NO2ID News No. 47
8 June 2006
NO2ID call for budding (and experienced) film-makers
NO2ID National Coordinator, Phil Booth, has been chosen as one of eight campaigners
to be followed for 12 months as part of a new web/TV project called 'Activ8'.
The project has been set-up by the Community Channel and BBC Action Network and
will involve making a series of short films and possibly a longer documentary
on NO2ID and the issues surrounding ID cards.
We are asking for volunteers to get involved in the production of one or more
of these pieces, the theme of which will be agreed in advance. We'll be filming
around the country, as the NO2ID roadshow travels the UK, so don't feel that
you necessarily have to be in or near London to get involved. We're looking for
people with experience of camera work and sound recording, as well as groups
doing anti-ID activities (protests, public meetings, stalls, benefit concerts,
etc.) that would get across not only our message, but how we go about spreading
it.
If you're interested, and especially if you have (DV) camera and/or sound recording
experience, please get in touch by sending an e-mail with the Subject: Activ8
to
national.coordinator@no2id.net
N.B. It's not just about Phil! Anyone can set up their own Action Network campaign
site on the BBC website at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/.
For those of you who haven't had a go at 'blogging' before, it's an easy way
to get started. The more people that write regularly, and from a personal perspective,
about what they are doing to fight the ID scheme in their area, the higher profile
the issue will become on the BBC generally. Action Network issue pages are now
regularly linked from BBC News Online articles and some campaigns have been picked
up by the TV news.
'Renew for Freedom' - May was not a deadline
Well done to everyone that took part in our 'renew for freedom' passport renewal
campaign in May. During the month there were over 300,000 visitors to our factsheet
download page and numerous groups affiliated to the campaign, including the Liberal
Democrats and UKIP. We hope that our renewal drive will register on the home
office's passport renewal figures(which we will publish when we get them). We
would like to stress that May was not a deadline, just the focus of our campaign.
If you haven't renewed your passport yet it is still safe to do so, the next
big deadline is October, so we will be leaving the renew for freedom website
open over the entire summer. For more details and to download our factsheet go
to
http://www.renewforfreedom.org/
What's next?
Local groups - the backbone of NO2ID
We have new local groups in Manchester, Taunton and at last we have our first
group in Northern Ireland - Belfast. Local groups are the key part of our campaigning
arsenal. It is through them and their activities that we keep the public informed
and stop the ID card issue slipping from peoples' minds. We still need more local
groups, particularly for the Midlands: Coventry, Wolverhampton, Leicester, and
Derby are the largest cities without NO2ID groups. If you are interested in setting
up a local group please contact us at (
local.groups@no2id.net).
A list of groups (and a new interactive map) can be found at
www.no2id.net/localGroups
Vacancy - local group coordinator in Peterborough
Our current local group co-ordinator in Peterborough, Mark Ringer, has gone on
tour with Snow Patrol. Peterborough is an important area as there is a passport
office there. Anyone able to volunteer for this role should contact us at (
local.groups@no2id.net).
New Councils, New Motions
Following the local elections in May many local councils have changed complexion.
Now is a good time for supporters to contact their council asking them to pass
resolutions against ID cards, with at least a policy of non co-operation where
not required by law. Local councils will be hit with costly expenses when ID
cards are introduced. A list of similar motions passed by councils around the
country is available from
www.no2id.net/resources/motions/index.php
NO2ID Brighton Art Exhibition
Brighton and Hove NO2ID will soon be calling on artists across the country to
submit work for a unique exhibition in autumn 2006, drawing together the best
creative ideas on the theme of identity and what it means to be entering ‘the
database state’. They are also looking for sponsors as well as artists, contact
brighton@no2id.net for
more details.
13th June - NO2ID Glasgow Meeting
Tuesday, 13th June at 7:30pm in Mono, Kings Court, King Street, near the Trongate.
Our alternative venue, if Mono is too noisy, will be Laurie's bar across the
road. All are very welcome to attend! More details available from
glasgow@no2id.net
15th June NO2ID Volunteers Meeting Central London - 'ID - a gold standard
for discrimination?'
Thursday, 15th June at 7.00pm in the Bertrand Russell room at Conway Hall, 25
Red Lion Square, London WC1 (nearest tube: Holborn). All are welcome to NO2ID's
next regular volunteers' meeting. The meeting be on the theme of 'ID - a gold
standard fro discrimination?'. Guest speaker: Marianne Nienhuis - Policy Officer
at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants(JCWI). The meeting is free
to attend but we will be asking for donations to help cover the cost of the room
hire.
