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
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
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,
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
This week formal launch of the new Police National Database, a system which will link together intelligence and criminal records information held by Police forces across the United Kingdom.
This new database will hold information on up to fifteen million people across the United Kingdom – almost a quarter of the UK’s population.
Up to six million of these people will be people who have never been convicted of carrying out any offence. The database will also contain information about people who have been subjected to violent physical and sexual attacks.
While it makes sense for Police forces to share information about suspects and convicted criminals, ordinary members of the public should not have their personal details logged in this way.
At Big Brother Watch, we are calling for the to should come forward and admit they’ve made a mistake. Nobody has a problem with a database of criminals – but we should never build a database of innocent people and crime victims.
Click hereto see Big Brother Watch Director Daniel Hamilton discussing the database on the BBC One Show.
Media Highlights
Daniel Hamilton on the BBC1 One Show discussing the new Police national database.
Daniel Hamilton on ITV News discussing the potential hacking of the 2011 Census data.
Daniel Hamilton on the Iain Dale Show on LBC discussing a proposed ban on smoking on private vehicles.
Privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said it was concerned that details of members of the public could be logged on the database.
Spokesman Daniel Hamilton said: "Nobody has a problem with a database of criminals but we should never build a database of innocent people and crime victims.
"The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend."
"The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend," said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch. "But if they were able to take the Soca website offline, how are we to have any particular confidence that this database won't fall into the wrong hands?"
Daniel Hamilton, of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, said: “This case is symptomatic of the rapid growth of the nanny state. For police officers to be entering people’s homes without invitation is at best hugely invasive and, at worse, legally dubious. Trespassing on private property, regardless of any good intention you may have, is a crime.
Home owners should be responsible for ensuring the security of their property, not busy-body police officers.”
Daniel Hamilton, director of the civil liberties and privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said it was "profoundly concerning" if the group had accessed the 2011 Census.
"This comes, however, as no surprise to Big Brother Watch who have for months been warning the government about the risks of this information falling into the wrong hands," he said.
"The personal information of millions of members of the public may now be at risk.
"If these rumours are proved to be correct, it will demonstrate that each and every one of the promises made by the Office of the National Statistics about the safety and security of their databases were entirely bogus."
Daniel Hamilton, of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said it was 'sad' the nursery had installed the equipment.
'With each person in the UK being caught on CCTV an average of 300 times a day, it now appears that even young children can't escape the surveillance state,' he said.
'Of course parents want their children to be safe, but monitoring their every movement goes a step too far.'
The sage of the school playground, Welsh Assembly Member Joyce Watson, has decided the process of getting lunch at schools in Wales is far too simple and it therefore requires fingerprint technology in every school canteen around the country. Her justification stems from the potential for embarrassment for children from poorer backgrounds in Welsh schools.
Today saw yet another assault on the rights of smokers on the floor of the House of Commons.
Alex Cunningham, who is apparently the Member of Parliament for Stockton North, today moved the 'Smoking in Private Vehicles Bill' – a move to ban adults from smoking in their cars when children are present.
After a hacking group claimed earlier today that they have stolen the date from the 2011 Census, a 19-year-old believed to be a member of the group has been arrested in Essex. He has been named as Ryan Clearly and is currently in custody on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act and Fraud Act offences.
The Canadian Information Commissioner Ann Cavoukian has this week issues a warning to consumers about the risks associated with personal smart phones and other devices automatically collecting data on the user's location.
In a report published by her office, Cavoukian argues that privacy should be designed into these systems in order to avoid mobile operators and third parties building up vast logs of information about an individual's personal movemnents without their prior consent. At present, the majority of people are unaware of the privacy implications of much of the technology they carry around in their pocket.
A report by the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee has called for businesses in the E.U. to make it more straightforward for customers to access and delete any data stored about them.
The report, released on Wednesday by chairman Juan Fernando López Aguilar, suggested that companies should consider the appointment of specific data protection officers to facilitate this.
This week formal launch of the new Police National Database, a system which will link together intelligence and criminal records information held by Police forces across the United Kingdom.
This new database will hold information on up to fifteen million people across the United Kingdom – almost a quarter of the UK’s population.
Up to six million of these people will be people who have never been convicted of carrying out any offence. The database will also contain information about people who have been subjected to violent physical and sexual attacks.
While it makes sense for Police forces to share information about suspects and convicted criminals, ordinary members of the public should not have their personal details logged in this way.
At Big Brother Watch, we are calling for the to should come forward and admit they’ve made a mistake. Nobody has a problem with a database of criminals – but we should never build a database of innocent people and crime victims.
Click hereto see Big Brother Watch Director Daniel Hamilton discussing the database on the BBC One Show.
Media Highlights
Daniel Hamilton on the BBC1 One Show discussing the new Police national database.
Daniel Hamilton on ITV News discussing the potential hacking of the 2011 Census data.
Daniel Hamilton on the Iain Dale Show on LBC discussing a proposed ban on smoking on private vehicles.
Privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said it was concerned that details of members of the public could be logged on the database.
Spokesman Daniel Hamilton said: "Nobody has a problem with a database of criminals but we should never build a database of innocent people and crime victims.
"The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend."
"The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend," said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch. "But if they were able to take the Soca website offline, how are we to have any particular confidence that this database won't fall into the wrong hands?"
Daniel Hamilton, of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, said: “This case is symptomatic of the rapid growth of the nanny state. For police officers to be entering people’s homes without invitation is at best hugely invasive and, at worse, legally dubious. Trespassing on private property, regardless of any good intention you may have, is a crime.
Home owners should be responsible for ensuring the security of their property, not busy-body police officers.”
Daniel Hamilton, director of the civil liberties and privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said it was "profoundly concerning" if the group had accessed the 2011 Census.
"This comes, however, as no surprise to Big Brother Watch who have for months been warning the government about the risks of this information falling into the wrong hands," he said.
"The personal information of millions of members of the public may now be at risk.
"If these rumours are proved to be correct, it will demonstrate that each and every one of the promises made by the Office of the National Statistics about the safety and security of their databases were entirely bogus."
Daniel Hamilton, of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said it was 'sad' the nursery had installed the equipment.
'With each person in the UK being caught on CCTV an average of 300 times a day, it now appears that even young children can't escape the surveillance state,' he said.
'Of course parents want their children to be safe, but monitoring their every movement goes a step too far.'
The sage of the school playground, Welsh Assembly Member Joyce Watson, has decided the process of getting lunch at schools in Wales is far too simple and it therefore requires fingerprint technology in every school canteen around the country. Her justification stems from the potential for embarrassment for children from poorer backgrounds in Welsh schools.
Today saw yet another assault on the rights of smokers on the floor of the House of Commons.
Alex Cunningham, who is apparently the Member of Parliament for Stockton North, today moved the 'Smoking in Private Vehicles Bill' – a move to ban adults from smoking in their cars when children are present.
