Fight against terror must mean the end of ordinary people's privacy, says ex-security chief | Mail Online: "Personal data of innocent citizens must be made available to the Government to combat terrorism, according to an influential former security chief.
Sir David Omand, Whitehall's former and security and intelligence coordinator, called for unprecedented Big Brother powers to allow access to private details - including phone records, emails and travel information - to be given to the intelligence services.
Setting out a hugely controversial blueprint for the future of national security he said 'moral rules' about individual privacy would have to be broken.
His 17-page report calls for the creation of a vast state database to gather information about terrorist groups which are increasingly recruiting and operating online.
But he argued that a citizen's right to privacy would have to be sacrificed to allow 'intrusive' intelligence techniques.
'Finding out other people's secrets is going to involve breaking everyday moral rules', he wrote.
'This is personal information about individuals that resides in databases, such as advance passenger information, airline bookings and other travel data, passport and biometric data, immigration, identity and border records, criminal records,and other governmental and private sector data, including financial and telephone and other communications records.'
'Modern intelligence access will often involve intrusive methods of surveillance and investigation, accepting that, in some respects, this may have to be at the expense of some aspects of privacy rights.'
The paper 'National Security Strategy and Implication for the UK Intelligence Community' was published last week by the influential New Labour think tank, the Institute of Public Policy Research.
Sir Omand left the senior civil service in 2005 but his views still hold great sway in the corridors of power.
He added: 'This is a hard choice and goes against current calls to curb the so-called surveillance society - but it is greatly preferable to tinkering with the rule of law, or derogating from fundamental human rights.
'Being able to demonstrate proper legal authorisation and appropriate oversight of the use of such intrusive intelligence activity may become a major future issue for the intelligence community, if the public at large is to be convinced of the desirability of such intelligence capability'
Sir Omand said such information maybe held in national records,covered by Data Protection legislation, but it might also be held offshore by other nations or by global companies.
'Access to such information...might well be the key to effective pre-emption in future terrorist cases.
'Such sources have always been accessible to traditional law enforcement seeking evidence against a named suspect already justified by reasonable suspicion of having committed a crime.'
'However, application of modern data mining and processing techniques does involve examination of the innocent as well as the suspect to identify patterns of interest for further investigation'"
2/23/09
Tony Benn at The Convention on Modern Liberty
"A CALL TO ALL CONCERNED WITH ATTACKS ON OUR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS"
[VIDEO] Tony Benn at The Convention on Modern Liberty:
[VIDEO] Tony Benn at The Convention on Modern Liberty:
2/22/09
Graphic scanners leave no bone unturned - News - Travel - theage.com.au
Graphic scanners leave no bone unturned - News - Travel - theage.com.au: "Airports in New York and Los Angeles have become the latest equipped with body scanners that allow security screeners to peer beneath a passenger's clothing to detect concealed weapons.
The machines, which are about the size of a revolving door, use low-energy electromagnetic waves to produce a computerised image of a traveller's entire body.
Passengers step in and lift their arms. The scans only take a minute, and Transportation Security Administration officials say the procedure is less invasive than a physical frisk for knives, bombs or guns.
Someday, the 'millimetre wave' scans might replace metal detectors, but for now they are being used selectively.
Los Angeles International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York saw their first scanners installed on Thursday, each at a single checkpoint. Phoenix Sky-Harbor International Airport got one of the machines in October.
Modest travellers may have concerns about the images.
The black and white, three-dimensional scans aren't as vivid as a photograph, but they do reveal some of the more intimate curves of the human form, maybe with as much clarity as an impressionist sculpture by Auguste Rodin.
TSA officials say the system comes with privacy protections. Officers reviewing the images don't interact with passengers, or even see them. They sit in a separate area, look at the pictures on a monitor and push a button to either clear travellers or alert security about a suspicious item.
Images will not be recorded or stored. Passenger faces are blurred to further protect their identities.
For now, the scans will also be voluntary. Flyers selected for a secondary screening after passing through the metal detectors will have the option of stepping into the wave scanner, rather than undergoing a physical pat-down.
'We're giving people a choice,' said TSA spokeswoman Lara Uselding.
Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's program on technology and liberty, said he nevertheless had concerns.
'The images that I've seen are quite revealing,' he said. 'I guarantee you that as this gets more commonly used, you'll be seeing these images on the Internet.'
The TSA said millimetre wave scanners, which cost as much as $US120,000 ($128,000) apiece, are already in limited use at international airports in seven countries and at a handful of courthouses and jails in five states.
Their introduction to US airports is on a trial basis while authorities evaluate their effectiveness. The TSA said the devices pose no health risk and project 10,000 times less energy than a mobile phone transmission."
It must be '1984': 'Big Brother' snoops and Britons don't mind
LONDON — In an era when security is the top concern for officials in many countries — reinforced by November's deadly attacks in Mumbai — it takes a lot to be labeled 'the most surveilled democracy in the world.' In the case of Britain, the label is not necessarily meant as a compliment. Some — including the European Court of Human Rights — fear that the snooping has run amok.
Video cameras are ubiquitous. An average Londoner is captured on video hundreds of times a day as he walks the streets, rides the 'Tube,' visits the bank or drives a car.
Including private cameras in shops and banks, there may now be more than 10 million video cameras operating in a country with a population of about 60 million, according to David Murakami-Wood, a specialist on surveillance issues at Newcastle University. This is more than double the number earlier this decade."
He argues that the supposed benefits of Britain's vast surveillance network don't justify the growing costs and infringement on freedom.
"Britain is regarded as the society to avoid" for its pervasive surveillance and disregard for personal privacy, said Colin Bennett, a British-born author and academic at the University of Vancouver in Canada. He contends the surveillance culture is "out of control," targeting not just suspected terrorists and criminals but millions of ordinary people.
