You make some good points. However, as I've spent 2 years in a campaign fighting ID cards, I know that I could easily fight the govt anonymously. Indeed, many people in the NO2ID campaign do just that.
Needing an ID card to eg get a job, use the NHS, or to leave/come back in the country makes you dependent on the govt.
How easy would it be to build a mechanism into the system which makes political opposition's ID cards invalid at inappropriate times? You wouldn't even need to do it, just start rumours that it happens - and the opposition might think twice before it creates a fuss.
How can you have an effective political opposition if the govt knows exactly what they're planning at all times? Chances are Blair was tapping the opposition party's phones. Indeed he refused to say that he wasn't.
How many activists etc have never broken the law? Laws in the UK get more ridiculous every month eg teenage kissing is now illegal!? Any such nonsense lawbreaking which is captured through surveillance is again blackmail material.
A couple of years ago, a BBC journalist went undercover and filmed systematic racism within the Manchester police (and was jailed for his trouble). But how is undercover journalism going to happen if your existing job is recorded on your ID record?
There are undoubtedly scenarios which I haven't thought of.
Going from a national ID card directly to genocide seems like quite a leap in logic to me. Don't make that leap then. Nowhere did I even imply that all ID card systems lead to genocide.
All compulsory ID systems lead to a government capable of oppressing its citizens though which in itself represses opposition - thus inevitably leading to less accountable governments.
It's also a ride you cannot get off. I have been campaigning for 2 years about the unlimited mass-surveillance potential of the British ID card scheme. Once the Govt can force you to link these databases and data-trails together (as they've said they will and the Identity Card Act specifically enables), it's no longer within your control how much mass-surveillance you'll be under.
AFAIK your SSN databases are full of errors. The Real ID Act might be more dangerous, especially given Bush's contempt for the US constitution.
The UK effectively has no constitution. In the last 6 years, we have lost the right to a fair trial, some of our rights to free speech and now our right to a private life is being obliterated.
There are fifty categories of information on the ID database including keys to our tax & benefits records, the database tracking our car journeys around the country and a ID number to connect the DNA database, medical records and any other data trail etc.
The British Govt have announced a so-called "data-sharing" initiative which is essentially linking all the Govt databases together. They're demolishing the Data Protection Act via the new Serious Crime Bill (which, believe it or not, can impose house arrest on pretty much anyone whether a crime has been committed or not).
It's not just that any govt in future can create 1984, it's that this Govt is demonstrably planning to do so.
Um, did you read my whole post - I referenced at least 3 articles. Also, I'd have thought somebody posting on Slashdot would understand a little bit about databases.
Once you have accomplished the mammoth task of creating a central index numbering all citizens, it is a short step to make any classification of them you want.
Another incorrect assumption is that govts only want to persecute nationalities/races. They're much more likely to persecute political opposition.
According to Prevent Genocide International, No other factor [than ID cards]
was more significant in facilitating the speed and magnitude of the 100 days
of mass killing in Rwanda. About 1 million people butchered.
In Nazi Germany in July 1938, only a few months before Kristallnacht, the
infamous "J-stamp" was introduced on ID cards and later on passports.
The use of specially marked "J-stamp" ID cards by Nazi Germany preceded
the yellow Star of David badges. In Norway, where yellow cloth badges were not
introduced, the stamped ID card was used in the identification of more than
750 Jews deported to death camps in Poland.
They also provide a 'nice' table:
Genocide: Nazi Germany (1938-1945), Rwanda (1990-1994)
Mass Expulsion: Ethiopia (Persons with Eritrean
affiliation 1998), Bhutan (Lhotshampas, 1991), Vietnam (Hoa ethnic Chinese 1978-1979),
France (Alsace-Lorraine 1918-1920)
David Blunkett, was no better. On the subject of identity cards he once
said: No one should fear correct identification. Those words always
remind me of one the more distressing details of the Eichmann trial: how he
told his executioner that the fate of those killed in the Holocaust was sealed
by their answers to the 1939 census on religious background recorded on paper
for a Hollerith machine, an early mechanical computer. Quite literally, their
cards were marked.
Needless to say, lesser abuses than these are far more common.
So scared is the Govt of the public finding out about this that they are secretly
forcingpassport renewers
on to this Orwellian database from March 26th.