After a hacking group claimed earlier today that they have stolen the date from the 2011 Census, a 19-year-old believed to be a member of the group has been arrested in Essex. He has been named as Ryan Clearly and is currently in custody on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act and Fraud Act offences.
The Canadian Information Commissioner Ann Cavoukian has this week issues a warning to consumers about the risks associated with personal smart phones and other devices automatically collecting data on the user's location.
In a report published by her office, Cavoukian argues that privacy should be designed into these systems in order to avoid mobile operators and third parties building up vast logs of information about an individual's personal movemnents without their prior consent. At present, the majority of people are unaware of the privacy implications of much of the technology they carry around in their pocket.
A report by the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee has called for businesses in the E.U. to make it more straightforward for customers to access and delete any data stored about them.
The report, released on Wednesday by chairman Juan Fernando López Aguilar, suggested that companies should consider the appointment of specific data protection officers to facilitate this.
Today saw yet another assault on the rights of smokers on the floor of the House of Commons.
Alex Cunningham, who is apparently the Member of Parliament for Stockton North, today moved the 'Smoking in Private Vehicles Bill' – a move to ban adults from smoking in their cars when children are present.
The bill passed the House of Commons by a margin of 78 to 66 but, due to the constraints of parliamentary time, it is unlikely to ever become law.
Big Brother Watch's position on this proposal is clear: MPs should stop treating adults like children. You control kids with little rules like this, not grown-ups.
Plenty of people don't want to have others smoking around them, and that's fair enough – but those who still wish to smoke should be free to do so in their own vehicles without interference from the nagging nanny state.
Alex Cunningham's Bill is just the latest move by the politicians to demonise smokers, a group of people who voluntarily choose to consume a perfectly legal product. What's next? A ban on the sale of cigarettes within a one-mile radius of schools? Banning people from smoking in the street? Introducing regulations on smoking in private residences?
Cunningham – and his colleagues – should back down.
It was another busy week for the Big Brother Watch team with news of a new national Police database which is set to hold the details of a quarter of the population, calls for the government to review controversial stop-and-search powers and a scandal surrounding the covert surveillance of Julian Assange. Each of these stories – and much more – are explored in more depth below.
As always, please do get in touch with us if there is a case you'd like our assistance with or a story you'd like to draw our attention to.
But Daniel Hamilton, director of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘The police need to give the public a cast iron guarantee that innocent people’s details will never make their way on to this database.’
Daniel Hamilton, director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, said: "While we welcome the conclusions [of JCHR] they could have gone much further.
"Rather than a genuine counter-terrorism and crime-fighting tool, stop and search has been a way of bullying and hassling our increasingly abject population.
"We have to decide what kind of society we want to live in. Arbitrary stop and search powers allow the state to confront an individual in the street, without cause, and demand their papers. It's wrong."
Daniel Hamilton, a director for civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, said the cameras should be taken down.
He said: “Regardless of the allegations made against Mr Assange, he has not been charged with any crime.
“For his movements – and those of his visitors – to be monitored in this way constitutes an outrageous invasion of personal privacy. These cameras must be removed immediately.
“The Police and Home Secretary should make a clear and unequivocal statement that this type of underhand surveillance will not be tolerated in the United Kingdom.”
Daniel Hamilton, of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘It strikes me as something that will make a lot of people uncomfortable. They are trying to do the right thing but they have to be careful about how they do it.’
No CCTV, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch say that they fear the project might foreshadow similar work across the country. "The use of ANPR by the police in the UK has not been as the result of any Parliamentary debate, Act of Parliament or even a Statutory Instrument," they say in their complaint. The government is proposing a code of conduct on the use of ANPR, but the complaint says this would not be legally enforceable.
OVER the past decade, there has been a significant expansion of the amount and scope of anti-terrorist legislation implemented in the UK.
The growth of the authoritarian state is inextricably linked to what Tony Blair once called the “changing rules of the game” – a new form of terrorism that defies borders and harnesses technology to achieve its poisonous goals.
O diretor do grupo defensor das liberdades civis "Big Brother Watch", Daniel Hamilton, disse nesta quinta-feira que as câmeras deveriam ser retiradas do lugar.
"Apesar das acusações contra Assange, ele não foi condenado por nenhum crime. O fato de seus movimentos e os de seus visitantes serem vigiados desta maneira é uma degradante invasão de privacidade. Estas câmeras deveriam ser retiradas imediatamente", avaliou Hamilton.
Recently I landed at Heathrow Airport after a trip to the US. Upon returning to London, I was looking forward to getting to my flat and preparing to go back to work the next morning. I was home and I could relax after a long flight. But first, immigration. Did I mention I’m foreign..
The Education Bill, which started its Second Reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday, could possibly fall foul of human rights laws due to some rather intrusive measures. Currently school staff in England are only able to search a pupil if they believe they have a ‘prohibited item’ on their person or in their belongings. These can include weapons, alcohol or drugs.
Considering the bad press that CCTV often receives for being expensive, useless and often mismanaged, when the residents of Tredworth in Gloucestershire actively asked police to install cameras due to the vandalism of their cars in the high street, you would have expected them to check they worked first.
In May 2008, University of Nottingham student Rizwaan Sabir and staff member Hicham Yezza were arrested by counter-terrorism officers causing huge controversy. Sabir had downloaded an al-Qaida training manual as research for a dissertation he was producing, and asked Yezza, editor of a political magazine called Ceasefire, for his help in drafting a PhD proposal. University officials alerted the police and the men were held in police custody for six days.
We at Big Brother Watch have long complained about the unwillingness of the Information Commissioner to effectively use his powers to name, shame and fine those who are guilty of gross abuses of data protection law. While these powers are used rarely, they are occasionally utilised for good effect.
One case where the ICO has shown a willingness to act is against Surrey County Council for their incompetence in e-mailing personal medical and welfare data of hundreds of people to the wrong recipients on three separate occasions.
We at Big Brother Watch have long complained about the unwillignness of the Information Commissioner to effectively use his powers to name, shame and fine those who are guilty of gross abuses of data protection law. While these powers are used rarely, they are occasionally utilised for good effect.
One case where the ICO has shown a willingness to act is against Surrey County Council for their incompetence in e-mailing personal medical and welfare data of hundreds of people to the wrong recipients on three seperate occasions.
According to a report in the Surrey Herald:
"A member of one of the council’s Adult Social Care teams emailed a file containing sensitive personal information relating to 241 individuals’ physical and mental health to the wrong group email address.
"The group email address included a large number of transportation companies, including taxi firms, coach and mini bus hire services.
"The council attempted to recall the email, but was later unable to confirm that all the recipients had destroyed it.
"As the information was not encrypted or password protected, it had the potential to be viewed by a significant number of unauthorised individuals.