Yet a visit to Compton Square in Islington, the north London neighborhood where the author George Orwell wrote his novel "1984" six decades ago about an omnipresent "Big Brother," suggests that many Britons grudgingly accept having their movements watched closely. They cite the string of bombings that hit London as recently as July 2005.
"Most people ignore it" when new surveillance cameras go up in their neighborhoods, said Fabien Cox, a 48-year-old consultant to the international water industry. Holding a pint of beer as he stood at the bar of Orwell's favorite pub, the centuries-old Compton Arms, Cox admitted he was more accepting since a double-decker bus traveling his normal route to work was blown up during the 2005 attacks.
Trevor Lloyd, a 32-year-old broadcast engineer who lives in the area, got seven traffic tickets — each about $90 — within a week of moving to London after being caught on surveillance camera parking just inside the city's restricted "congestion charge" zone. "You become criminalized yourself quite easily, and there's no right of appeal," Lloyd said.
Lloyd added, however: "The flip side is the terrorist thing." Given security threats, he found the video cameras around the city "reassuring." And he's not greatly disturbed by a new plan for everyone in Britain to carry a government-issued biometric identity card, which will include dozens of pieces of personal information, including fingerprints. They will be "expensive" and "a bother," he said.
The acquiescence of ordinary Britons troubles civil liberties advocates.
"It's remarkable that there is no general protest" over widespread surveillance, said Simon Davies, a director with the advocacy group Privacy International.
Many of Britain's neighbors in continental Europe consider Britain heavy-handed in its use of surveillance tools. When even the "most law-and-order mayor in France" visits Britain, "they feel like it's a horror film," said Sebastian Roche, a political scientist at the University of Grenoble in France....source
Video cameras are ubiquitous. An average Londoner is captured on video hundreds of times a day as he walks the streets, rides the 'Tube,' visits the bank or drives a car.
Including private cameras in shops and banks, there may now be more than 10 million video cameras operating in a country with a population of about 60 million, according to David Murakami-Wood, a specialist on surveillance issues at Newcastle University. This is more than double the number earlier this decade."
He argues that the supposed benefits of Britain's vast surveillance network don't justify the growing costs and infringement on freedom.
"Britain is regarded as the society to avoid" for its pervasive surveillance and disregard for personal privacy, said Colin Bennett, a British-born author and academic at the University of Vancouver in Canada. He contends the surveillance culture is "out of control," targeting not just suspected terrorists and criminals but millions of ordinary people.
Yet a visit to Compton Square in Islington, the north London neighborhood where the author George Orwell wrote his novel "1984" six decades ago about an omnipresent "Big Brother," suggests that many Britons grudgingly accept having their movements watched closely. They cite the string of bombings that hit London as recently as July 2005.
"Most people ignore it" when new surveillance cameras go up in their neighborhoods, said Fabien Cox, a 48-year-old consultant to the international water industry. Holding a pint of beer as he stood at the bar of Orwell's favorite pub, the centuries-old Compton Arms, Cox admitted he was more accepting since a double-decker bus traveling his normal route to work was blown up during the 2005 attacks.
Trevor Lloyd, a 32-year-old broadcast engineer who lives in the area, got seven traffic tickets — each about $90 — within a week of moving to London after being caught on surveillance camera parking just inside the city's restricted "congestion charge" zone. "You become criminalized yourself quite easily, and there's no right of appeal," Lloyd said.
Lloyd added, however: "The flip side is the terrorist thing." Given security threats, he found the video cameras around the city "reassuring." And he's not greatly disturbed by a new plan for everyone in Britain to carry a government-issued biometric identity card, which will include dozens of pieces of personal information, including fingerprints. They will be "expensive" and "a bother," he said.
The acquiescence of ordinary Britons troubles civil liberties advocates.
"It's remarkable that there is no general protest" over widespread surveillance, said Simon Davies, a director with the advocacy group Privacy International.
Many of Britain's neighbors in continental Europe consider Britain heavy-handed in its use of surveillance tools. When even the "most law-and-order mayor in France" visits Britain, "they feel like it's a horror film," said Sebastian Roche, a political scientist at the University of Grenoble in France....source
2/18/09
2/17/09
Your future in the cards: What will credit cards look like in 25, 50 or 100 years?
By Jay MacDonald
In 25 years, your cell phone might be your credit card. You will likely be able to sample everything from clothing or furnishings at home by projecting them in 3-D holograms.What will credit cards look like in 25, 50 or 100 years?
In 50 years, a microchip implanted in your wrist might be your credit card. Your shopping list will be sent from your smart home directly to your grocer, who will have your purchases bagged and ready for you. Or your robot.
In 100 years, you might be your credit card. Simply shop to your heart's content and walk out; video recognition and mechanical telepathy will know who you are and how you wish to pay.
Welcome to the plastic fantastic future of credit card payments, one that very soon will cease to contain the very thing that got it all started -- the credit card.
Buh-bye plastic
Whatever future course the consumer credit industry may take, the one aspect that experts agree will not be a part of it much longer is the physical credit card itself. Why? Because the primary reason we carry around a 20-cent slab of laminated PVC in our wallets today is to hold a magnetic strip that interacts key-in-lock fashion with electronic point-of-sale (POS) terminals to initiate a payment transaction.
Once those terminals change, as they inevitably will to accommodate the far more robust and secure world of Web-based applications, the credit card itself will go the way of the phonograph, the typewriter, the eight-track player -- and yes, the swipe-based POS terminal.
Cell phones: The next likely payment device
In fact, card issuers have already moved beyond the physical form factor, both for online purchases and mobile payments.
'If you look at what is going on with mobile devices and applications being built by retailers for the iPhone, it is certainly a noncard-based transaction,' says George Peabody, director of emerging technologies advisory services for Mercator Advisory Group, consultants to the payments industry.
Randy Carr, vice president of marketing for Shift4, a developer of enterprise payment solutions, says a cell phone payment device both pleases consumers and makes a compelling business case for telecommunications companies looking for a piece of the electronic payments pie.
