually begun. Will the next gale that sweeps from Washington bring to our ears the sound of Federal boots on the march? Why stand we here idle? What is it that members wish? What would you have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, oh mighty God, I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.” Our state motto, Mr. Speaker, is equally eloquent, “Live free or die.”

“I urge members to overturn the ITL, and pass this bill to protect the liberties, the freedoms, of their friends, their families, their neighbors, and their constituents. ”

As his words died away, applause thundered through the chamber. At the head of the chamber, the Speaker furiously banged his gavel, demanding the House to come to order, which it did. Now Rep. Packard rose to speak in favor of the motion to kill the bill, repeating that it was best to go along for now, and hope that things would change. Then it came time to vote. Normally, the hundreds seated here would be polled by the sound of their voices. But today, Rep. Dickinson had requested a roll call vote, asking that the individual votes from each representative be recorded and shared with the public. House rules required multiple seconds for a roll call vote, and across the sea of chairs, Representatives stood to signify their approval. Throughout the halls of the State Capitol, the cry of ‘Roll Call’ echoed. Members hurried to their assigned chairs.

At the announcement from the speaker, the assembled group considered the buttons in front of them. Pressing the green button would signify their willingness to go along with the REAL ID ACT: while the red signaled ‘stop’ to the growing federal involvement with state matters. Up above in the gallery, concerned citizens watched the forest of lights below, attempting to discern the intention of those who had volunteered to represent them. After thirty seconds, a buzzer sounded.

The Speaker announced the results; 84 votes had been cast in favor of killing the bill. But a resounding 217 had pressed the red button, demanding a stop to federal meddling in the internal affairs of the Live Free or Die State. There were no party lines here; friends of freedom took action on both sides of the aisle. It was a decisive counter attack by the forces of liberty. Rep. Kurk stood again, grinning as he spoke, ready to deliver a finishing blow. “Mr. Speaker,” he announced, “I move ought to pass.”

“All in favor?” called Rep. Scamman.

“Aye!” came an overwhelming response.

“The ‘Ayes’ have it,” the Speaker declared. And it was accomplished. These few hundred men and women, representing hundreds of thousands of free citizens from the Merrimack River Valley to the Atlantic Ocean to the hillside where the Old Man once looked out on us; these representative had taken a stand. This time, Washington D.C. had pushed too far.

[…]

http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/2227

And that, my friends, is what Real Americans sound and act like.

It is not too late to turn it all around and destroy the monsters that are trying to enslave the entire globe. Whatever outrage happens next, no matter how many people are killed by ‘terrorists’ we must never let them cross the line. The world and mankind hace not ‘changed’. Man and his rights and needs remain constant.

Remember this when the next outrage takes place. Remember that they are using synthetic terror to goad you into putting your head on the chopping block.

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.