I'm sorry if you haven't been warned about this before: NO2ID
has a budget around 1000 times smaller than the Home Office but you
do still have a few weeks to protect yourself. Click the 3 links
above and most importantly, read
the NO2ID newsletter.
From the same Govt who argued that most people weren't necessarily entitled to passports and that we should just trust they won't use their totalitarian laws for totalitarian means.
It should be pointed out that any research that indicates a problem (eg it turns you into a suicidal, homicidal maniac) is buried, deep. And you'll need a killing spree in Wyoming and a ton of money just so that one person can look at (some of) that research.
I confidently predict that these petitions will make absolutely no difference. Blair has never, not once, listened to the public. He has pretended to, numerous times.
A million Britons are still learning the difference.
There are a thousand ways to procrastinate. I know, I've done most of
them. I have also treated quite a few procrastinators professionally.
The article looks pretty useless to me so I thought I'd offer my 10 years of
clinical experience in hope of satisfying those looking for some real insight.
We make decisions based on how we feel about the options at the time we think
about them. Let's think about when you're next going to the dentist.
Unless it's pre-booked, you probably think about going to the dentist and decide
based on how you feel about that. If going feels better than not going,
you'll go.
Now different people will take into account cost, discomfort, current state
of teeth, desired state of teeth etc. But the basic strategy remains the
same.
Think about going on holiday. Again, if going feels better than not going,
you'll start to make plans. Note that feelings you might not have been
conscious of eg responsibility come into the decision.
A final example: doing your taxes. For the last 5 years at least, I've
hand-delivered my tax return in the early hours of the morning after
the deadline but before the tax office opens. Why do some people hand them in
6+ months ahead of the deadline? They focus on the satisfaction and relief
of having done their taxes. If they think about slacking off, only then
do they start to feel bad.
Of course, perfectionism can lead to procrastination. So can 100 other
things - they just have to feel (slightly) bad at the time you're thinking about
doing the task. Here's a list of the top of my head:
1. Unpleasant task, naturally.
2. No immediate consequences for procrastinating.
3. Bad habits.
4. Distractions.
5. Doubts about success.
6. Doubts about worthiness of the task.
7. Feeling the task is somehow beneath you.
8. Addiction to comfort.
Since procrastination is a natural result of your main decision strategy, which you have used and thus further conditioned 100+ times a day, the only real way to change it is through persistent reconditioning, probably by some kind of slave driver...;)
You're probably right. The last feature which really made a difference to my browsing was mouse gestures.
Firefox and Opera have their niches and I suspect Opera's is bigger and thus will gradually steal marketshare away from both IE & Firefox.
The focus should be on the websites anyway. I still think Opera's configurability is a winner but maybe people don't mind having to fit in with programmers' bizarre ways of doing things.
Britain has legislated to become the first (and hopefully only) Orwellian
surveillance society. We are already
a surveillance society according to the Information Commissioner.
But it will be 1000x worse should we let the Govt connect
all its databases together via the new ID database (NIR). All of
the Govt's main policies over the last 6 months have involved coercing the public
on to new databases. The most insidious is the forced and secret
registration of passport applicants on to the ID database, starting in the next
6 months.
If you want Britain to remain a free country, I strongly urge you to check
out the NO2ID campaign.
I agree with both you and parent. In anticipation of the next General Election, look for existing campaign groups who have the ability to make these things happen. If they don't exist, find people to start them.
A fair point but when you look at the most expensive IT projects, they tend to have more billions thrown at them until they are completed. While I doubt that this will be in place in the next 10 years, the Govt have given themselves that sort of timescale to complete it.
Secondly, there is the Childrens' Index. There is the 2011 Census which demands to know your income and how many times you sleep with your partner.
Most Slashdotters could create workable versions of these databases in hours. If you get rid of the biometrics and ignore security, it's a relatively easy IT project.
Linking medical, email, phone, bank & credit card records will be as simple
as putting your new National Identity Registration number on those existing
databases and allowing the Govt to query them.
Furthermore, you will be denied a new passport unless you give up this information,
according to the ID
Cards Act.
NO2ID is an increasingly successful campaign,
which has helped mastermind the recent publicity. We are highly respected
in both Parliament and the media. Join the monthly mailing
list so that you can keep one step ahead of the Govt's attempts to snoop
on you.
