NO2ID News No. 91
14 February 2008
SET YOUR VIDEO - NEW BBC DRAMA ON THE DANGERS OF THE DATABASE STATE
This Sunday, 17th February, at 9pm BBC One begins a new five-part
thriller based in the database state. 'The Last Enemy', starring Robert
Carlyle and Benedict Cumberbatch, is set in the near future where ID
cards and government control through centralised databases is a reality.
The series is a great opportunity to open discussion and debate about
the future we are hurtling towards. We encourage you to get your
friends, family and colleagues to watch it. Talk about it with them.
Point out how close the database state really is. As the programme's
writer Peter Berry says in this week's Radio Times, "everything that
happens in episode one is absolutely conceivable now".
The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Last Enemy' may be enough to
convince people you know that they should do something to stop it.
If you have already made the NO2ID Pledge*, or even if you haven't yet,
you should encourage them to make it too. Get them to join NO2ID -
http://www.no2id.net/getInvolved/join.php
- or get involved in a local
group.
This week's media scramble on the Unique Learner Number and lifelong
retention of children's records shows that all too often the mainstream
wakes up too late. We need to keep campaigning to ensure that 'The Last Enemy' remains fiction not fact.
--
* The NO2ID Pledge -
http://www.no2id.net/pledge/ -
is an entirely
lawful public declaration that you personally will be taking a stand
against ID cards and the database state.
Local groups news
We now have local groups in 44 of the 69 proposed locations for
interrogation centres - of which just 3 have yet to open. Parliamentary
answers indicate that the most active centres are: Belfast, Birmingham,
Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport,
Peterborough and Sheffield.
As of the end of January 2008, 22 of the centres had performed fewer
than 10 interrogations. There may still be time to apply for your first
adult passport without being called in for an official grilling - but,
if you are, your details still won't be going onto the National
Identity Register. It isn't built yet.
For information on your nearest interrogation centre, see
www.no2id.net/getInvolved/idCentres.php.
If you can help set up a local
group in one of the remaining locations, or anywhere else in the UK,
please contact Matty on
local.groups@no2id.net
Birmingham
25th February - NO2ID Central Birmingham Inaugural meeting
Monday, 25th February 7:30pm at the Midlands Art Centre café, Cannon
Hill Park, Birmingham, B12 9QH. The inaugural meeting of the Central
Birmingham group. All are welcome
Cambridge
16th February - NO2ID Cambridge Stall
Saturday, 16th February at 10am in the usual spot outside Cambridge
Guildhall. Location Map:
http://tinyurl.com/eo42r.
As ever, volunteers to help very welcome -
please email
cambridge@no2id.net, or
text/call Andrew on 07710 469624
if you can make it.
5th March - Cambridge NO2ID pub meeting (1st Wednesday of each month)
Wednesday, 5th March 7.30pm at the Salisbury Arms, 76 Tenison Rd,
Cambridge CB1 2DW. Map: (
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=cb1+2dw).
For
more details contact
cambridge@no2id.net, or
text/call Andrew on 07710
469624.
Canterbury
We've been featured on the Your Canterbury website:
http://www.yourcanterbury.co.uk/kent-news/Anti-ID-card-group-sets-up-stall-in-city-centre-newsinkent9777.aspx
16th February - Cantebury NO2ID Street Stall
Saturday, 16th February 10am-4pm, Cantebury High Street. Our second
High St stall will be manned by a small crew of Jen, James, Tom, Simon,
Ian and myself but if any of you are able to turn up and stick around
I'm sure these guys would all appreciate a bit more of a break! Hope to
see you this weekend!
5th March - Canterbury NO2ID Meeting (1st Wednesday of each month)
Wednesday, 5th March 7pm at Coffee and Corks, Palace Street,
Canterbury. Email
canterbury@no2id.net for more
info.
Dorking
Now an active group - we are planning local media events, a High St
stall and we will be approaching the Local Council to get them to pass
anti-ID legislation.
4th March - Dorking NO2ID Meeting
Tuesday, 4th March 7.30pm. New permanent venue tba. More local
members needed.
dorking@no2id.net
Dover
28th February - Dover NO2ID AGM/Meeting
Thursday, 28th February 7.45pm for an 8pm start at The Red Lion Pub,
Charlton Green, Dover, Kent. Actually the term "AGM" is a bit formal;
there will be some formalities to complete, but it will be mostly a
chance for members and supporters to gather and discuss what has
happened over the last year, and plan the next year. All members and
supporters from Dover, Deal, Folkestone, Hythe and surrounding areas
welcome.
Edinburgh
Meeting with Green MSP Patrick Harvie
The first in a series of meetings, in which MSPs
of all parties are being invited along as guest speakers, was held on
30th January. In the past,
Green MSP Patrick Harvie has been a great champion for NO2ID issues
both within the Scottish Parliament and at our demos. On this occasion
he was very pleased to take the opportunity to publicly sign the NO2ID
Pledge. At the end of his very interesting talk he volunteered to
arrange a briefing of MSPs at the Parliament, which would allow NO2ID
representatives to explain the long term significance of the
controversial Scottish National Entitlement Card.