15th June - Helensburgh NO2ID Public Meeting - "What are ID cards and
how will the affect me?"
Thursday, 15th June at 7pm in Victoria Halls, Sinclair Street, Helensburgh. Helensburgh
NO2ID has called a public meeting on the topic: "What are ID cards and
how will the affect me?" Speaker: Geraint Bevan. All welcome. For more details
contact Anna-Linnéa Rundberg (
helensburgh@no2id.net).
22nd June - St Helens NO2ID Meeting
Thursday, 22nd June, 6.30pm at the Grove Social Club, Knowsley Road, St Helens,
Merseyside. NO2ID St Helens will be holding their second meeting. Informal, friendly
and informative. For anyone in the area: come along if you can, you'll be very
welcome! More information from (
st.helens@no2id.net).
27th June - North Staffs NO2ID Meeting
Tuesday, 27th June 7.30pm in the snug at the Swan, St. Edward's Street, Leek.
This meeting will take the form of planning our stall at the Leek Show to be
held on Saturday 29th July. For more details contact Laura Marcus (
leek@no2id.net).
4th July - Homeland and Border Security Conference (£695+vat)
Tuesday, 4 July at QEII Conference Centre, London, UK. a one-day event that will
look at the next steps for the security community. Featuring "key figures
from the IT sector, government, the police, justice, and the international community".
Cost - £695+vat for private sector, £175+VAT for public sector.
See
http://govnet.co.uk/security/index.php
8th July - Rise Festival - Higbury NO2ID stall
Saturday July 8th at Finsbury Park. Entrance is free, and the line up can be
found at (
http://www.risefestival.org/).
Last year one campaigner handed out over 100 NO2ID leaflets in about 20 minutes.
Come along to one of the biggest free events in London this summer and help to
spread the word. Please note: a stall has been booked but no written confirmation
has been received yet. For more information contact
highbury@no2id.net
What just happened?
Cambridge NO2ID boost passport renewal
Cambridge NO2ID volunteers manned a stall at the city's Strawberry Fair on Saturday
3rd June, collecting the names of 750 new supporters and distributing 400 information
sheets on how and why to renew passports this summer. We plan to run further
stalls in the city centre every few weeks across the summer. For more information,
or to volunteers, contact Andrew Watson via
cambridge@no2id.net.
Southwark NO2ID descend on Borough Market
Last Saturday(3rd June) volunteers from NO2ID Southwark were out in force to
speak with shoppers at Borough Market. The group got about 70 signatures on the
NO2ID petition and handed out around 500 leaflets. Group coordinator, Martin
Smith, said: "We had a very positive reaction from shoppers," cautioning
that many people were not aware of the extent of the proposed scheme.
Letters to the media swell enquires
We have had a very noticeable increase in public enquiries arising from people
mentioning NO2ID in letters to the press. Mr Mills of Co. Durham got a single
paragraph mentioning our address details in the Mirror and that prompted dozens
of enquiries on its own. We've also had plenty of feedback from a mention in
the Western Daily Press. So we know that writing letters to the local and regional
press works, and that people are hearing about us that way who would never do
so otherwise.
Home Office fix fake passport law … and some
Yesterday(7th June) the government finally made possession of fake passports
an offence once again, after repealing the previous law when the ID cards act
became law in March. The new statutory instrument, introduced under the enabling
powers of the ID cards act, also makes it illegal to hold a forged passport,
driving license or other identity document even if no deception or intent to
deceive can be proved.
Costly Biometric passports - No discount for pensioners
It was revealed last week that the government has no plans to discount biometric
passports for pensioners. In a parliamentary written answer, Home Office minister
Joan Ryan, revealed that only "those born prior to 2 September 1929 who
are already entitled to free passports will continue to be eligible for free
biometric passports". Passport have already risen by over 20% to £51 and
expected to reach at least £93 when compulsory fingerprinting, iris scanning
registration on the national identity register are added. Pensioners should avoid
spiralling costs by renewing their passport now. See
www.renewforfreedom.org for
information about passport renewal.
E-surveillance of Belgian hotel registers
Hotel guests in Belgium will soon be electronically registered with the police,
the government has announced. The process will be available shortly for Belgians,
who are now being issued with electronic ID cards, and for foreigners from
2009, when e-IDs and e-passports are expected to be the norm. Hotel guests
are already obliged to show ID when registering. In future, "hoteliers will have less
administrative work" thanks to "digitalisation of the registration
slips and digital transmission to the police". Good news for the constabulary,
too, as they will "no longer have to fetch and file the slips". The
government did not say for how long foreigners' e-identities will be stored in
Belgian hotels, B&Bs and police stations, nor how the data will be protected.