"A second misdirected email sent on June 22, 2010, lead to confidential personal data relating to a number of individuals being mistakenly emailed to more than 100 unintended recipients who had registered to receive a council newsletter.
"In a third incident, the council’s Children Services department sent confidential sensitive information, which included data relating to an individual’s health, to the wrong internal group email address on January 21, 2011."
Big Brother Watch frequently receives reports of the Police deploying heavy-handed tactics against members of the public, but the case of 49 year old Jacqui Thompson from Carmarthen is a truly shocking example of gross disproportionality.
The parish councillor landed herself in trouble with the Police after attending a Carmartenshire Council meeting and filming proceedings to upload the video to a local blog examining planning concerns. When she refused to leave the meeting at the request of council officers she was forcibly rejected from the meeting by four Police officers and held at a Police station for several hours.
No right-thinking or rational person would agree that Mrs Thompson deserved to be subjected to such an ordeal. She deserves an apology not only from the Police, but from Carmartenshire Council. Why on earth should a member of the public be prevented from fiming a public meeting of such obvious interest to the wider community?
It was another busy week for the Big Brother Watch team with a scandal surrounding Facebook's use of facial recognition technology, Citigroup's compromising of the banking data of 200,000 of its customers, Stoke on Trent's efforts to hit motorists with even more parking fines and UK government moves towards imposing a UK-wide internet firewall.
Over at the blog, we have started posting a 'links of the day' topic each evening to make it easier for less regular visitors to keep in touch with news from our colleagues across the privacy and civil liberties campaigning sphere. Do take a look.
As always, please do get in touch with us if there is a case you'd like our assistance with or a story you'd like to draw our attention to.
This week, we have been inundated by calls from members of the public expressing their concern about new facial recognition software being used by Facebook.
In short, the software uses facial recognition to identify people in uploaded photos, then automatically tags the people it finds a match for using previous photos – all without the permission of the user.
If you are a Facebook users and wish to disable the function, deselect the option for “Suggest photos of me to friends” in your privacy settings
You can view BBW Director Daniel Hamilton's interview on this issue on Sky News by clicking here.
Media Highlights
Daniel Hamilton on Sky News discussing Facebook's use of facial recognition software.
Daniel Hamilton on the Stephen Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster discussing the ban on smoking in public places.
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio Norfolk debating with a school headmaster about the use of finger-printing in schools.
Daniel Hamilton, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: 'Facebook users will rightly be alarmed to hear that their private information will be used in this way. This is yet another nail in the coffin for online privacy.
'Websites like Facebook owe it to their users to respect their privacy, not to scan their photo albums with facial recognition software.'
Daniel Hamilton, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: "We are disappointed to learn today that the Home Office will support a national blocking list.
"In a free society it is up the individual, parents, industry and the community to deal with extremist views online, not the Government.
"The Government should think carefully before adopting web blocking and must not use it as a tool to prevent the viewing of content it simply doesn't like."
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
"This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn't," said director Daniel Hamilton.
"Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous." He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
Daniel Hamilton, of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: 'The NHS has had plenty of warning that security is not up to scratch; this should not have been possible in the first place'
Many thanks to the Big Brother Watch supporter who this morning kindly sent us a link to a fascinating section of the National Policing Improvement Agency's website.
On the website, you can find a map of the 43 Police forces across the UK and information about the way in which they use the national DNA database. The information for each county is broken down by the by gender, current age and visual appearance of individuals included on the database.
The UK Government is currently considering the possibility of a UK-wide firewall, which (simply put) would give the Government the ability to block access to websites from the UK.
The argument has mainly been made around file-sharing sites, and to a lesser extent child pornography, and of course the Government insists that it would never be used for political reasons
The banking company Citigroup has admitted to a breach of their online systems, which allowed a hacker to view the names, email addresses and account numbers of 200,000 customers. However, the information did not include birth dates, PIN codes or similar sensitive information meaning it may not be possible for their accounts to be accessed and funds stolen.
Stock-on-Trent Council are planning to upgrade their CCTV car in an effort to rake in even more fines from unsuspecting motorists. The car has already earned the council well over £120,000 by pulling up near bus lanes and catching motorists out. Now it will be fitted with new technology to photograph people parking their vehicles.
The ICO have revealed that North Lanarkshire Council have failed to protect the data of vulnerable adults after paper records were stolen from an employee’s bag. After an investigation the ICO determined there had been a breach of data laws and council chief executive Gavin Whitefield must sign an undertaking to put in place the correct policies and procedures to avoid a repeat of the issue.
A recent survey of some of the most popular websites on the internet has revealed that 75% of them leak personal information or identifying data to third-party tracking sites. The study was performed by university researchers, including Balachander Krishnamurthy of AT&T Labs, and Konstantin Naryshkin and Craig E Wills of Worchester Polytechnic Institute. Their report was presented at the Web 2.0 conference in California last month.
One of the longest running campaigns of Big Brother Watch came to a conclusion this week as the final camera of the ill-fated ‘Project Champion’ was removed in Birmingham. Big Brother Watch have been following this story for over a year now, ever since the 218 camera network was installed in Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook, predominantly Muslim areas of the city. There were constant suspicions that the project was based on racial profiling and the financial backing came from the counter-terrorism unit.
With the dust having settled following the recent E-G8 summit in Paris, many commentators have begun to express their concern at comments made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy championing tougher government control over the Internet.
Addressing the summit, Sarkozy argued that internet users must not forget that "governments are the only legitimate representatives of the will of the people".
While we agree with Mr Sarkozy that the internet shouldn't be a "a parallel universe outside laws and morals", the free-flowing nature of internet content doesn't mean it should be viewed as a ripe for government regulation. Indeed, much of the internet's initial success has to do with the fact it was not constrained by state regulation.
A school in Glasgow has provoked derision and disbelief after sending a letter to all parents demanding pupils wear baggy clothes in an effort to deter paedophiles. The King’s Park Secondary School sent the following note:
“We believe an appropriate school uniform protects children from being targeted by sexual predators. There is recent evidence in south Glasgow of adults photographing schoolgirls in short skirts and schoolgirls/boys in tight trousers, then grooming them through the internet. We must do all we can to keep our children safe. A modest school uniform is more appropriate than fashion skirts, trousers or tops.”
Back in October, Alex wrote about the case of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian national who was more likely than not murdered by a representative of the KGB. Andrei Lugovoi, the former KGB agent accused of committing the crime, remains in Russia despite extradition request by the Crown Prosecution Service which has been pending since 2007. It appears that extra-judicial killing has become an accepted facet of Russian law enforcement.
In the United Kingdom, we have long viewed America's stringent alcohol laws with a sense of both mild amusement and confusion. It would see, to any sensible person, chopped-logic in the extreme for someone to be able to get married, drive a vehicle and serve their country in a theatre of war yet not be able to have a beer legally until they reached the age of 21.
