NO2ID News No. 67

17 March 2007

ID-DAY CALL TO ACTION: "SHOW THEM YOU'RE NOT A NUMBER"

On ID-Day, Monday 26th March 2007, and in the days leading up to it, NO2ID groups will be holding actions and events all over the UK. Press releases and messages from local groups are already beginning to go out but even if there isn't an event organised near you, you can still get involved.

Our request is simple: we want you to send us a digital photo of your face.

Thousands of you pledged not to comply with ID cards, many tens of thousands have renewed their passports early and hundreds of thousands are opting out of NHS 'spine' via http://www.TheBigOptOut.org and leaflets in GP surgeries.

You are far from alone. Yours is a face in the rapidly-growing crowd of people who reject government ID control and the database state. Together we can create a living, graphic representation of that crowd.

SHOW THEM YOU'RE NOT A NUMBER by sending a photo of your face from your camera phone - the cost per message is just 35p - or, when the service goes live in the next few days, by uploading a photo from your PC via the ID-Day page on NO2ID's website. [N.B. By sending a picture of your face you are giving NO2ID the right to use the image without identification in any and all media.]
--
To send an MMS message:

Take a photo of your face (or of anyone who wants to join in) with your camera phone, and choose 'Send'.
VERY IMPORTANT: add the word 'no2id' (without the inverted commas) to the body text of the message or - if your phone allows you to - in the 'Subject' line of the message.
Send the message to 60300
If successful, on most mobile networks you should receive a message back saying: "Thank you for supporting ID-Day. You have been charged 35p." This is NOT a fund-raising exercise, so we have kept the call charge to an absolute minimum.

--
The first public display will be in the media on ID-Day itself and at events across the UK. We shall not be linking the images to any other personally identifying information, so participants really will just be faces in the crowd.

You can check out details of local events in our forums:

http://forum.no2id.net/viewforum.php?f=4

or on the ID-Day page on the NO2ID website:

http://www.no2id.net/id-day/

SHOW THEM YOU'RE NOT A NUMBER, and join with us on ID-Day.

What's next?

Local groups

We now have a new local group in Staines(contact at staines@no2id.net). We have groups in 36 of the 69 locations of ID interrogation centres. If you can help to set up a local group in one of the remaining towns then please contact us at (office@no2id.net). A full list of local groups can be found at (www.no2id.net/localGroups) , a list of the interrogation centres can be found at (www.no2id.net/getInvolved/idCentres.php) , there is also a detailed discussion of the interrogation centres on our forum (http://forum.no2id.net/viewtopic.php?t=13329)

The sun never sets on NO2ID

So far, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office(FCO) has obviously not borne the brunt of protests over the ID scheme. But the FCO is the contact point for British citizens living outside the UK and it is also their passport issuing authority. So to mark ID Day on 26 March, the NO2ID Expats' Group will be letting the FCO know that plans for a database state in the UK are also opposed by many Brits living abroad. The campaign is highlighted on the new website just launched by the Expats' Group at http://no2id-expats.chown.ch . The FCO campaign on 26 March is specifically for British expats. However, NO2ID supporters inside the UK who have contacts with British citizens abroad are asked to make them aware of the new website and the 26 March mail-in. The Expats' Group currently has active members in 21 countries and territories worldwide. As in the UK, support for NO2ID has been growing rapidly as more people become aware of the full implications of the British government's plans.

Saturdays 1pm - 3pm - NO2ID Edinburgh Campaign stall

After a short break during Christmas and Hogmanay NO2ID Edinburgh has resumed its regular Princes Street campaigning stall on Saturdays. We shall be at our usual location at the east end of Princes Street, opposite the Balmoral Hotel, from 1pm - 3pm. We use our stall to raise public awareness of the Identity Cards scheme, collect donations and entries for the NO2ID petition, and also to increase membership of our group. Please do pop by for a chat if you happen to be around. We aim to have the stall up and running most Saturdays, and new volunteers are always very welcome. You can see photos of our stall and group contact details at: www.no2id-scotland.net/edinburgh/

