Just a reminder, following the posting of our advert a couple of weeks ago, that Big Brother Watch is looking to hire a new Research Director / Head of Research. Candidates must: be unafraid to challenge orthodoxies or authority. have experience of leading research projects, including awareness of the Freedom of Information Act. be able to work under pressure and be part of a dynamic national campaigning team. have a excellent knowledge of national and regional media and politics. be … →
Somerset County Council sends confidential data to wrong family
Somerset County Council have been reprimanded by the ICO after an employee broke data laws by sending sensitive personal information concerning a teenager’s medical and behavioural history to the wrong family. .The incident is thought to have occurred as a result of the council employee working on two similar cases at the same time. In addition, the council failed to act in the correct manner when the error was revealed. The recipient of the information was initially told to throw … →
EU wants to control internet content
By Michael Heaever The Council of Europe has been discussing plans since February for the EU to have a “single secure cyberspace”, with all “illicit content” from outside the EU being blocked in a system not dissimilar to the way that the Chinese control web content. An effective EU blacklist would surely raise massive questions as to the freedom of the individual to access legal content. It is also doubtful that such a system could ever be effective, given the … →
Weekly newsletter
The Coalition Government and Civil Liberties: One Year On This week, Big Brother Watch released a research paper outlining the progress the Coalition Government has made on civil liberties issues during its first year in office. The excellent Matthew Barrett of ConservativeHome summed up the conclusions of the research paper as follows: The promise to reduce the 28-day detention limit to 14 days has been kept The promise to abolish ID cards has been kept, although they remain in place … →
Canadian company develop new flying CCTV camera
What looks like the ultimate playground toy could end up being the future of CCTV and surveillance in general. The Daily Mail reports that a new “flying robot intelligence system” dubbed the Aeryon Scout has been developed by Canada-based Aeryon. It has a top speed of 30mph, a maximum altitude of 500ft and the ability to zoom in to a close-up from an astounding 300metres away. It is also incredibly simple to use. By pointing to a place on Google … →
ICO takes school to task for poor FOI handling
In a rare example of the ICO flexing its regulatory muscles, a school in Aberdare, Wales has been served an undertaking from the Information Commissioner for poor handling of an FOI request. A pupil at the Aberdale Girls’ School had been excluded after refusing to remove a religious bangle, and an FOI request had been submitted concerning the legal costs and advice the school had sought to deal with the matter. After the school refused to respond, a complaint was … →
Police ‘Geotime’ software to track suspect movements
A report published by the Daily Mail this morning has highlighted the fact the Metropolitan Police have ordered a software package called 'Geotime' – "a security programme used by the U.S. military which tracks suspects' movements and communications and displays them on a three-dimensional graphic". The software, which will be trialled in London before any decisions are made about its use across the UK, brings together information from social networking websites such as Facebook, financial transactions and mobile 'phone records … →
Devon and Cornwall Police may be forced to reveal locations of ANPR cameras
Devon and Cornwall police are fighting to keep the locations of their fleet of Automatic Number Plate Recognition a closely guarded secret, despite a landmark ruling demanding they release the information within 35 days. Senior officers have used the excuse that exposing the information would put the public “at risk” and affect investigations into organised crime. Steven Mathieson, the news editor at Guardian Government Computing sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in July 2009 asking for the location of … →
Hull City Council use bailiffs to collect parking fine even after traffic warden admits fault
Earlier this year Big Brother Watch released a report on councils using bailiffs to collect fines. The councils defended themselves by saying they only used bailiffs as an absolute last resort, but a story which reaches us today proves that it is an easy cop out for councils too lazy to investigate fines. A motorist was forced to hand over more than £400 to bailiffs to pay off a £25 parking ticket… which the traffic warden admitted at the time … →
One Year On: The Coalition and Civil Liberties
May 11, 2011
Posted in CCTV, Control Orders, Databases, DNA database, Europe, ID cards, Legal Action, Mastering the Internet, Online privacy, Privacy
4 Comments
Big Brother Watch has today (11th May) released a research paper outlining the progress the Coalition Government has made on civil liberties issues during its first year in office. The paper concludes that, while real progress has been made, many of the Coalition's promises to roll back the power of the state remain unfulfilled. Click here to download the report Commenting on the report, Big Brother Watch Director Daniel Hamilton said: "The Coalition has some real achievements to speak off. … →