Astonishingly, however, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Health Minister and the country's Deputy First Minister has announced she is considering imposing US-style alcohol laws.
Media Highlights
Daniel Hamilton spoke at the Free Society debate 'Civil Liberties: Up in smoke?" chaired by Mark Littlewood (Director-General, Institute for Economic Affairs and with speakers Peter Hitchens (Mail on Sunday), Simon Davies (Director, Privacy International), Chris Snowdon (author, Velvet Glove Iron Fist: A History of Anti-Smoking) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Sir Ronald Harwood.
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Scotland discussing the use of CCTV cameras in schools.
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Birmingham discussing the final removal of CCTV cameras from a largely Muslim area of the city.
The Independent – Controversial surveillance cameras to be removed[not available online]
Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch, said today: "While we are delighted these cameras are being removed, this expensive and oppressive waste of time should never have been given the go-ahead.
"Vital civil liberties and any basic concept of privacy were both disregarded by this scheme.
"These cameras were totally unnecessary for anti-terror or anti-crime purposes and only served to alienate Muslim residents.
"Public trust in the police has been significantly undermined and will take years to rebuild."
Daniel Hamilton, Director of Big Brother Watch – a civil liberties and privacy campaign group – said: “While nobody wants to hear foul language while they’re walking down the street, this proposal goes a step too far. Intimidating behaviour should of course be punished, but it’s important to keep things in proportion.
“The police should spend their time tackling serious anti-social behaviour, not slapping fines on people who utter the odd swear word.”
Scottish Daily Star – Fife in the frame as most spied on[not available online]
Big Brother Watch found 1,350 cameras in the county, more than any other in Scotland.
Big Brother Watch said: "The quality of footage is frequently too poor to be used in courts, the cameras are often turned off to save money and control rooms are rarely manned 24 hours a day.
"With crime on the increase it is understandable that some people want more CCTV but we would all feel safer with more police on the beat. There would be fewer crimes and those crimes that do occur would be solved faster."
Fife cops said that more than 800 criminals were nicked last year with the help of CCTV, with a number of missing people also traced safe and well.
Daniel Hamilton, a director of Big Brother Watch, said: “We have managed to have elections in this country without surrendering this sort of information for hundreds of years.
“Creating a database of National Insurance numbers has obvious risks for our privacy and identity security.
“Electoral fraud is a minor problems in the UK, and is driven mostly by postal voting. If you have to hand over this kind of information to vote some people might say ‘forget it then’.”
Daniel Hamilton of Big Brother Watch said: ‘While suspects who have not been convicted of a crime must have their identities protected, this woman waived her right to anonymity when she chose to carry out almost 230 criminal offences.
‘Communities have a right to know the identities of those terrorising them. The Police are wrong to hide behind this veil of anonymity.’
The decision by Staffordshire Police flies in the face of the Judge’s summing up in which he told Russell: ‘You are a professional criminal and the public deserve a rest from you, particularly the female shoppers you so regularly target.’
“While suspects who have not been convicted of a crime must have their identities protected, this woman waived her right to anonymity when she chose to carry out almost 230 criminal offences,” Daniel Hamilton of Big Brother Watch said.
“Communities have a right to know the identities of those terrorising them. The Police are wrong to hide behind this veil of anonymity,” he stated.
“While suspects who have not been convicted of a crime must have their identities protected, this woman waived her right to anonymity when she chose to carry out almost 230 criminal offences,” Daniel Hamilton of Big Brother Watch said.
The exchanges followed a warning from Big Brother Watch over the launch of a new Police National Database linking intelligence and criminal records information.
BBW director Daniel Hamilton claimed it would hold information on up to 15 million people, six million of whom had no convictions, and warned it contained information about victims, insisting: “Ordinary members of the public should not have their personal details logged in this way… The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend.”
Daniel Hamilton is Director of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch. He writes in a personal capacity.
At midnight tonight, Russia will cut off its electricity supplies to Belarus. Belarus’ disconnection from the power grid follows the country’s failure to settle a 1.2 billion rouble debt to the Russia’s state-controlled electricity export company Inter RAO.
Belarus’ failure to settle what is a fairly small external debt to Russia (equal to roughly USD $43 million) is largely due to a domestic currency crisis which is making it impossible for the Lukashenko’s administration to get its hands on the foreign currency required to make international transactions.
Sunday 26th June
Daniel Hamilton on the Giles Dilnot Show on BBC Radio 5 Live discussing the legality of swearing in public places
Saturday 25th June
Kent and Sussex Courier – Council’s all set for data sell-off; Privacy fears sparked by public details cash-in plan [not available online]
Daniel Hamilton, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: “I think it is scandalous they are seeking to generate money from it and refusing to come clean about what information they have.
“This information belongs to the residents of Tunbridge Wells, not the council seeking to generate income. They should tell them exactly what they are selling and make a solid case for it.”
Friday 24th June
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio Tees discussing the introduction of the new national Police database.
Daniel Hamilton, of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, said: “This case is symptomatic of the rapid growth of the nanny state. For police officers to be entering people’s homes without invitation is at best hugely invasive and, at worse, legally dubious. Trespassing on private property, regardless of any good intention you may have, is a crime.
Home owners should be responsible for ensuring the security of their property, not busy-body police officers.”
Thursday 23rd June
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio Stoke discussing the introduction of the new national Police database.
Daniel Hamilton on Talk Radio Europe discussing the introduction of the new national Police database.
Daniel Hamilton on Transworld radio discussing the introduction of the new national Police database.
“The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend,” said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch. “But if they were able to take the Soca website offline, how are we to have any particular confidence that this database won’t fall into the wrong hands?”
Her concerns were echoed by Daniel Hamilton from Big Brother Watch who argued that while no one has “a problem with a database of criminals but we should never build a database of innocent people and crime victims.”
Wednesday 22nd June
Daniel Hamilton on the BBC1 One Show discussing the new Police national database.
Alex Deane addressed the Security Institute’s Annual Conference (hosted by Nomura) on “Excessive Surveillance”
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio 5 Live discussing a proposed ban on smoking on private vehicles.
Daniel Hamilton on the Iain Dale Show on LBC discussing a proposed ban on smoking on private vehicles.
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio Humberside and Lincolnshire discussing the use of CCTV cameras in nursery schools.
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio Bristiol discussing the introduction of the new national Police database.
But Daniel Hamilton, of pressure group Big Brother Watch, hit out at the move by Bright Futures Nursery in Clitheroe, Lancs. He said: “Of course, parents want children to be safe, but monitoring their every movement goes a step too far.”
Privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said it was concerned that details of members of the public could be logged on the database.
Spokesman Daniel Hamilton said: “Nobody has a problem with a database of criminals but we should never build a database of innocent people and crime victims.
“The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend.”