'Basically, you would input some sort of personal identification number on the keypad to validate yourself to the merchant. That way, you wouldn't have to carry a credit card,' says Carr.
'I think it's possible because the phone companies are looking for ways to monetize their network. They are the owners of the freeway; the banks and merchant service providers and processors are driving on their freeway making money every day, and the phone companies aren't participating in it.'
Bruce Cundiff, director of payments research and consulting for Javelin Strategy & Research, a financial services research firm, heartily agrees.
'I don't see payments moving away from mobile devices,' he says. 'You've got a bunch of things converging on the mobile device. It's always with me. It eliminates something I have to carry now (a card). And its capabilities are becoming much more broad. Consumers rely on them for more than just communications; it's data, it's nonvoice communications, it's access to the Internet.'
New trains on the old tracks
Technologies from tangential industries have been buzzing around the credit card world like bees to a busy hive since plastic became widely available to consumers in the 1970s.
Previous predictions of plastic's imminent demise have proven false. American merchants who made a significant investment in POS telephony and equipment in order to catch the first wave of credit card payments have resisted updating their legacy systems.
For them, such whizbang add-ons such as biometrics (fingerprint ID, face and hand geometry, iris scans, etc.), RFID (contactless, radio-frequency 'tap-and-go' functionality) and chip-embedded 'smart cards' simply failed to convince them that the benefits would outweigh their investment -- or outlast the competition.
Ironically, the very infrastructure that enabled American merchants to accept credit cards has now become an albatross; other countries that never developed one have now leapfrogged directly to mobile applications with ease.
'We need to run new trains on the old tracks,' says Carr. 'We need to find ways to use technologies on the existing infrastructure so that we can phase into whatever is new. If we were starting with a clean slate today, it would be beautiful. That's why Asia is kicking our a** on telephone technology, because they don't have G1 (generation one) and G2 to leap over; they woke up in G3. They don't have the legacy burden. That's why Toyota and other carmakers are killing us, because they don't have the legacy debt on each car sold. We're walking around with a lead jacket on and they're not.'
Welcome to 'The Truman Show'
So what will the bright new future of credit card shopping look like?
In the near future, it might resemble your personal version of 'The Truman Show,' the Jim Carrey film in which his title character was unwittingly the star of a reality show beamed around the world.
You've already had a glimpse of this future if you've ever approached one of those screens mounted on a store shelf that suddenly comes to life and attempts to sell you something and perhaps offers you a coupon. In these cases, a sensor simply detects your presence.
In the near future, however, once the store identifies you from your mobile device, the marketing will become much more personal, right down to 'directed audio' for your ears only.
'The network -- the 'cloud' -- is going to contain more and more of the intelligence,' says Peabody. 'Directed audio is going to say, 'The last time you were here, you bought a bunch of these. Want some more? We're running a special just for you.' Now they'll be marketing to a market of one. The environment will follow you around and offer suggestions and incentives.'
Fifty years out, and perhaps sooner, Peabody predicts the physical store may be obsolete, replaced by a lounge that offers a 'virtual store experience.' Imagine a Costco in which the store's inventory comes to you in the form of 3-D holographic images. You may not be able to kick its tires -- yet -- but you'll certainly receive far more information about the product than you could glean from a carton or store catalog.
A hundred years from now?
'The machines will read our brainwaves and talk to us directly,' he says, only half facetiously. 'There will be mechanical telepathy or something that gets our agreement to purchase goods.'
Coming soon: Shop and walk
As for the checkout experience, the days of waiting in line to make a POS transaction may be numbered.
'The way you change that is a new terminal,' Peabody says. 'That is a surmountable hurdle. It's not going to happen next year, but it could happen in the next seven to eight years.'
Whatever replaces the legacy POS terminal will undoubtedly be based on mobile technology, and will likely use RFID, Internet protocol or both to complete transactions in the blink of an eye.
'Today, if you used RFID in its purest form, you could walk into a store, load your cart and walk out without talking to anybody, because they would know who you are,' says Carr.
A wink, a nod, a wave: A purchase
Peabody agrees: 'The in-store video system could watch what the consumer puts into their basket. On their way out the door, a directed audio speaker would allow you to complete the transaction with a simple gesture or by saying yes. A nod and a wink and you're on your way.'
If all of this sounds too far-fetched, consider this: The recent Consumer Electronics Show featured both 3-D television and a mobile cell phone-like device that can project a 10-inch image onto any flat surface. CNN test-drove holographic displays during its coverage of the 2008 presidential election.
Fifty years from now, a programmable payment bead implanted in your body could supplant your mobile device for payment purposes. The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain, already injects a rice-size VeriChip RFID device into the wrist or upper arm of its jet-set guests to make paying as simple as waving your hand.
100 years off
A hundred years from now, video facial recognition technology may make RFID and implants obsolete.
'I think we are definitely going to see video-based recognition capability,' says Peabody. 'With the ability of video to be analyzed in real time, a store could recognize your face the minute you walk in. You may have even established how you want to pay for purchases at that store ahead of time.'
There will be obstacles, of course. The credit card companies will almost certainly resist the demise of the card itself. 'They are a branded, miniaturized billboard in your wallet,' says Carr. 'In the future, would the back of my phone have a MasterCard logo on it? Maybe.'
Merchants, of course, would have to be convinced before they'll shell out for 'new tracks.'
And increased security would have to accompany any infrastructure advances.
Convenience, security, privacy concerns
The actual forms that future credit payments will take may largely depend on how willing or resistant consumers are toward the Big Brother shadow cast by the technology.
'There's a threshold on how invasive we want marketers to be,' says Carr. 'I may not want them knowing that I'm in the store at that particular hour of night, or that I'm buying what I'm buying.'