Belgium, where it has long been compulsory to carry ID, is rapidly switching
over to electronic cards. It is one of the first countries in the world to
bring in e-ID for all. The LSE study of the British scheme caused a small ripple
in the Belgian parliament last year. Elio Di Rupo, Deputy Prime Minister and
chairman of Labour's counterpart the PS, sought to reassure the House. The
new Belgian cards do not contain biometrics, he explained (true enough, although
there is spare capacity on their chips, 33 of which fell off last year due
to weak glue). Also, an e-ID costs 10 euro in Belgium, plus any local taxes,
while "the
cost of an identity card, without a passport, in the United Kingdom is put
at 52-60 euro". The UK's ID cards and NIR "diverge widely" from
the Belgian ones, he said, so "the criticisms made of the former are
in no way transferable to the latter". That's all right then.
Calling All Scots Against ID
A curious exchange, that looked rather like a planted question, took place in
the House of Commons this week between two Scottish Labour MPs:
"Mr. Jim McGovern (Dundee, West) (Lab): Does my hon. Friend agree that
the people of Scotland deserve the same level of protection against terrorism
and identity fraud as their fellow citizens in England and Wales?"
"David Cairns: My hon. Friend goes to the heart of the matter. It often
amuses me when others seek to represent the people of Scotland as being wholly
opposed to identity cards. I have never seen any evidence of that. Identity
cards have been introduced because there has been a big increase in identity
theft and fraud, because 30 per cent. of terrorist suspects have been using
false identities, and because of ongoing problems of illegal immigration. That
move will be welcomed in Scotland, as it will be throughout the rest of the
United Kingdom."
Perhaps some of our supporters north of the border could
write to the MPs in question and ask how exactly they thinks ID cards will
protect Scots from the zero levels of terrorism experienced by the people of
Dundee and putting them straight on the levels of support for their costly
scheme.
"ID" in the news
The Home Office has revealed that other nations have made 519 requests for details
from the database since 2004. All of the requests were granted and the Liberal
Democrats fear there are not enough checks on the system. It emerged in January
that 24,000 under-18s never cautioned, charged or convicted are on the database,
which was established in 1995.
Europe has passed the "tipping point" over which citizens fall head
over heels in love with the idea of a society regulated by biometric identity
scanners, according to a survey published today. The survey was commissioned
by LogicaCMG, who installed an optional biometric fast lane at the customs in
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. That was five years ago. A mere 20,000 people have
enrolled to use it, whereas 42.5m people used the airport last year. What does
that say about how eager the Europeans are for biometrics?
The Austrian government has recently presented its new electronic passport which
will be available to Austrian citizens as from this summer. No date has been
fixed yet, but issuing of the new document will start before 31 August 2006.
The new ePassports are in line with EU Regulations (Regulation 2252/2004) calling
for the introduction of electronic passports in all Member States by the end
of August this year.
Members of the House of Commons Health Committee want to hold a series of hearings
into the NHS IT programme later this year in response to an open letter from
23 experts in computer-related sciences. The committee would investigate the
case for an independent audit into whether the programme, as originally announced
by the Department of Health, is feasible and will help clinicians improve patient
care.
In a shocking illustration of the truism that more integrated databases make
for larger and more lucrative honeypots/ disaster magnets, the data of approximately
26.5 million US veterans was stolen recently. A Veterans' Affairs employee disregarded
security protocols and took a laptop with sensitive data home, then the laptop
was taken during a burglary at the employee's residence. Information stolen included
the veterans' Social Security numbers, birthdates and in some cases a disability
rating.
Luis Hernandez just laughs as he sells fake driver's licenses and Social Security
cards. The joke to him and others in his line of work is the government's promise
to put people like him out of business with a tamperproof national ID card. "One
way or another, we'll always find a way".
Scott Silverman, Chairman of the Board of VeriChip Corporation, has alarmed civil
libertarians by promoting the company's subcutaneous human tracking device as
a way to identify immigrants and guest workers. He appeared on the Fox News Channel
earlier this week, the morning after President Bush called for high-tech measures
to clamp down on Mexican immigrants.
(Please send me any items of interest you encounter - Editor(newsletter@no2id.net)
)
Publication details: © NO2ID 2010 - This document may be freely redistributed
in one-to-one communications or physical copies as long as it is reproduced
in its entirety including this notice. It may not be mass-mailed without
the prior permission of NO2ID.
Newsletter Archive