Press Association – Limited in-car smoking ban proposed[not available online]
But Dan Hamilton, director of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said he opposed the plan.
He said: “MPs should stop treating adults like children. You control kids with little rules like this, not grown-ups.
“Plenty of people don’t want to have others smoking around them, and that’s fair enough. But those who still wish to smoke should be free to do so in their own vehicles without interference from the nagging nanny state.
“Alex Cunningham’s Bill is just the latest move by the politicians to demonise smokers, a group of people who voluntarily choose to consume a perfectly legal product.”
Press Association – Police intelligence database hailed[not available online]
But Daniel Hamilton, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said:
“While it makes sense for police forces to share information about suspects and convicted criminals, ordinary members of the public should not have their personal details logged in this way.
“The Government should come forward and admit they’ve made a mistake.
“Nobody has a problem with a database of criminals but we should never build a database of innocent people and crime victims.
“The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend.”
But Daniel Hamilton, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: “While it makes sense for police forces to share information about suspects and convicted criminals, ordinary members of the public should not have their personal details logged in this way.
“The Government should come forward and admit they’ve made a mistake.
“Nobody has a problem with a database of criminals but we should never build a database of innocent people and crime victims.
“The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend.”
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
Daniel Hamilton, of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said it was ‘sad’ the nursery had installed the equipment.
‘With each person in the UK being caught on CCTV an average of 300 times a day, it now appears that even young children can’t escape the surveillance state,’ he said.
‘Of course parents want their children to be safe, but monitoring their every movement goes a step too far.’
Daniel Hamilton, director of the civil liberties and privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said it was “profoundly concerning” if the group had accessed the 2011 Census.
“This comes, however, as no surprise to Big Brother Watch who have for months been warning the government about the risks of this information falling into the wrong hands,” he said.
“The personal information of millions of members of the public may now be at risk.
“If these rumours are proved to be correct, it will demonstrate that each and every one of the promises made by the Office of the National Statistics about the safety and security of their databases were entirely bogus.”
Daniel Hamilton is Director of the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch
The claims this morning from increasingly infamous hacking group LulzSec that they have obtained a copy of the entire 2011 Census are profoundly concerning.
They come, however, as no surprise to Big Brother Watch who have for months been warning the public about the risks of this information falling into the wrong hands.
Daniel Hamilton, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said the claim that hackers had managed to obtain a copy of the entire 2011 Census was “profoundly concerning”.
He said the personal information of millions of people could be at risk, and said if rumours were found to be true, it would show ONS promises about their database security to be “entirely bogus”.
Daniel Hamilton, director of the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said he was concerned over the number of times surveillance was being authorised in the borough. His organisation has campaigned on the issue across the UK.
He said: “Councils are currently using the legislation more than 4,000 times a year, with separate operations authorised, on average, over 11 times a day.
“Across the UK, local authorities are abusing their surveillance powers in outrageous ways such as rifling through your bins, going through your mobile phone records or spying on you taking the kids to school.
“It’s time the Government reigned in these Town Hall James Bonds and stripped councils of these powers. Doncaster Council must back down.”
But Daniel Hamilton of pressure group Big Brother Watch, said it was ‘sad’ the nursery has installed the equipment.
He said: “With each person in the UK being caught on CCTV an average of 300 times a day, it now appears that even young children can’t escape the surveillance state.
“Of course parents want their children to be safe, but monitoring their every movement goes a step too far.”
Dan Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch, alleges that all those who have any contact with Assange are being filmed and, presumably, monitored. Hamilton says, œFor his movements “ and those of his visitors “ to be monitored in this way constitutes an outrageous invasion of personal privacy.
Friday 17th June
Metro – One in four Britons on Police database[click picture to enlarge]
Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch, said: ‘It’s staggering to think that a quarter of the British population could be logged on the national police database. ‘Ordinary members of the public should not have their personal details logged in this way.’
Control orders give the government even more power to restrict individuals’ freedom than that exercised by the Burmese military to imprison opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi.
“Regardless of the allegations made against Mr Assange, he has not been charged with any crime,” said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch.
“For his movements and those of his visitors to be monitored in this way constitutes an outrageous invasion of personal privacy. These cameras must be removed immediately,” he demanded.
But the plan hasn’t impressed privacy campaigners. Big Brother Watch director Daniel Hamilton told website TechEye: “There’s an old adage which says the only thing in life you can be sure of is death and taxes – but this development is truly astonishing.
“For HM Revenue & Customs to be deploying web bots in order to snoop on business owners is outrageous. HMRC should focus on tried and tested methods to target criminals rather than conducting covert surveillance on UK businesses.”
Regardless of the allegations made against Mr. Assange, he has not been charged with any crime, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch. For his movements and those of his visitors to be monitored in this way constitutes an outrageous invasion of personal privacy. These cameras must be removed immediately, he demanded.
Regardless of the allegations made against Mr. Assange, he has not been charged with any crime, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch. For his movements and those of his visitors to be monitored in this way constitutes an outrageous invasion of personal privacy. These cameras must be removed immediately, he demanded.
También se puede ver a Assange camino de la comisaría donde tiene que firmar cada día. La agencia pro derechos civiles Big Brother Watch indicó ayer que las cámaras deberían de ser retiradas, pues Assange no ha sido acusado de ningún crimen y la videovigilancia viola su vida privada. Hamilton resume en un comunicado emitido con el vídeo que a Assange «lo están tratando como a un animal enjaulado».
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar. A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito
A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
Daniel Hamilton, který vede skupinu aktivistů za lidská práva Big Brother Watch (Hlídka Velkého bratra) řekl, že kamery by měly být odstraněny: „Bez ohledu na různá tvrzení vznesená proti Assangem, on nebyl obviněn ze žádného zločinu.“(Myšleno v Británii)
„Jeho pohyb a pohyb jeho návštěvníků je monitorován způsobem, který je odporným vniknutím do soukromí. Tyto kamery musejí být odstraněny okamžitě. Policie a ministerstvo vnitra by měly dát jasně a jednoznačně najevo, že tento typ tajného sledování nebude ve Spojeném království tolerován,“ řekl Hamilton.
Daniel Hamilton, Giám đốc tổ chức hoạt động vì tự do dân sự Big Brother Watch, cũng cho rằng những camera này cần được tháo xuống.
“Bất kể Assange có bị cáo buộc thế nào thì ông ta cũng chưa bị kết luận một tội nào. Việc các hành động của ông ta và của những người đến thăm ông ta bị theo dõi như thế này là sự xâm phạm trắng trợn quyền riêng tư cá nhân. Các camera cần phải được tháo ngay lập tức”.
Daniel Hamilton, Giám đốc tổ chức hoạt động vì tự do dân sự Big Brother Watch, cũng cho rằng những camera này cần được tháo xuống.