There's also the question of how to serve the 'unbanked,' those hundreds of thousands of Americans who choose to live entirely off the credit grid.
But Cundiff says the credit card's future is so bright for both the consumer and the issuer that, well, you gotta wear shades.
'Generally, we look at convenience and security as a trade-off. But the further integration of technology has brought about simultaneous growth in both convenience and security. That is something that doesn't happen too often.'" Your future in the cards: What will credit cards look like in 25, 50 or 100 years?
Emerging global elite to use new global media to educate 'global citizens'
"The following is based on a report by Cliff Kincaid, Accuracy in Media.
Elite members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, recently considered a proposal for a new global television network to usher in a state of “global governance.” The concept strikes some as authoritarian, even totalitarian. But the parent company of Fox News was one of the sponsors of this year's gathering."
The media proposal, which was included in “The Global Agenda 2009” report, is to create “a new global network” with “the capacity to connect the world, bridging cultures and peoples, and telling us who we are and what we mean to each other.” Several prominent U.S. media figures signed on to the alarming and controversial proposal.
Elite members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, recently considered a proposal for a new global television network to usher in a state of “global governance.” The concept strikes some as authoritarian, even totalitarian. But the parent company of Fox News was one of the sponsors of this year's gathering."
The media proposal, which was included in “The Global Agenda 2009” report, is to create “a new global network” with “the capacity to connect the world, bridging cultures and peoples, and telling us who we are and what we mean to each other.” Several prominent U.S. media figures signed on to the alarming and controversial proposal.
Isn’t it nice that we might have a TV network telling us “who we are?” And “what we mean to each other?” Perhaps we will learn that we are global citizens. Perhaps a global leader of some sort will tell us that. Who might that be?
This proposal doesn’t come from a fringe organization. The WEF is an exclusive club of very rich and powerful people from around the world. It describes itself as “an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.”This year’s conference featured speeches by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Chinese Premier We Jiabao. Many U.S. corporations, including some getting Wall Street bailout money, were sponsors. News Corporation, the parent of Fox News, was a “strategic partner” of the event.
Valerie Jarrett, Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, represented the Obama Administration at this year’s event and called leaders from all nations to “seize gladly” the duties of collaborating and boldly embrace “a new era of global financial responsibility.”
But the WEF also envisions cooperation and collaboration in global media ventures. It asks, “How can we save journalism to help it save the world?” Clearly, this is advocacy journalism on a global scale.
Indeed, the list of “Recommendations” says it is imperative to start “Communicating a global agenda, and motivating and mobilizing people to support it…”
Is this journalism? Or is it brainwashing and propaganda?
It says that “a genuine, global voice” is needed that shares a “fundamental commitment” to being an international media voice, and makes mention of “the media voices we think of as international” coming from London (the BBC), Qatar (Al-Jazeera) or Atlanta (CNN).
BBC is known for its anti-American programming, Al-Jazeera for its pro-terrorist slant, and CNN for its left-wing and pro-Democratic bias.
It will take “innovative public-private funding” to bring this new network into being, apparently meaning that the taxpayers in the U.S. will have to be soaked in order to help bring this about. But no price tag is put on the venture and no objection was apparently raised to government funding of such a network on a global basis. An “overview” statement does, however, decry “censorship and self-censorship.”
Elsewhere in the report (page 31) the idea of “international taxation” is proposed for “global action” of various kinds. Perhaps this is a vehicle for raising revenue for the new “global voice.”
The media proposal was developed by one of several “Global Agenda Councils” under the auspices of the WEF. The new TV network proposal was issued under the supervision of Pat Mitchell, the president of the Paley Center for Media and former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Public Broadcasting Service. She was the chair of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Media.
Other members of the Council on the Future of Media were Betsy Morgan of the left-wing Huffington Post (former general manager of CBSNews.com); Rui Chenggang of China Central Television, an official political propaganda arm of the communist regime; and Zafar Siddiqi of CNBC Arabiya, a subsidiary of General Electric which is described as a 24-hour Arabic language financial and business information channel.
There is no indication in the published report that the Huffington Post executive raised any objection to working hand-in-glove with the communist propaganda channel. Is the Chinese media model a precedent for the new “global network?”
The conference was covered by media organizations such as CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes and Fox, but no coverage that we could find was devoted to the proposal for a government-financed global media network. Talk about self-censorship!
John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University and the “Rapporteur of the Global Agenda Councils focusing on Society and Values,” summarized the work of Mitchell’s panel. He says (page 46) that, “We believe that this new moment also calls for a new media platform, across all media channels, a global non-profit ‘CNN’ providing a new form of independent journalism to inform, illuminate and deepen knowledge about issues that improve the state of the world.”
According to DeGioia’s biography, he walks the walk and is dedicated to helping “prepare young people for leadership roles in the global community.” His bio adds, “He is a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and Chair of its Education Committee and he represents Georgetown at the World Economic Forum and on the Council on Foreign Relations.”
The media council took advantage of what a description of its work said was an “enormous opportunity” to “redefine the media and its roles in a global, interconnected society.”
Under the title of “Recommendations” (page 182), the Council on the Future of Media declares that “The Council is championing a new global, independent news and information service whose role is to inform, educate and improve the state of the world?one that would take advantage of all platforms of content delivery from mobile to satellite and online to create a new global network.”
It goes on, “In a world where there are calls for global governance as a response to a global financial crisis, where scientific research, capital flows and production chains are globalized, the media and the communities in which we imagine ourselves remain fiercely localized.” Hence, a global network will work against “localized” or national-based systems and convince people to go “global” with their outlook and solutions. In other words, the new network will help undermine old-fashioned notions of national sovereignty and patriotism.
There are 22 members (page 183) of the Council on the Future of Media. In addition to Mitchell and Morgan, American members include:
- Alex S. Jones, former media reporter for the New York Times and now Director, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
- Susan King, former Washington correspondent for ABC News and now Director, Journalism Initiative, Special Initiatives and Strategy, Carnegie Corporation of New York.