Saturdays 1pm - 3pm - NO2ID Edinburgh street stall
Every week, weather permitting, you will find our campaigning stall at
the east end of Princes Street, opposite the Balmoral Hotel. Do drop
by for a chat. New volunteers - please contact
John(
edinburgh@no2id.net), and for
more group information see
http://www.no2id-scotland.net/edinburgh/
Glasgow
Most Saturdays 2pm - NO2ID Glasgow Street Stall
Most Saturdays there are stalls in Glasgow city centre (usually
Buchanan Street) from about 2pm. Volunteers are always welcome, please
contact Geraint if you would like to help:
glasgow@no2id.net
Kensington & Chelsea
NO2ID pledge meeting available online
A public meeting about the NO2ID pledge was held on 7th February at
7.30pm at Westbourne Grove Church. The speakers were the Libertarian Dr
Sean
Gabb and Guy Herbert, General Secretary of NO2ID. The
meeting was chaired by George Edwards. A full webcast of the
proceedings has been made and can be viewed at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8242866171486169757.
Flyers
were distributed during the week at Notting Hill Underground station,
Queensway and Bayswater Underground stations and in pubs and cafes in
the vicinity of the meeting. Members will work on a showing of
Taking Liberties as their next event.
Manchester
8th March - Manchester NO2ID Street Stall
Saturday, 8th March 2pm-4pm in St. Anne's Square we'll be running a
stall to raise awareness among the public and engage people in
discussion about the National Identity Register. We'll meet in the
square itself at 2pm to set up shop; feel free to join us to lend a
hand or just chat. Please note the new times for this event - we're
starting and finishing an hour later than previously!
12th March - Manchester NO2ID Meeting
Wednesday, 12th March 7pm-9pm in the upstairs function room of the Town
Hall Tavern, Tib Lane, Manchester. At our monthly meetings we discuss
the state of the NO2ID campaign, what we've been up to recently and
where we're going in future. Everyone is welcome, newcomer or not,
curious or committed.
Newcastle/Gateshead
20th February - Taking Liberties showing
Wednesday, 20th February 7.30pm at the Star and Shadow Cinema. The
acclaimed film Taking Liberties, featuring NO2ID, will be shown.
Shrewsbury
18th February - Shrewsbury NO2ID meeting
Monday, 18th February 8pm in the Armoury, Victoria Quay, Victoria
Avenue, Welsh Bridge, Shrewsbury (
http://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/pub6_7.html).
Look for a
table with black-and-red NO2ID flyers scattered around; we'll try to
get a table at the fireplace/toilet end of the pub (but look at other
tables too if we didn't get seats there).
Southwark
Southwark achieved very good results at The SEOne club last
Friday and Saturday. The Synergy Project are holding another two events
and have invited
NO2ID to both. For details of who is appearing at these events,
please visit
www.thesynergyproject.org
The first event
will be held on 22nd March at the Synergy Centre, Camberwell. The
second event will be on 18th April at The SEOne Club. For both
events we would like two more people to assist. If you are free and can
help,
please contact Judith at
southwark@no2id.net. You do not
have to be a
member of the Southwark Group to volunteer - anyone who knows the
subject and wants to talk to the
public. NO2ID has also been invited to the following events :
22nd February - Flame & Flesh SE17
Friday, 22nd February 8pm - 2am we will be at Flame & Flesh,
Corsica Studios, Units 4/5, Elephant Road, SE17 1LB. Sincere thanks to
Lorraine Liyanage who
kindly arranged for us to 'get in' to this event. Ideally, I would
like one person to assist me on the night, even if you can spend just a
few hours. If you want to volunteer, please contact me at
southwark@no2id.net.
For details of who is appearing, please visit
www.experimentl.co.uk.
27th February - Respect event
Wednesday 27th February at Blue Room in the Methodist Church Hall
Clubland, Walworth Road. Phil Booth will be speaking. This
will be an evening meeting. Exact times and directions still to be
supplied. Please contact me if you would like to come along. Another
Southwark Group member, Margot Lindsay, kindly arranged this meeting.
If any other Southwark Group members know of meetings where NO2ID can
take a table, please contact
southwark@no2id.net
Swindon
27th February - Swindon NO2ID Meeting
Wednesday, 27th February, 7.30pm at The George Inn, Eastcott Hill,
Swindon. At the meeting we will be discussing the group's attendance at
the full meeting of Swindon Borough Council on 28th February
(assemble at Euclid Street Offices 6.30pm) to put a public question
to the Council during public question time. Informal gathering of
minds. All are very welcome.
What just happened?
New ICM poll shows 1 in 4 strongly against ID cards
A new survey commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust shows
that 25% of those polled are deeply opposed to the introduction of a
national identity card scheme. This is up from 17% in September last
year.