“Bất kể Assange có bị cáo buộc thế nào thì ông ta cũng chưa bị kết luận một tội nào. Việc các hành động của ông ta và của những người đến thăm ông ta bị theo dõi như thế này là sự xâm phạm trắng trợn quyền riêng tư cá nhân. Các camera cần phải được tháo ngay lập tức”.
Thursday 16th June
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Three Counties Radio debating the Royston ANPR scheme.
Daniel Hamilton, a director for civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, said the cameras should be taken down.
He said: “Regardless of the allegations made against Mr Assange, he has not been charged with any crime.
“For his movements – and those of his visitors – to be monitored in this way constitutes an outrageous invasion of personal privacy. These cameras must be removed immediately.
“The Police and Home Secretary should make a clear and unequivocal statement that this type of underhand surveillance will not be tolerated in the United Kingdom.”
Privacy International, No CCTV and Big Brother Watch say the cameras are an invasion of public privacy.
“Retaining this information for up to two years constitutes a gross invasion of the public’s civil liberties,” said Daniel Hamilton, from Big Brother Watch.
“We believe the public have a right to go about their daily business without central government essentially logging every single journey they make.
“This kind of system isn’t about preventing crime, it’s about building up a database which can be used at a later stage,” claimed Mr Hamilton.
Privacy International, No CCTV and Big Brother Watch say the cameras are an invasion of public privacy.
“Retaining this information for up to two years constitutes a gross invasion of the public’s civil liberties,” said Daniel Hamilton, from Big Brother Watch.
“We believe the public have a right to go about their daily business without central government essentially logging every single journey they make.
“This kind of system isn’t about preventing crime, it’s about building up a database which can be used at a later stage,” claimed Mr Hamilton.
O diretor do grupo defensor das liberdades civis “Big Brother Watch”, Daniel Hamilton, disse nesta quinta-feira que as câmeras deveriam ser retiradas do lugar.
“Apesar das acusações contra Assange, ele não foi condenado por nenhum crime. O fato de seus movimentos e os de seus visitantes serem vigiados desta maneira é uma degradante invasão de privacidade. Estas câmeras deveriam ser retiradas imediatamente”, avaliou Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
«A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente», indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
El director del grupo defensor de las libertades civiles Big Brother Watch, Daniel Hamilton, dijo hoy que las cámaras deberían ser retiradas del lugar.
“A pesar de las acusaciones contra Assange, a él no se le ha acusado de ningún delito. El que sus movimientos, y los de los visitantes, sean vigilados de esta manera supone una indignante invasión de la intimidad personal. Estas cámaras deberían ser retiradas inmediatamente”, indicó Hamilton.
But the plan hasn’t impressed privacy campaigners. Big Brother Watch director Daniel Hamilton told website TechEye: “There’s an old adage which says the only thing in life you can be sure of is death and taxes – but this development is truly astonishing.
“For HM Revenue & Customs to be deploying web bots in order to snoop on business owners is outrageous. HMRC should focus on tried and tested methods to target criminals rather than conducting covert surveillance on UK businesses.”
But the plan hasn’t impressed privacy campaigners. Big Brother Watch director Daniel Hamilton told website TechEye: “There’s an old adage which says the only thing in life you can be sure of is death and taxes – but this development is truly astonishing.
“For HM Revenue & Customs to be deploying web bots in order to snoop on business owners is outrageous. HMRC should focus on tried and tested methods to target criminals rather than conducting covert surveillance on UK businesses.”
Daniel Hamilton, director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, said: “While we welcome the conclusions [of JCHR] they could have gone much further.
“Rather than a genuine counter-terrorism and crime-fighting tool, stop and search has been a way of bullying and hassling our increasingly abject population.
“We have to decide what kind of society we want to live in. Arbitrary stop and search powers allow the state to confront an individual in the street, without cause, and demand their papers. It’s wrong.”
Daniel Hamilton, director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, said: “While we welcome the conclusions of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, they could have gone much further.
“Rather than a genuine counter-terrorism and crime-fighting tool, stop-and-search has been a way of bullying and hassling our increasingly abject population.
“We have to decide what kind of society we want to live in. Arbitrary stop-and-search powers allow the state to confront an individual in the street, without cause, and demand their papers. It’s wrong.”
Press Association – Extra stop-and-search powers urged[not available online]
Daniel Hamilton, director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, said: “While we welcome the conclusions of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, they could have gone much further.
“Rather than a genuine counter-terrorism and crime-fighting tool, stop-and-search has been a way of bullying and hassling our increasingly abject population.
“We have to decide what kind of society we want to live in. Arbitrary stop-and-search powers allow the state to confront an individual in the street, without cause, and demand their papers. It’s wrong.”
No CCTV, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch have called on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to take action over the alleged “legal fog” surrounding the town’s planned “ring of steel” camera set-up.
No CCTV, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch have called on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to take action over the alleged “legal fog” surrounding the town’s planned “ring of steel” camera set-up.
Tuesday 14th June
Daniel Hamilton on Leith Radio discussing Facebook’s use of facial recognition technology.
However the move has been criticised by Big Brother Watch. Director of the organisation Daniel Hamilton told TechEye: “There’s an old adage which says the only thing in life you can be sure of is death and taxes – but this development is truly astonishing.
“For HM Revenue & Customs to be deploying web bots in order to snoop on business owners is outrageous.
“The HMRC should focus on tried and tested methods to target criminals rather than conducting covert surveillance on UK businesses”.
No CCTV, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch say that they fear the project might foreshadow similar work across the country. “The use of ANPR by the police in the UK has not been as the result of any Parliamentary debate, Act of Parliament or even a Statutory Instrument,” they say in their complaint. The government is proposing a code of conduct on the use of ANPR, but the complaint says this would not be legally enforceable.
Monday 13th June
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio York discussing the use of CCTV in taxis.
Daniel Hamilton, of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: “It strikes me as something that will make a lot of people uncomfortable. They are trying to do the right thing but they have to be careful about how they do it.”
Daily Mail – The spies in your supermarket[not available online]
Daniel Hamilton, of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘It strikes me as something that will make a lot of people uncomfortable. They are trying to do the right thing but they have to be careful about how they do it.’
Daniel Hamilton, of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘It strikes me as something that will make a lot of people uncomfortable. They are trying to do the right thing but they have to be careful about how they do it.’
Daniel Hamilton, of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘It strikes me as something that will make a lot of people uncomfortable. They are trying to do the right thing but they have to be careful about how they do it.’
No CCTV, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch say that they fear the project might foreshadow similar work across the country. “The use of ANPR by the police in the UK has not been as the result of any Parliamentary debate, Act of Parliament or even a Statutory Instrument,” they say in their complaint. The government is proposing a code of conduct on the use of ANPR, but the complaint says this would not be legally enforceable.