23rd March - NO2ID Norwich: Public Meeting

Friday, 23rd March 2007 7pm-9pm at Hellesdon Community Centre, Middleton's Lane, Hellesdon, Norwich NR6 5SR. Norwich NO2ID will be holding a public meeting, speakers: Simon Wright (Lib-Dem Parliamentary Spokesman for Norwich South), Adrian Holmes (Green Councillor: Norwich City Council), Vandra Ahlstrom (UKIP Norfolk Chairman and Spokesman). All are welcome. Map: http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?pc=NR65SR

24th March - Glasgow NO2ID Comedy Gala Benefit

Saturday, 24th March 8pm until late at the Old Fruitmarket. In what is sure to be one of the highlights of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, some of Britain's top comedians and comediennes will be performing in a NO2ID benefit gala. Confirmed to appear are: Glen Wool, Patrick Monahan and Toby Hadoke. Tickets are on sale now(£10, £8 conc)! Phone 0870 013 5464 or buy your tickets on-line at http://www.secxtra.com/Action/WhatsOnSearch?EventId=BENEF07
More details at http://www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com/acts/no2id.htm

24th March - Highbury NO2ID Street Stall

Saturday, 24th March, 11am start. Anyone who has free time (even half an hour) to come down to Angel Islington to help with a street stall - highlighting the recent 'Take a hike, Tony' action, handing out leaflets and petition signing. All welcome. For more details please contact Caroline at highbury@no2id.net

26th March - Edinburgh NO2ID silent protest

Monday, 26th March 11am. The Edinburgh NO2ID group is planning to stage a silent protest from 11am to 1pm on ID-Day outside the local Interrogation Centre at 95 Haymarket Terrace. Participants, or at least the first dozen or so to arrive, will wear white robot masks and white overalls festooned with barcodes. Local media organizations are being contacted in an attempt to gain maximum publicity. The location is on the main road west from the city centre, towards the airport and Glasgow, and so should be seen by many hundreds of passers-by. Additional participants are most welcome. Further information about the Interrogation Centre can be accessed here: http://www.jwelford.demon.co.uk/ipsoffice.html

29th March - Chelmsford - 'Personal Privacy or Surveillance State?'

Thursday, 29th March 7.30 for 7.45, Local Green Lectures presents an open meeting and discussion evening on 'Personal Privacy or Surveillance State?' at Friends' Meeting House, 82 Rainsford Road, Chelmsford. Speakers: Tony Bunyan, Editor, Statewatch - "The war on terrorism and the surveillance society", Guy Herbert, General Secretary, NO2ID - "Stuck in the middle: you and the database state". Free (Donations Welcome). Refreshments Available.

2nd April - Highbury NO2ID March meeting(1st Monday of each month)

Monday, 2nd April 6.30 for a 7pm start at the Jorene Celeste pub, 153 Upper Street, Islington. All welcome for an informal meeting to discuss future events. Highbury's meetings will now be held on the first Mondays of each month.

1st Tuesday of the month - Hackney NO2ID monthly meetings (Next Meeting: Tuesday 3rd April)

The Hackney local group covering London E8, E5, E9 & N16 areas meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30 in Cafe Bohemia by Hackney Central Station. New support very welcome to help raise awareness over the coming months

7th April - NO2ID Cambridge Campaign stall

Cambridge NO2ID will be running Saturday street stalls outside Cambridge Guildhall from 10am onwards on Saturday 7th April and Saturday 28th April. Location Map: http://tinyurl.com/eo42r. Volunteers to help very welcome - contact Andrew Watson via cambridge@no2id.net, or on 07710 469624.

What just happened?

Information Tribunal into blocked ID card reviews begins

An Information Tribunal began this week to hear the Appeal by the Office for Government Commerce (OGC) against the Information Commissioner's Decision that the public should be allowed to see ID card reviews. In October the OGC were ordered to fully disclose the early (and now out of date) Gateway Reviews of the ID cards scheme.