The poll also showed 50% of respondents thought ID cards were a bad
idea whilst 47% thought they were a good idea. The poll data is at
http://www.jrrt.org.uk/ICM%20Omnibus%20poll%20-%203%20February%202008.pdf
Doctors have no confidence in NHS database
A poll conducted by BMA News has found that nine out of ten doctors
surveyed have no confidence in the government’s ability to safeguard
patient data online. Recent high-profile data losses, such as the HM
Revenue and Customs computer discs containing the details of 25 million
child benefit claimants and security breaches during last year’s online
training recruitment fiasco for junior doctors, have left doctors
sceptical about safety. More than eight out of ten (81 per cent) of
respondents said they would not want their surgery data stored on the
national NHS ‘spine’.
Bridport Town Council vote against ID cards
On 5th Februray Bridport Town Council passed a motion against the
government's ID scheme. The council agreed not to take part in any
pilot scheme or feasibility work in relation to the introduction ID
cards and to only co-operate with the scheme where to do otherwise
would
be unlawful. The council also voted to support the NO2ID campaign.
EU biometric checks?
The European Commission wants "an entry-exit system to record the dates
of entry and exit of each third-country national admitted to the
Schengen area using biometric identifiers (facial image and
fingerprints)." The measure would apply to those entering the current
25 Schengen member states and associates in Europe. The move will be up
for priority discussion by EU justice and home affairs ministers during
the first half of 2008, but the Commission rarely puts forward
proposals of this kind unless it is reasonably sure that they will be
adopted. It remains to be seen how the requirement will affect the five
EU members that have stayed outside Schengen - including the UK and
Ireland. The EU's justice commissioner Franco Frattini reportedly
suggested that they could join the biometric scheme "voluntarily". He
also said that EU citizens and other people "worthy of confidence"
should be offered the possibility of taking part voluntarily in a "kind
of fast identification process". In general, Frattini favours
surveillance levels equalling or surpassing those of the USA, both at
borders and on EU-internal air travel. All in all, the new Europe-wide
surveillance would cost at least £485m.
"ID" in the news
Less than a quarter of us think ID cards will work - Daily Mail
13/2/08
Only 24 per cent of us are convinced that the £5.5billion ID card
scheme will achieve its aims, a survey revealed yesterday. The poll, by
the Government's own Identity and Passport Service, showed that there
is widespread scepticism about the plans.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=513944&in_page_id=1770
Every child in school numbered for life - The Times 13/2/08
All 14-year-old children in England will have their personal details
and exam results placed on an electronic database for life under a plan
to be announced tomorrow. Under the terms of the scheme all children
will keep their individual number throughout their adult lives.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3359931.ece
How believable are government claims on ID cards? - The Register
13/2/08
British people are maintaining steady levels of disbelief over
government claims about ID cards, according to official Home Office
research. The survey asked people how important proposed benefits of
the ID card would be - 74 per cent chose "disrupting the activities of
terrorists and organised criminals", but 23 per cent of people thought
this was "slightly believable" and 11 per cent thought it was "not at
all believable".
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/13/id_card_research_unbelievable/
NHS has lost thousands of smartcards - IT Pro 6/2/08
Connecting for Health has admitted that some four thousand smartcards
used to access NHS computer systems have gone missing. Over four
thousand smartcards used to access NHS computer systems have gone
missing, according to reports in a medical publication.
http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/163317/nhs-has-lost-thousands-of-smartcards.html
UK has lessons to learn from Hong Kong on ID cards - Computer Weekly
6/2/08
Whether citizens like it or not, their governments are anxious to know
everything about them. There are plenty of technologies they can
harness to this purpose. But the trick is to find a politically and
culturally acceptable way to apply them.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/02/06/229296/uk-has-lessons-to-learn-from-hong-kong-on-id-cards.htm
Britain is slithering down the road towards a police state - The
Guardian 6/2/08
The machine is out of control. Personal surveillance in Britain is so
extensive that no democratic oversight is remotely plausible. Some 800
organisations, including the police, the revenue, local and central
government, demanded (and almost always got) 253,000 intrusions on
citizen privacy in the last recorded year, 2006. This is way beyond
that of any other country in the free world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/immigrationpolicy.politics
Our state collects more data than the Stasi ever did. We need to
fight
back - The Guardian 31/1/08
This has got to stop. Britain's snooper state is getting completely out
of hand. We are sleepwalking into a surveillance society, and we must
wake up. When the Stasi started spying on me, as I moved around East
Germany 30 years ago, I travelled on the assumption that I was coming
from one of the freest countries in the world to one of the least free.
I don't think I was wrong then, but I would certainly be wrong now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jan/31/immigrationpolicy.politics
(Please send me any items of interest you encounter - Editor(
newsletter@no2id.net)
)
Publication details: © NO2ID 2010 - This document may be freely redistributed
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