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
Images Retail – Sainsbury’s supermarket staff are being trained as government ‘health spies[not available online]
Daniel Hamilton, of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘It strikes me as something that will make a lot of people uncomfortable. They are trying to do the right thing but they have to be careful about how they do it.’
OVER the past decade, there has been a significant expansion of the amount and scope of anti-terrorist legislation implemented in the UK.
The growth of the authoritarian state is inextricably linked to what Tony Blair once called the “changing rules of the game” – a new form of terrorism that defies borders and harnesses technology to achieve its poisonous goals.
No CCTV, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch have called on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to take action over Royston’s planned ‘ring of steel’.
A joint complaint from No CCTV, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch has been lodged with the Information Commissioners Office claiming ANPR cameras have no statutory instrument and there has been no public debate on the devices.
No CCTV, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch say that they fear the project might foreshadow similar work across the country. “The use of ANPR by the police in the UK has not been as the result of any Parliamentary debate, Act of Parliament or even a Statutory Instrument,” they say in their complaint. The government is proposing a code of conduct on the use of ANPR, but the complaint says this would not be legally enforceable.
Daily Mail – Fears over patient data as hacking gang breaks into NHS computers[not available online]
Daniel Hamilton, of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘The NHS has had plenty of warning that security is not up to scratch; this should not have been possible in the first place. It is another nail in the coffin of the case for centralising patient records.’
Daniel Hamilton, of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘The NHS has had plenty of warning that security is not up to scratch; this should not have been possible in the first place.
‘It is another nail in the coffin of the case for centralising patient records.’
Daily Telegraph (Australia) – Facing off in privacy tag spat[not available online]
Daniel Hamilton, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, yesterday said: “Facebook users will rightly be alarmed to hear that their private information will be used in this way. This is yet another nail in the coffin for online privacy.
“Websites like Facebook owe it to their users to respect their privacy, not to scan their photo albums with facial recognition software.”
Daniel Hamilton, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘Facebook users will rightly be alarmed to hear that their private information will be used in this way. This is yet another nail in the coffin for online privacy.
“Websites like Facebook owe it to their users to respect their privacy, not to scan their photo albums with facial recognition software.”
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publically humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous,” Daniel Hamilton of the group Big Brother Watch told the British newspaper the Daily Mail.
Όμως, οργανώσεις προστασίας των προσωπικών δεδομένων, όπως το Electronic Privacy Information Center και το Big Brother Watch, εμφανίζονται πιο επιφυλακτικές, θεωρώντας ότι η ιδιωτική ζωή μπορεί να παραβιάζεται. Μερικοί, φοβούνται ότι τελικά η τεχνολογία αναγνώρισης προσώπων θα καταστήσει εφικτή την αναζήτηση προσώπων απλώς μέσω μιας φωτογραφίας κι αυτό θα αποτελέσει το τέλος της προστασίας της ιδιωτικότητας. Θα μπορούσε π.χ. στο μέλλον κάποιος να φωτογραφήσει απλώς κάποιον άλλο στο δρόμο και μετά, μέσω διαδικτύου, να ανακαλύψει ένα σωρό πράγματα για αυτόν.
Η οργάνωση προστασίας ιδιωτικών δεδομένων Big Brother Watch, παρόλα αυτά αντιδρά ήδη, λέγοντας πως η περιβαλλοντική ευαισθητοποίηση είναι καλή αλλά όχι μέσω της δημόσιας διαπόμπευσης και “μπορεί όλο αυτό να μοιάζει με ένα καλοστημένο αστείο αλλά δεν είναι”.
Thursday 9th June
Daniel Hamilton on Sky News discussing Facebook’s use of facial recognition technology.
Daniel Hamilton on Sky News Radio discussing Facebook’s use of facial recognition technology.
Daniel Hamilton on Absolute Radio discussing Facebook’s use of facial recognition technology.
Daniel Hamilton, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘Facebook users will rightly be alarmed to hear that their private information will be used in this way. This is yet another nail in the coffin for online privacy.
‘Websites like Facebook owe it to their users to respect their privacy, not to scan their photo albums with facial recognition software.’
Daily Mail – Now Facebook can put your name to a photo[not available online]
The technology was this week quietly expanded to ‘most countries’, the network admitted. But it has brought a furious response from privacy campaigners. Daniel Hamilton, of Big Brother Watch, said: ‘Websites like Facebook owe it to their users to respect their privacy, not to scan their photo albums with facial recognition software.’
MX Brisbane – Auto-tag feature in face of users[not available online]
Big Brother Watch director Daniel Hamilton described it as “yet another nail in the coffin for online privacy”.
MX Sydney – Facebook auto-tag on facial recognition [not available online]
Director of Big Brother Watch Daniel Hamilton described it as “yet another nail in the coffin for online privacy”.
Wednesday 8th June
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio Norfolk debating with a school headmaster about the use of finger-printing in schools
Daniel Hamilton of the Big Brother Watch pressure group said: ‘This sounds like an elaborate joke – except it isn’t.
‘It beggars belief to think that people could be photographed and placed on US-style ‘most wanted’ lists for putting rubbish in the wrong bin. Encouraging recycling is fine but publically humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.
‘Have Newcastle dons really got nothing better to do than waste their time and our tax money on preposterous ideas like this?’
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton.
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.” He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton.
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.” He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton.
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.” He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton.
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.” He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton.
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.” He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton.
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.” He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton.
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.” He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton.
“Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.” He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
Daniel Hamilton, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: “We are disappointed to learn today that the Home Office will support a national blocking list.
“In a free society it is up the individual, parents, industry and the community to deal with extremist views online, not the Government.
“The Government should think carefully before adopting web blocking and must not use it as a tool to prevent the viewing of content it simply doesn’t like.”
Press Association: May: Terror Restrictions Neccessary
Daniel Hamilton, the director of Big Brother Watch, said the Government had “fudged” its reforms.
He said: “Tpims are nothing more than a repackaged version of the discredited control order regime. To place people under house arrest without charge is contrary to any concept of justice.
“Control orders don’t work. Of the 45 issued to date, seven suspects have disappeared while the remainder have been discontinued.
“The coalition must adopt an approach to fighting terrorism which balances civil liberties and security rather than imposing ineffective and authoritarian policies like this.”
Press Association – Ministers rethink prevent strategy[not available online]
Daniel Hamilton, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: “We are disappointed to learn today that the Home Office will support a national blocking list.
“In a free society it is up the individual, parents, industry and the community to deal with extremist views online, not the Government.
“The Government should think carefully before adopting web blocking and must not use it as a tool to prevent the viewing of content it simply doesn’t like.”
Daniel Hamilton, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: “We are disappointed to learn today that the Home Office will support a national blocking list.
“In a free society it is up the individual, parents, industry and the community to deal with extremist views online, not the Government.