- John Lavine, Dean, Medill School of Journalism Northwestern University.
- Nicholas Lemann, former Washington Post reporter and now Dean, School of Journalism, Columbia University.
- David Nordfors, Director, Innovation Journalism and Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning, Stanford University.
- Monroe Price, Director, Centre for Global Communications Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, the University of Pennsylvania.
- Orville H. Schell, Director, Center on US-China Relations, Asia Society.
Government Ministers 'using fear of terror'
"A former head of MI5 has accused the government of exploiting the fear of terrorism and trying to bring in laws that restrict civil liberties.
In an interview in a Spanish newspaper, published in the Daily Telegraph, Dame Stella Rimington, 73, also accuses the US of 'tortures'.
The Home Office said it was vital to strike a right balance between privacy, protection and sharing personal data.
It said any policies which impact on privacy must be 'proportionate'.
Dame Stella, who stood down as the director general of the security service in 1996, has previously been critical of the government's policies, including its attempts to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days and the controversial plan to introduce ID cards.
'It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism - that we live in fear and under a police state,' she told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia."
She said the British security services were "no angels," but they did not kill people.
"The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures," she said.
"MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect - there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification."
'Take stock'
Dame Stella's comments come as a study is published by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) that accuses the US and the UK of undermining the framework of international law.
Former Irish president Mary Robinson, the president of the ICJ said: "Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years.
"Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats."
The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner said the ICJ report would probably have more of an impact than Dame Stella's remarks because it was a wide-ranging, three-year study carried out by an eminent group of practising legal experts.
Dame Stella appeared to be more restrained in her comments than the ICJ, he added.
She was keen to stress the risk of civil liberties being curtailed, while the jurists insisted that international law had already been "actively undermined".
Shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said the Conservatives were "committed to ensuring that security measures are proportionate and adhere to the rule of law".
The Tories said the government's push to extend the detention time limit for terror suspects was the kind of measure condemned by the report.
Human rights campaign group Liberty pointed to a number of other recent developments it said represented "a creeping encroachment on our fundamental rights":
- Government plans for a giant database to record the times, dates and recipients of all emails and text messages sent and phone calls made in the UK
- The growth of Britain's DNA database - it is now the world's largest, per head of population, with samples from some 4m people
- The use by councils of laws designed to track criminals and terrorists to spy on ordinary citizens. In one case a family was watched to see if they were really living in a school catchment area
- The spread of CCTV cameras. Britain now reportedly has some 4m, the highest density in western Europe
- Proposals for "secret inquests," excluding relatives, juries and the media, which the government says would prevent intelligence details leaking out
Isabella Sankey, director of policy at Liberty, said she was "enormously heartened" by what Dame Stella had said.
"Over the last seven years, we've seen a number of measures passed, some of which affect very few of us in a horrible and terrible way, whether that's house arrest under control orders or rendition and torture in foreign states," she said."We've also seen many, many measures that affect all of us just a little bit and, most of all, which seriously impact our rights to privacy.
"We have very broad police powers which sweep the innocent up with the guilty."
'Effective safeguards'
A Home Office spokesman said: "The government has been clear that where surveillance or data collection will impact on privacy they should only be used where it is necessary and proportionate."
"This provides law enforcement agencies with the tools to protect the public as well as ensuring government has the ability to provide effective public services while ensuring there are effective safeguards and a solid legal framework that protects civil liberties."
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey said: "This is damning testament to just how much liberty has been ineffectually sacrificed in the 'war on terror'."
Dame Stella became the first female head of MI5 in 1992. BBC NEWS | UK | Ministers 'using fear of terror':
2/15/09
AfricaNews - Nigeria moves towards a cashless society
AfricaNews - Nigeria moves towards a cashless society
"Nigeria’s Accountant General of the Federation, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo said the introduction of e-payment is aimed at eliminating payment bureaucracy associated with handling cash transfers and check payments. Dankwambo also noted that this development will strengthen the efficiency of doing business with the government and also help to check corruption.
Initial challenges of coping with the new system are being reported across the country, government workers are skeptical about the new payment system. “We can agree with the movement towards this global trend but how can you operate this system without constant power supply” asks Seun Adefioye, a civil servant based in Abuja. Adefioye’s fear is just one out of a handle full of skeptics’ that greeted the adopted payment system.
“I was at the Bank with my wife to cash her salaries, they told us the systems were down, we were advised to check back, we returned to the Bank six hours later and the problems had not been rectified. As I speak with you its three days now and I cannot still cash the money” Theophilus Abah, another concerned Nigeria said.
The Accountant General of the Federation has expressed hope in that the system has come to stay and everything that will make it work will be sorted out soon.
Nigeria is also advancing in strengthening other areas of the global electronic system through government owned private Information Communication Technology and Management Company, Galaxy Backbone which has introduced e-governance, e-community, e-education and e-healthcare on its internet broadband."
The government of Nigeria has directed all ministries and government establishment to adopt e-payment system for government transactions. This include contract payment, workers salaries and all forms of cash and check payment transactions will now be replaced with e-payment system. The new payment system is to take immediate effect.
"Nigeria’s Accountant General of the Federation, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo said the introduction of e-payment is aimed at eliminating payment bureaucracy associated with handling cash transfers and check payments. Dankwambo also noted that this development will strengthen the efficiency of doing business with the government and also help to check corruption.
Initial challenges of coping with the new system are being reported across the country, government workers are skeptical about the new payment system. “We can agree with the movement towards this global trend but how can you operate this system without constant power supply” asks Seun Adefioye, a civil servant based in Abuja. Adefioye’s fear is just one out of a handle full of skeptics’ that greeted the adopted payment system.