Unfortunately, this threat is very real. Stealth data collection through
passport interviews is planned to start within 6 months - although there is
still time to renew. Please
forward this information on to anyone you think might like to keep Britain a free country.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is a car tracking scheme already monitoring our movements in many parts of the UK. It works by recognising number plates through cameras similar to CCTV. The data is centrally collected and stored for at least a year. It will be linked to the National Identity Register (ID database) through compulsory disclosure of your driving license number - which is already linked to your vehicle registration on the DVLA database.
There are 130 such cameras in Bristol and Gloucester.
Yes, it's also possible to track our mobile phone movements.
Slashdot Mirror
You make some good points. However, as I've spent 2 years in a campaign fighting ID cards, I know that I could easily fight the govt anonymously. Indeed, many people in the NO2ID campaign do just that.
Needing an ID card to eg get a job, use the NHS, or to leave/come back in the country makes you dependent on the govt.
How easy would it be to build a mechanism into the system which makes political opposition's ID cards invalid at inappropriate times? You wouldn't even need to do it, just start rumours that it happens - and the opposition might think twice before it creates a fuss.
How can you have an effective political opposition if the govt knows exactly what they're planning at all times? Chances are Blair was tapping the opposition party's phones. Indeed he refused to say that he wasn't.
How many activists etc have never broken the law? Laws in the UK get more ridiculous every month eg teenage kissing is now illegal!? Any such nonsense lawbreaking which is captured through surveillance is again blackmail material.
A couple of years ago, a BBC journalist went undercover and filmed systematic racism within the Manchester police (and was jailed for his trouble). But how is undercover journalism going to happen if your existing job is recorded on your ID record?
There are undoubtedly scenarios which I haven't thought of.
All compulsory ID systems lead to a government capable of oppressing its citizens though which in itself represses opposition - thus inevitably leading to less accountable governments.
It's also a ride you cannot get off. I have been campaigning for 2 years about the unlimited mass-surveillance potential of the British ID card scheme. Once the Govt can force you to link these databases and data-trails together (as they've said they will and the Identity Card Act specifically enables), it's no longer within your control how much mass-surveillance you'll be under.
AFAIK your SSN databases are full of errors. The Real ID Act might be more dangerous, especially given Bush's contempt for the US constitution.
The UK effectively has no constitution. In the last 6 years, we have lost the right to a fair trial, some of our rights to free speech and now our right to a private life is being obliterated.
There are fifty categories of information on the ID database including keys to our tax & benefits records, the database tracking our car journeys around the country and a ID number to connect the DNA database, medical records and any other data trail etc.
The British Govt have announced a so-called "data-sharing" initiative which is essentially linking all the Govt databases together. They're demolishing the Data Protection Act via the new Serious Crime Bill (which, believe it or not, can impose house arrest on pretty much anyone whether a crime has been committed or not).
It's not just that any govt in future can create 1984, it's that this Govt is demonstrably planning to do so.
Um, did you read my whole post - I referenced at least 3 articles. Also, I'd have thought somebody posting on Slashdot would understand a little bit about databases.
Once you have accomplished the mammoth task of creating a central index numbering all citizens, it is a short step to make any classification of them you want.
Another incorrect assumption is that govts only want to persecute nationalities/races. They're much more likely to persecute political opposition.
According to Prevent Genocide International, No other factor [than ID cards] was more significant in facilitating the speed and magnitude of the 100 days of mass killing in Rwanda. About 1 million people butchered.
From the same page:
In Nazi Germany in July 1938, only a few months before Kristallnacht, the infamous "J-stamp" was introduced on ID cards and later on passports. The use of specially marked "J-stamp" ID cards by Nazi Germany preceded the yellow Star of David badges. In Norway, where yellow cloth badges were not introduced, the stamped ID card was used in the identification of more than 750 Jews deported to death camps in Poland.
They also provide a 'nice' table:
Genocide: Nazi Germany (1938-1945), Rwanda (1990-1994)
Mass Expulsion: Ethiopia (Persons with Eritrean affiliation 1998), Bhutan (Lhotshampas, 1991), Vietnam (Hoa ethnic Chinese 1978-1979), France (Alsace-Lorraine 1918-1920)
Forced Relocation: USSR (ethnic Koreans 1937, Volga Germans 1941, Kalmyks, Karachai, 1943, Crimean Tatars, Meshkhetian Turks Chechens, Ingush, Balkars 1944, ethnic Greeks, 1949)
Group Denationalization: Cambodia (ethnic Vietnamese 1993), Myanmar (Rohingya Arakanese 1992), Syria (Kurds 1962)
In regard to the UK cattle tagging ID card system, The Times reported:
David Blunkett, was no better. On the subject of identity cards he once said: No one should fear correct identification. Those words always remind me of one the more distressing details of the Eichmann trial: how he told his executioner that the fate of those killed in the Holocaust was sealed by their answers to the 1939 census on religious background recorded on paper for a Hollerith machine, an early mechanical computer. Quite literally, their cards were marked.
