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Patients win choice of sharing medical records


Earlier this year, we led the concern that a new NHS data sharing plan would see every patient's medical records uploaded to a new information system without the right to opt-out. We warned at the time that patient records would be out of patient control. On Friday, the Secretary of State confirmed that this will not be the case. We have worked closely with MedConfidential and Privacy International to ensure

The snoopers charter is dead


More than a year ago, we learned that the Home Office was resurrecting it's plan to monitor every British citizens' internet use. Big Brother Watch led the charge against these plans, giving evidence to Parliament, urging our supporters to write to their MPs and being the central force in the media campaign against the so called Snoopers Charter. We highlighted how the Home Office had misrepresented the work of

Can you support Sgt Danny Nightingale?


Three weeks today, Sergeant Danny Nightingale will report to the Military Court Centre in Bulford, Wiltshire for a preparatory hearing. This is as a result of the Service Prosecuting Authority exercising its right to seek a re-trial of Sgt Nightingale. Like many people, Big Brother Watch has been dismayed at the treatment of Sgt Nightingale. Despite his conviction being quashed at the Court of Appeal,

Boom in private investigators risks avoiding surveillance regulation


Our latest report highlights the growing use of private investigators by local and public authorities, particularly the number of times they are used without RIPA authorisation. The law in the UK, particularly the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, is broadly drawn to allow evidence to be introduced in court that in other jurisdictions would not be deemed admissible. Contrasted with the fruit of the poisonous

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Bins

Common sense returns for bin fines

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Emma Carr Posted in Bins, Civil Liberties, RIPA, Surveillance | Leave a comment

Untitled 28. Wheelie Bin - Auckland, 2011Communities Secretary Eric Pickles MP has announced that new legislation will be introduced this year which will scrap hefty fines for putting a bin out on the wrong day. Talking to the BBC Sunday Politics Pickles promised: ’Fines for putting a bin out on the wrong day would be scrapped. If you put the wrong yoghurt pot into the wrong bin, it is ludicrous to fine people.’

This is an issue that we have been keeping an eye on for several years. Lifting The Lid highlighted that 68 local authorities had been secretly putting microchips in residents’ bins. The research revealed that at least 2.6 million households have had their bins microchiped. Eric Pickles is absolutely right to take action to abolish these powers and to try to bring some sanity to the way councils seemingly view themselves as a police force free to pass absurd rules and dole out fines on a whim. Read more

Bin snooper powers of entry binned

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Big Brother Watch Posted in Bins, Civil Liberties, Councils, Privacy, Protection of Freedoms Bill, Surveillance | 5 Comments

Eric Pickles may not have the most glamorous job in Westminster, but he has delivered an early Christmas present for civil liberties campaigners.

The last Labour Government changed the law to give local authorities powers, originally intended for the Environment Agency to tackle serious fly-tipping, to go through people’s bins. Now the Secretary of State for Local Government has announced that no longer will council inspectors have the right to enter your property and rifle through your bin.

This power of entry, along with a few others (including the suspicion of unregulated hypnotists and the sale of German property) were scrapped as part of the Protection of Freedoms Act.

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The shouting lampost: coming to a street near you?

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Big Brother Watch Posted in Bins, CCTV, Privacy | 4 Comments

Thanks to the Big Brother Watch supporter who highlighted his local council’s latest toy – the shouting lamppost.

Shepway District Council installed the device to tackle fly-tipping by a set of industrial bins. Unlike a normal CCTV camera, the system takes the photo of every person who walks near the bins, and plays a loud message warning you not to fly tip and announcing that it is taking your picture.

Given that you don’t need to be in immediate physical proximity to the bins to trigger the system, the likelyhood is that photographs are being taken – and stored – of people who have committed no offence, other than using a public right of way.

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Dumping private details in the Bin-Oliver Letwin, Champion of Data Protection

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Big Brother Watch Posted in Bins, Data Protection, ID cards | 4 Comments

It has emerged that David Cameron’s Cabinet Office Minister has been casually dropping papers in litter bins around St. James’s Park nearby Number 10. Photographed on his mobile phone and shuffling through papers, Letwin is shown to dispose of documents in the bins on at least 5 occasions.  The documents, partly torn up before being dumped,  consisted of emails, memos, letters and papers – some of which contained constituents’ personal details.

A spokesperson for Mr. Lewtin stated that the documents were “not of a sensitive nature,” and that the minister sometimes disposes of copies of letters while walking to work in the morning.

As it is Government policy to shred documents rather than just placing them in the bin, we sincerely hope that he hasn’t breached basic security protocol by tossing these papers in the rubbish in a public park.  It is unclear whether the information Mr. Letwin disposed of actually was of a secure nature, however we are very disappointed with the lackadaisical treatment of constituents’ personal details.

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