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UK Prisons To Crack Down On Inmate Internet and Mobile Phone Use (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: UK prisons will roll out enhanced internet and mobile phone blocking technologies, according to new measures announced yesterday by Chancellor George Osborne in the Autumn Statement. The step, which seeks to stop inmate access to the internet and calls made from mobile devices, will involve part of a £1.3bn investment from the Ministry of Justice to improve the country's Prison Service. Through this strategy, the government hopes to drive "safety improvements" by denying calls and data used on illicit mobile devices. The latest development in blocking technologies promises to be better (paywalled) than earlier systems, which inmates have been able to get around.
The point of having prisons isn't to provide slightly inconvenient paid accommodation to ethically challenged individuals. "Researching their case" does not include keeping drug trades going to finance their defense or "keeping an eye" on possible witnesses against them. They have already proven that they can't handle reality and life on the outside, and Facebook isn't a human right.
They have already proven that they can't handle reality and life on the outside, and Facebook isn't a human right.
They have already proven that the system is a failure, and this is not about Facebook.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Do they know how much of a pain in the ass it is to smuggle in the largest model iPhone?
It's a utility because it's become how we control and organise our lives. Prisoners, who have minimal control over their lives as the prison service does that for them, do not need it to the same degree and it is therefore a luxury. They do have controlled access to communications, for example to contact their lawyers. This is about preventing uncontrolled communication which is widely used for arranging drug supply, continued control over their criminal networks and so on. While previous systems have obviously failed, and no system will ever be perfect, hopefully this new initiative will work out better than what has gone before.
This means I'm gonna hafta stop posing on Slashdot?
How does a firewall on your home network stop me from accessing any site on my cell phone if I visit you?
No matter what they do to try and stop phones from being smuggled in some will get in. There will always be some that get through. There are a large number of people that work for a prison and someone will have a bad time or be corruptible. With proper procedures and double checks you can get this down to a small number but there will always be a small amount of contraband getting through.
Changing the firewall settings won't do anything because they are on a different network. The need to suppress the cell network inside the prison and only within the prison. Guards, other employees, and visitors won't like it.
Unfortunately it's a symptom of having only enough money put into the system to house and punish those found guilty and not rehabilitate them. We keep them completely shut out of society with no preparation on how to re-integrate and then just shove them out the door with a few dollars in their pocket. Can you imagine trying to catch up on all of the changes in society if you have been away for a decade or two? I'm not suggesting that they don't deserve jail time but I think we need to do a way better job in our treatment of convicts.
Part of the point of being in prison is you get denied some of these things. That's kind of the point.
When someone has an illegal phone in prison, they could be using it to plan escapes, run their criminal empires, or plan witness intimidation. You know, stuff like this:
Think of the Mexican cartel leader they tunneled out of prison.
Justice, in this case, means ensuring you aren't still actively engaged in criminal activity. You know, the actual job of the ministry of justice.
So, boo hoo, criminals may not be getting unfettered access to the intertubes. That's what happens when you are in prison.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
How does committing crimes "prove that the system is a failure"? Unless you are of the "it can't be my fault, the system is to blame" crowd.