Needless to say, lesser abuses than these are far more common.
The UK system is unbelievably scary. Going far beyond the punchcard Hollerith machine, our ID cards are backed by the National Identity Register, a database designed to merge all government databases and commercial data trails into a personal surveillance dossier that makes 1984 look respectful.
So scared is the Govt of the public finding out about this that they are secretly forcing passport renewers on to this Orwellian database from March 26th.
They are also forcing doctors to betray their patients' confidence and upload your private medical records to another insecure national database, again without telling you.
I'm sorry if you haven't been warned about this before: NO2ID has a budget around 1000 times smaller than the Home Office but you do still have a few weeks to protect yourself. Click the 3 links above and most importantly, read the NO2ID newsletter.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3672591.stm
From the same Govt who argued that most people weren't necessarily entitled to passports and that we should just trust they won't use their totalitarian laws for totalitarian means.
http://www.waronfreedom.net/
It should be pointed out that any research that indicates a problem (eg it turns you into a suicidal, homicidal maniac) is buried, deep. And you'll need a killing spree in Wyoming and a ton of money just so that one person can look at (some of) that research.
l y.html
http://www.deep-trance.com/treatment/dr-david-hea
I confidently predict that these petitions will make absolutely no difference. Blair has never, not once, listened to the public. He has pretended to, numerous times.
A million Britons are still learning the difference.
I've always wondered why New Labour have passed laws to rewrite the constitution at whim, to arbitrarily punish innocent people and perform mass-surveillance at a level that Orwell never dreamed of... knowing that the people they most fear, the Tory Party, would be guaranteed to win the next election.
There are a thousand ways to procrastinate. I know, I've done most of them. I have also treated quite a few procrastinators professionally.
The article looks pretty useless to me so I thought I'd offer my 10 years of clinical experience in hope of satisfying those looking for some real insight.
We make decisions based on how we feel about the options at the time we think about them. Let's think about when you're next going to the dentist. Unless it's pre-booked, you probably think about going to the dentist and decide based on how you feel about that. If going feels better than not going, you'll go.
Now different people will take into account cost, discomfort, current state of teeth, desired state of teeth etc. But the basic strategy remains the same.
Think about going on holiday. Again, if going feels better than not going, you'll start to make plans. Note that feelings you might not have been conscious of eg responsibility come into the decision.
A final example: doing your taxes. For the last 5 years at least, I've hand-delivered my tax return in the early hours of the morning after the deadline but before the tax office opens. Why do some people hand them in 6+ months ahead of the deadline? They focus on the satisfaction and relief of having done their taxes. If they think about slacking off, only then do they start to feel bad.
Of course, perfectionism can lead to procrastination. So can 100 other things - they just have to feel (slightly) bad at the time you're thinking about doing the task. Here's a list of the top of my head:
1. Unpleasant task, naturally.
;)
2. No immediate consequences for procrastinating.
3. Bad habits.
4. Distractions.
5. Doubts about success.
6. Doubts about worthiness of the task.
7. Feeling the task is somehow beneath you.
8. Addiction to comfort.
Since procrastination is a natural result of your main decision strategy, which you have used and thus further conditioned 100+ times a day, the only real way to change it is through persistent reconditioning, probably by some kind of slave driver...
You're probably right. The last feature which really made a difference to my browsing was mouse gestures.
Firefox and Opera have their niches and I suspect Opera's is bigger and thus will gradually steal marketshare away from both IE & Firefox.
The focus should be on the websites anyway. I still think Opera's configurability is a winner but maybe people don't mind having to fit in with programmers' bizarre ways of doing things.
Abused people, celebs, witness relocation & undercover reporters all have an absolute need for privacy.
But the main reason for privacy is that if the Govt doesn't know who you are and what you're doing, they can't persecute you.