“I was at the Bank with my wife to cash her salaries, they told us the systems were down, we were advised to check back, we returned to the Bank six hours later and the problems had not been rectified. As I speak with you its three days now and I cannot still cash the money” Theophilus Abah, another concerned Nigeria said.
The Accountant General of the Federation has expressed hope in that the system has come to stay and everything that will make it work will be sorted out soon.
Nigeria is also advancing in strengthening other areas of the global electronic system through government owned private Information Communication Technology and Management Company, Galaxy Backbone which has introduced e-governance, e-community, e-education and e-healthcare on its internet broadband."
G7 sets sights on new world order
G7 sets sights on new world order | Herald Sun: "From correspondents in Rome
February 15, 2009 06:03am
THE world's richest nations have called for urgent reform of global finance to save the world from the economic devastation that is dragging more and more countries into recession.
Italy's finance minister called for a 'new world economic order' as he wrapped up the crisis meeting of finance leaders from the Group of Seven leading economies over which he presided here.
In a joint declaration, the G7 called for 'urgent reforms' of the international financial system.
Mr Tremonti said a so-called set of 'legal standards' discussed in Rome would be presented at a meeting of 20 key advanced and emerging economies (G20) in London in April and a summit of the Group of Eight (G8) world powers in July.
'A new world economic order might seem rhetorical,' he said. 'But it is a true goal we should be aiming towards... today right here in Rome we've embarked on a very significant journey, both technical and ethical.'
The G7 delegates in a joint statement vowed to avoid protectionism as they seek to stabilise the tottering world economy and financial markets and said stabilisation of the world economy was their 'highest priority'.
The global crisis 'has highlighted fundamental weaknesses in the international financial system and that urgent reforms are needed', the statement said.
US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner vowed that his country, the biggest economy in the world and the source of much of the financial drama in recent months, would work with other nations for a consensus on reforms.
'We need to begin the process of comprehensive reform of our financial system and the international financial system, so the world never again faces a crisis this severe,' Mr Geithner said after the talks.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - the body coming to the rescue of some crisis-hit countries - said restructuring banks damaged by the credit crunch was the main problem facing governments.
The Italian G7 presidency also said before the talks that it favoured measures that would target hedge funds and tax havens which have come under criticism in the crisis.
The G7 reiterated the view of several top delegates that protectionism - when countries take measures that favour their economies at the expense of others - was a threat to stability.
'The G7 remains committed to avoiding protectionist measures, which would only exacerbate the downturn, to refraining from raising new barriers' to business across borders, the statement said.
The document hailed stimulus actions taken by other countries, singling out China which it also praised for its 'continued commitment to move to a more flexible exchange rate'.
The financial leaders met amid mounting warnings of the talks' grave economic stakes. Mr Strauss-Kahn said advanced economies were in a 'deep recession' ahead of the crisis talks.
Delegates came from the G7 grouping of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus Russia"
February 15, 2009 06:03am
THE world's richest nations have called for urgent reform of global finance to save the world from the economic devastation that is dragging more and more countries into recession.
Italy's finance minister called for a 'new world economic order' as he wrapped up the crisis meeting of finance leaders from the Group of Seven leading economies over which he presided here.
In a joint declaration, the G7 called for 'urgent reforms' of the international financial system.
Mr Tremonti said a so-called set of 'legal standards' discussed in Rome would be presented at a meeting of 20 key advanced and emerging economies (G20) in London in April and a summit of the Group of Eight (G8) world powers in July.
'A new world economic order might seem rhetorical,' he said. 'But it is a true goal we should be aiming towards... today right here in Rome we've embarked on a very significant journey, both technical and ethical.'
The G7 delegates in a joint statement vowed to avoid protectionism as they seek to stabilise the tottering world economy and financial markets and said stabilisation of the world economy was their 'highest priority'.
The global crisis 'has highlighted fundamental weaknesses in the international financial system and that urgent reforms are needed', the statement said.
US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner vowed that his country, the biggest economy in the world and the source of much of the financial drama in recent months, would work with other nations for a consensus on reforms.
'We need to begin the process of comprehensive reform of our financial system and the international financial system, so the world never again faces a crisis this severe,' Mr Geithner said after the talks.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - the body coming to the rescue of some crisis-hit countries - said restructuring banks damaged by the credit crunch was the main problem facing governments.
The Italian G7 presidency also said before the talks that it favoured measures that would target hedge funds and tax havens which have come under criticism in the crisis.
The G7 reiterated the view of several top delegates that protectionism - when countries take measures that favour their economies at the expense of others - was a threat to stability.
'The G7 remains committed to avoiding protectionist measures, which would only exacerbate the downturn, to refraining from raising new barriers' to business across borders, the statement said.
The document hailed stimulus actions taken by other countries, singling out China which it also praised for its 'continued commitment to move to a more flexible exchange rate'.
The financial leaders met amid mounting warnings of the talks' grave economic stakes. Mr Strauss-Kahn said advanced economies were in a 'deep recession' ahead of the crisis talks.
Delegates came from the G7 grouping of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus Russia"
2/11/09
Vatican buries the hatchet with Charles Darwin
"The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin was on the right track when he claimed that Man descended from apes.
A leading official declared yesterday that Darwin’s theory of evolution was compatible with Christian faith, and could even be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. “In fact, what we mean by evolution is the world as created by God,” said Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The Vatican also dealt the final blow to speculation that Pope Benedict XVI might be prepared to endorse the theory of Intelligent Design, whose advocates credit a “higher power” for the complexities of life.
Organisers of a papal-backed conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species said that at first it had even been proposed to ban Intelligent Design from the event, as “poor theology and poor science”. Intelligent Design would be discussed at the fringes of the conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University, but merely as a “cultural phenomenon”, rather than a scientific or theological issue, organisers said.
The conference is seen as a landmark in relations between faith and science. Three years ago advocates of Intelligent Design seized on the Pope’s reference to an “intelligent project” as proof that he favoured their views."