Lords Committee produce report into EU database

The House of Lords European Union Committee has produced a report on the Schengen Information System II (SIS II). The Schengen Information System is an EU wide database for immigration, policing and criminal law. SIS II is the second generation of the system. The report points out that: "SIS II will store an enormous volume of sensitive personal data", criticises the EU Council proceedings for their lack of transparency and urges the government to press for greater openness and transparency of their proceedings. That said, and despite the concerns of civil liberties groups, the Lords think that the government should join the super database as soon as possible.
The report can be read at www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/ldselect/ldeucom/49/49.pdf

GP lambasts NHS database opt out pledge

Dr Paul Thornton, a GP who has campaigned for patients to have the right to opt put of the NHS Care Records Service has produced a report on the supposed opt out pledge given by the government last year. The report states: "All that is being offered by the ministerial working party is an 'opt out' from the 'summary care record'. This limited opt out is important because all information in the summary care record will otherwise be accessible to all NHS staff nationally...But this limited opt out is not sufficient."
The report can be read at http://www.ardenhoe.demon.co.uk/privacy/decoy.pdf

EU to outstrip US on surveillance?

EU internal security policy is based on "technological determinism", Statewatch's director Tony Bunyan told a meeting in the Belgian city of Ghent on 10 March. Rather than deciding what is useful or desirable, the EU is letting itself be governed by what is technically possible, he said. At the same time, it is promoting new surveillance technology through a major research programme funded by European taxpayers. Statewatch had examined 51 measures introduced by the EU in the aftermath of the Madrid bombings. 27 of them had "little or nothing to do with the war on terror". Given the democratic deficit in EU decision-making, Europe can bring in surveillance measures that "George Bush would not dare to impose in the US". The audience in Ghent was mainly young and mainly Flemish, but with a sprinkling of people from elsewhere. A lively discussion after Bunyan's talk covered a range of civil rights issues, including ID cards. Belgium was among the first countries to start converting to eID, and distribution of the new electronic cards is already far advanced. At present, they do not contain biometrics, but there is a lot of spare capacity on their chips.

"ID" in the news

Australia : Access plan an ID card by stealth - news.com.au 15/3/07

The Federal Government's planned Smartcard risks becoming a national identity card by stealth and must be sent back to the drawing board, says a damning report by a cross-party Senate committee.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21388961-5007133,00.html

Government to force greater data sharing - Computer Weekly 13/3/07

The recent case of a disabled four year-old girl who was abused by her parents, despite no fewer than 20 visits or contacts made by social services and a string of health professionals, has once again increased the pressure for greater data sharing between the NHS, local authorities, and the police.
http://tinyurl.com/359rxc

Your ID card details will be sold to banks - Daily Mail 12/3/07

Banks and other businesses are to be sold access to personal information stored on the Government's ID cards database. Ministers want to raise hundreds of millions towards the £540million a year cost of running the controversial scheme.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=441586&in_page_id=1770

Children tricked into giving fingerprints... by headmaster - Evening Standard 10/3/07

A primary school headmaster has outraged parents after he tricked his pupils into recording their fingerprints by telling them they were playing spies. Children were persuaded to give their prints after being told by Mark Woodburn that it was 'just a game...so there's no need to tell your parents'.
http://tinyurl.com/3ymr2y

ID cards: "A disaster waiting to happen" - silicon.com 9/3/07

The man in charge of the government's national ID cards scheme quashed claims earlier this week that the cards will lead to a Big Brother state with each citizen's movements and transactions monitored.
http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39166286,00.htm

Don't like ID cards? Hand over your passport - Daily Mail 9/3/07

James Hall, the official in charge of the supposedly-voluntary scheme, said the Government would allow people to opt out - but in return they must "forgo the ability" to have a travel document. With one in every eight people saying they will refuse to sign-up, up to five million adults could effectively be refused permission to leave the country.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=441329&in_page_id=1770

£350,000 for passport woes - The Scotsman 7/3/07

Frustrated travellers have received more than £350,000 in compensation for blunders by UK passport offices over the past three years, it was revealed yesterday.
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=359582007

Kids to be fingerprinted at 11 - The Mirror 5/3/07

Children as young as 11 may have their fingerprints taken when they apply for a passport. Immigration Minister Liam Byrne yesterday confirmed a plan - branded by critics as "sinister" - was being considered to record 11 to 15-year-olds' details for biometric passports and ID cards.
http://tinyurl.com/3xl5rw

(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