Wrong. Go read the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act:# 49
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm
Britain has legislated to become the first (and hopefully only) Orwellian surveillance society. We are already a surveillance society according to the Information Commissioner.
But it will be 1000x worse should we let the Govt connect all its databases together via the new ID database (NIR). All of the Govt's main policies over the last 6 months have involved coercing the public on to new databases. The most insidious is the forced and secret registration of passport applicants on to the ID database, starting in the next 6 months.
If you want Britain to remain a free country, I strongly urge you to check out the NO2ID campaign.
Being happy and unhappy, in most people, is more about your life than about anything else
Might I suggest that if you need your life to conform to what you've been conditioned to want, then yes, you're going to be unhappy.
Unless you're God, life is inherently outside your control and thus the happy people are the ones who are light-hearted about things not working out.
and to take a pill to be happy all the time is a little too Brave New World for me.
And a little too much faith in pills. ;)
... given the title. After all, who could actually think the blind couldn't get deja vu?
It's very new but, being backed by NO2ID, will likely run and run. I'm trying to get them to call it "Boycott the Medical Database"
http://www.nhsconfidentiality.org/
Please forward this info to everybody you know.
I agree they're astonishingly incompetent, except where it comes to deceiving the public and pushing through totalitarian legislation.
Depends on your definition of "correctly" tho. With the loose definition, you're saying the govt uses no IT systems.
I agree with both you and parent. In anticipation of the next General Election, look for existing campaign groups who have the ability to make these things happen. If they don't exist, find people to start them.
A fair point but when you look at the most expensive IT projects, they tend to have more billions thrown at them until they are completed. While I doubt that this will be in place in the next 10 years, the Govt have given themselves that sort of timescale to complete it.
Secondly, there is the Childrens' Index. There is the 2011 Census which demands to know your income and how many times you sleep with your partner.
Most Slashdotters could create workable versions of these databases in hours. If you get rid of the biometrics and ignore security, it's a relatively easy IT project.
Linking medical, email, phone, bank & credit card records will be as simple as putting your new National Identity Registration number on those existing databases and allowing the Govt to query them.
Furthermore, you will be denied a new passport unless you give up this information, according to the ID Cards Act.
This comes two months after Gordon Brown was reported to be "planning a massive expansion of the ID cards project that would widen surveillance of everyday life by allowing high-street businesses to share confidential information with police databases."
He described how "police could be alerted as soon as a wanted person used a biometric-enabled cash card or even entered a building via an iris-scan door."
More details of how the National Identity Register will be the hub of Britain's Surveillance State.
NO2ID is an increasingly successful campaign, which has helped mastermind the recent publicity. We are highly respected in both Parliament and the media. Join the monthly mailing list so that you can keep one step ahead of the Govt's attempts to snoop on you.
Unfortunately, this threat is very real. Stealth data collection through passport interviews is planned to start within 6 months - although there is still time to renew. Please forward this information on to anyone you think might like to keep Britain a free country.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is a car tracking scheme already monitoring our movements in many parts of the UK. It works by recognising number plates through cameras similar to CCTV. The data is centrally collected and stored for at least a year. It will be linked to the National Identity Register (ID database) through compulsory disclosure of your driving license number - which is already linked to your vehicle registration on the DVLA database.
There are 130 such cameras in Bristol and Gloucester.
Yes, it's also possible to track our mobile phone movements.
Tony Blair has called for all innocent citizens to be forcibly DNA swabbed. Since the Govt stated they would link the police databases to the National Identity Register (pg 5), this would mean our DNA, our tax/benefits records and detailed tracking of our car movements via ANPR will be cross-indexed into a single surveillance dossier.
Furthermore, you will be denied a new passport unless you give up this information, according to the ID Cards Act.
This comes two months after Gordon Brown was reported to be "planning a massive expansion of the ID cards project that would widen surveillance of everyday life by allowing high-street businesses to share confidential information with police databases."
He described how "police could be alerted as soon as a wanted person used a biometric-enabled cash card or even entered a building via an iris-scan door."
More details of how the National Identity Register will be the hub of Britain's Surveillance State
It does have the broad range of functionality built in, without the bloat of FF.
What exactly do you need?
The AVIs are dreadful quality. Very blocky and about 12 FPS (even tho rendered at 25 FPS).
Being in the UK, I can't access the webisodes directly but I'd be surprised if they released something so far below broadcast quality.