Conceding that the Church had been hostile to Darwin because his theory appeared to conflict with the account of creation in Genesis, Archbishop Ravasi argued yesterday that biological evolution and the Christian view of Creation were complementary.
Marc Leclerc, who teaches natural philosophy at the Gregorian University, said that no scholar could “remain indifferent” to the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth tomorrow. There was, however, “no question of celebrating” it.
The Vatican would “take the measure of an event, which has left its mark for ever on the history of science and has influenced the way we understand our humanity”. The “time has come for a rigorous and objective valuation” of Darwin by the Church, he said.
Professor Leclerc said that too many opponents of Darwin – above all Creationists – had mistakenly claimed that his theories were “totally incompatible with a religious vision of reality”, as did proponents of Intelligent Design.
Darwin’s theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, Monsignor Ravasi insisted. His rehabilitation had begun as long ago as 1950, when Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans. In 1996 John Paul II said that it was “more than a hypothesis”.
Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, said that Darwin had been anticipated by St Augustine of Hippo. The 4th-century theologian had “never heard the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish” and that forms of life had been transformed “slowly over time”. Aquinas had made similar observations in the Middle Ages, he added.
He said it was time that theologians as well as scientists grappled with the mysteries of genetic codes and “whether the diversification of life forms is the result of competition or cooperation between species”. As for the origins of Man, although we shared 97 per cent of our “genetic inheritance” with apes, the remaining 3 per cent “is what makes us unique”, including religion.
“I maintain that the idea of evolution has a place in Christian theology,” Professor Tanzella-Nitti added.
Creationism remains powerful in the US, however, notably among Protestants, and its followers object to evolution being taught in state schools.
The Church of England is seeking to bring Darwin back into the fold with a page on its website paying tribute to his “forgotten” work in his local parish, to illustrate how science and Church need not be at odds. Several pages celebrate Darwin’s “significant scientific progress” to mark his bicentenary and also the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species.
The Church wants to correct the impression that Darwin’s relationship with Anglicanism was contentious. The Anglican Church as a whole did not condemn Darwin or his beliefs. It says that although he lost his faith, he did not become antiChurch or antireligious. ...Source
A leading official declared yesterday that Darwin’s theory of evolution was compatible with Christian faith, and could even be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. “In fact, what we mean by evolution is the world as created by God,” said Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The Vatican also dealt the final blow to speculation that Pope Benedict XVI might be prepared to endorse the theory of Intelligent Design, whose advocates credit a “higher power” for the complexities of life.
Organisers of a papal-backed conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species said that at first it had even been proposed to ban Intelligent Design from the event, as “poor theology and poor science”. Intelligent Design would be discussed at the fringes of the conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University, but merely as a “cultural phenomenon”, rather than a scientific or theological issue, organisers said.
The conference is seen as a landmark in relations between faith and science. Three years ago advocates of Intelligent Design seized on the Pope’s reference to an “intelligent project” as proof that he favoured their views."
Conceding that the Church had been hostile to Darwin because his theory appeared to conflict with the account of creation in Genesis, Archbishop Ravasi argued yesterday that biological evolution and the Christian view of Creation were complementary.
Marc Leclerc, who teaches natural philosophy at the Gregorian University, said that no scholar could “remain indifferent” to the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth tomorrow. There was, however, “no question of celebrating” it.
The Vatican would “take the measure of an event, which has left its mark for ever on the history of science and has influenced the way we understand our humanity”. The “time has come for a rigorous and objective valuation” of Darwin by the Church, he said.
Professor Leclerc said that too many opponents of Darwin – above all Creationists – had mistakenly claimed that his theories were “totally incompatible with a religious vision of reality”, as did proponents of Intelligent Design.
Darwin’s theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, Monsignor Ravasi insisted. His rehabilitation had begun as long ago as 1950, when Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans. In 1996 John Paul II said that it was “more than a hypothesis”.
Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, said that Darwin had been anticipated by St Augustine of Hippo. The 4th-century theologian had “never heard the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish” and that forms of life had been transformed “slowly over time”. Aquinas had made similar observations in the Middle Ages, he added.
He said it was time that theologians as well as scientists grappled with the mysteries of genetic codes and “whether the diversification of life forms is the result of competition or cooperation between species”. As for the origins of Man, although we shared 97 per cent of our “genetic inheritance” with apes, the remaining 3 per cent “is what makes us unique”, including religion.
“I maintain that the idea of evolution has a place in Christian theology,” Professor Tanzella-Nitti added.
Creationism remains powerful in the US, however, notably among Protestants, and its followers object to evolution being taught in state schools.
The Church of England is seeking to bring Darwin back into the fold with a page on its website paying tribute to his “forgotten” work in his local parish, to illustrate how science and Church need not be at odds. Several pages celebrate Darwin’s “significant scientific progress” to mark his bicentenary and also the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species.
The Church wants to correct the impression that Darwin’s relationship with Anglicanism was contentious. The Anglican Church as a whole did not condemn Darwin or his beliefs. It says that although he lost his faith, he did not become antiChurch or antireligious. ...Source
2/9/09
House Approves Whitelist of People Who Aren't Terrorists | Threat Level from Wired.com
House Approves Whitelist of People Who Aren't Terrorists | Threat Level from Wired.com: "The House overwhelmingly adopted legislation this week mandating the creation of a new kind of terrorist watchlist: a database of people who aren't terrorists, but are routinely flagged at airports anyway.
The U.S. government maintains a list of about a million names of suspected terrorists that is crosschecked with passenger names ahead of airline boarding. The list has been dogged for years by sloppy name matches that have ensnared innocent travelers, children, prominent politicians and government officials, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' secretary of education and all men named David Nelson.
Under the new plan, approved late Tuesday 413-3, innocent victims of the terrorist watchlist must prove to the Department of Homeland Security, through an undetermined appeals process, that they are not terrorists. They would then get their names put on what the legislation calls the 'Comprehensive Cleared List.'
The legislation is another attempt to assist wrongly flagged passengers and would supersede the troubled DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, which has been criticized for being slow or unresponsive to flier complaints.
The FAST Redress Act, if approved by the Senate, requires the government to report within 240 days on its progress in implementing the new list."
The U.S. government maintains a list of about a million names of suspected terrorists that is crosschecked with passenger names ahead of airline boarding. The list has been dogged for years by sloppy name matches that have ensnared innocent travelers, children, prominent politicians and government officials, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' secretary of education and all men named David Nelson.
Under the new plan, approved late Tuesday 413-3, innocent victims of the terrorist watchlist must prove to the Department of Homeland Security, through an undetermined appeals process, that they are not terrorists. They would then get their names put on what the legislation calls the 'Comprehensive Cleared List.'
The legislation is another attempt to assist wrongly flagged passengers and would supersede the troubled DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, which has been criticized for being slow or unresponsive to flier complaints.
The FAST Redress Act, if approved by the Senate, requires the government to report within 240 days on its progress in implementing the new list."
Beware, Big Brother is watching your trips abroad: Government plans to store details of ordinary people's journeys | Mail Online
"A ‘Big Brother’ database is being built by the Government to store details of millions of our international journeys for up to ten years.
The computer system, housed at a secret location on the outskirts of Manchester, will record names and dates of every movement in and out of the UK by air, sea or rail.
Reservation and payment details, addresses and telephone numbers, names of travelling companions and even details of luggage carried will also be stored." B...more
The computer system, housed at a secret location on the outskirts of Manchester, will record names and dates of every movement in and out of the UK by air, sea or rail.
Reservation and payment details, addresses and telephone numbers, names of travelling companions and even details of luggage carried will also be stored." B...more
Why veins could replace fingerprints and retinas as most secure form of ID - Times Online
"Forget fingerprinting. Companies in Europe have begun to roll out an advanced biometric system from Japan that identifies people from the unique patterns of veins inside their fingers.
Finger vein authentication, introduced widely by Japanese banks in the last two years, is claimed to be the fastest and most secure biometric method. Developed by Hitachi, it verifies a person's identity based on the lattice work of minute blood vessels under the skin.
Easydentic Group, a European leader in the biometric industry based in France, has announced that it will be using Hitachi's finger vein security in a range of door access systems for the UK and European markets.
In Japan, thousands of cash machines are operated by finger vein technology. Hitachi announced today that it will introduce 20,000 finger vein authentication systems at shops and kiosks belonging to two Japanese companies, which will use the devices to protect the privacy of customer information by requiring storeworkers to authenticate themselves before accessing the customer database." ...more
Finger vein authentication, introduced widely by Japanese banks in the last two years, is claimed to be the fastest and most secure biometric method. Developed by Hitachi, it verifies a person's identity based on the lattice work of minute blood vessels under the skin.
Easydentic Group, a European leader in the biometric industry based in France, has announced that it will be using Hitachi's finger vein security in a range of door access systems for the UK and European markets.
In Japan, thousands of cash machines are operated by finger vein technology. Hitachi announced today that it will introduce 20,000 finger vein authentication systems at shops and kiosks belonging to two Japanese companies, which will use the devices to protect the privacy of customer information by requiring storeworkers to authenticate themselves before accessing the customer database." ...more
2/8/09
Brain Patterns Are the New Standard in Biometrics - Retinal scans and fingerprinting are obsolete - Softpedia
"Fear of terrorist attacks has prompted a redefining of the concepts of security and safety throughout the world, and especially in Europe and the United States, the largest potential targets. After 2001, more and more retinal scanners and fingerprint-recognition devices have been installed in sensitive areas such as airports and public buildings, but their main drawback has been that they take a lot of time to complete their readings, and they can cause unrest, as people have to queue to get to where they're going.
Now, an European team of scientists is working on a way to create a device that will no longer rely on scanning eyes or palms, but rather on scanning the brain waves each person has. While fingerprints and retina layouts can be falsified, the waves that cause all the process in the brain cannot, and they are truly unique for ever person. The team says that a success in this field could mean far less queues, and a faster detection of suspicious individuals in crowded or sensitive areas." ...more
Now, an European team of scientists is working on a way to create a device that will no longer rely on scanning eyes or palms, but rather on scanning the brain waves each person has. While fingerprints and retina layouts can be falsified, the waves that cause all the process in the brain cannot, and they are truly unique for ever person. The team says that a success in this field could mean far less queues, and a faster detection of suspicious individuals in crowded or sensitive areas." ...more
2/5/09
YOU ARE BEING WATCHED
"OTTAWA — David Lyon is studying the ceiling in an Ottawa coffee shop, searching for hidden cameras. A leading figure in the fast-growing field of surveillance studies, the Queen's University sociologist is only too aware of the many ways we're all being watched.
Closed-circuit TV cameras, like the ones likely concealed in the coffee shop ceiling, are among the most common. Since 9/11, their use has exploded worldwide. Britain now has an estimated 4.2 million CCTV cameras — one for every 14 citizens. People in central London are now caught on camera about 300 times a day.
One estimate puts the number of public and private CCTV cameras in the United States at 30 million. So far, similar estimates are lacking for Canada. But experts agree camera surveillance has been growing steadily here as well.
'I find it mind-boggling when I see what they do in Britain,' Lyon says. 'Police officers on bicycles now have video surveillance cameras in their helmets,' he exclaims, then blurts, 'What kind of a world are we living in?'"...more
2/1/09
Humans 'will be implanted with microchips'
"All Australians could be implanted with microchips for tracking and identification within the next two or three generations, a prominent academic says.
Michael G Michael from the University of Wollongong's School of Information Systems and Technology, has coined the term 'uberveillance' to describe the emerging trend of all-encompassing surveillance"...more
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