“The Government should think carefully before adopting web blocking and must not use it as a tool to prevent the viewing of content it simply doesn’t like.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts does not violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
“It seems only logical now that tools like Facebook or Twitter be used” to contact people who can’t be traced using traditional means, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch in London, noting such efforts don’t violate personal privacy. “Now is it desirable? No.”
Monday 6th June
Daniel Hamilton on the Stephen Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster discussing the ban on smoking in public places.
Dan Hamilton, director of the civil liberties think tank Big Brother Watch, says the government must lift the ban on using intercept evidence.
Over the past decade, there has been a significant expansion of the amount and scope of anti-terrorist legislation implemented in the UK.
The growth of the authoritarian state is inextricably linked to what Tony Blair once called the “changing rules of the game” – a new form of terrorism that defies borders and harnesses technology to achieve its poisonous goals.”
Thursday 3rd June
Times Educational Supplement – Press catch-up [not available online]
A school has been fitted with 48 CCTV cameras – 37 of them inside the building. Inverclyde Academy in Greenock has more cameras than any school in Scotland and almost one for every 20 pupils. Education bosses claim they are needed at the privately-built school, which opened two years ago, to help with fire safety. But Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch UK, said: “There is already more CCTV in schools in Scotland than anywhere else in the world.”
Tuesday 1st June
Daniel Hamilton spoke at the Free Society/Privacy International ‘Voices of Freedom’ debate at the Institute for Economic Affairs.
Daniel Hamilton, Director of Big Brother Watch – a civil liberties and privacy campaign group – said: “While nobody wants to hear foul language while they’re walking down the street, this proposal goes a step too far. Intimidating behaviour should of course be punished, but it’s important to keep things in proportion.
“The police should spend their time tackling serious anti-social behaviour, not slapping fines on people who utter the odd swear word.”
Fox News – Garbage Police? Webcam in Trashcan Checks Recycling Performance
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
“This sounds like an elaborate joke — except it isn’t,” said director Daniel Hamilton. “Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous.”
He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
<a href=”http://www.brandonsun.com/world/breaking-news/in-the-can-theres-a-cam-test-program-puts-garbage-photos-on-facebook-to-monitor-recycling.html?thx=y”>Brandon Sun</a> – In the can, there’s a cam: Test program puts garbage photos on Facebook to monitor recycling
<a href=”http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/in-the-can-theres-a-cam-test-program-puts-garbage-photos-on-facebook-to-monitor-recycling.html?viewAllComments=y”>Winnipeg Free Press</a> – In the can, there’s a cam: Test program puts garbage photos on Facebook to monitor recycling
In the United Kingdom, we have long viewed America's stringent alcohol laws with a sense of both mild amusement and confusion. It would see, to any sensible person, chopped-logic in the extreme for someone to be able to get married, drive a vehicle and serve their country in a theatre of war yet not be able to have a beer legally until they reached the age of 21.
Astonishingly, however, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Health Minister and the country's Deputy First Minister has announced she is considering imposing US-style alcohol laws.
According to reports in the Scottish Herald today, local authorities are to be given the power to restrict sales of alcohol to those over the age of 21 in areas where underage drinking has proved to be a problem.
The proposed ban on under 21s buying booze follows a previous attempt by former Minister Cathy Jamieson who, back in 2005, attempted to introduce a ban on off-licences selling Buckfast Tonic Wine.
While Jamieson's plans were widely ridiculed, Sturgeon's plan may not prove to easy to stop – largely as a result of the outright majority her party has in the Scottish Parliament.
Have we really got to the point in this country where our devolved administrations feel the only way to tackle binge and underage drinking is to ban adults from consuming a perfectly legal product? Regrettably, that's exactly what appears to have happening.
If you live in Scotland, please contact your local and regional list MSPs to voice your opposition to Nicola Sturgeon's plans. You can find their details here.
Alternatively, if you'd like to make your views clear to Nicola Sturgeon herself you can reach her by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone on 0131 556 8400..
Daniel Hamilton on the BBC1 One Show discussing the new Police national database.
Privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said it was concerned that details of members of the public could be logged on the database.
Big Brother Watch's Daniel Hamilton says it would be worrying if rumours that Britain's Census 2011 information had been stolen turned out to be true. 
"The risk of this data falling into the hands of criminals is too horrifying to comprehend," said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch. "But if they were able to take the Soca website offline, how are we to have any particular confidence that this database won't fall into the wrong hands?"
Daniel Hamilton, of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, said: “This case is symptomatic of the rapid growth of the nanny state. For police officers to be entering people’s homes without invitation is at best hugely invasive and, at worse, legally dubious. Trespassing on private property, regardless of any good intention you may have, is a crime.
"This comes, however, as no surprise to Big Brother Watch who have for months been warning the government about the risks of this information falling into the wrong hands," he said.
Daniel Hamilton, of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said it was 'sad' the nursery had installed the equipment.
Welsh Assembly Member suggests fingerprinting every single schoolchild in Wales
MPs move to ban smoking in private vehicles
Man arrested after claims of Census data theft appear on the internet
The Canadian Information Commissioner Ann Cavoukian has this week issues a warning to consumers about the risks associated with personal smart phones and other devices automatically collecting data on the user's location.
Daniel Hamilton, of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘It strikes me as something that will make a lot of people uncomfortable. They are trying to do the right thing but they have to be careful about how they do it.’
The Guardian – 
OVER the past decade, there has been a significant expansion of the amount and scope of anti-terrorist legislation implemented in the UK.
Daniel Hamilton, director of the Big Brother Watch, was not convinced the ICO had gone far enough.
O diretor do grupo defensor das liberdades civis "Big Brother Watch", Daniel Hamilton, disse nesta quinta-feira que as câmeras deveriam ser retiradas do lugar. 
In May 2008, University of Nottingham student Rizwaan Sabir and staff member Hicham Yezza were arrested by counter-terrorism officers 
This week, we have been inundated by calls from members of the public expressing their concern about new facial recognition software being used by Facebook. 
Fox News – 
Bloomberg – 
Space: the internet's new frontier? 
Citigroup suffer data breach of 200,000 customers
Stock-on-Trent Council are 
The ICO have revealed that North Lanarkshire Council have failed to protect the data of 
One of the 
With the dust having settled following the recent E-G8 summit in Paris, many commentators have begun to express their concern at comments made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy championing tougher government control over the Internet.
A school in Glasgow has provoked derision and disbelief after sending a letter to all parents demanding pupils wear baggy clothes in an effort to deter paedophiles. The King’s Park Secondary School sent the following note:
Back in October, Alex wrote about the case of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian national who was more likely than not murdered by a representative of the KGB. Andrei Lugovoi, the former KGB agent accused of committing the crime, remains in Russia despite extradition request by the Crown Prosecution Service which has been pending since 2007. It appears that extra-judicial killing has become 
In the United Kingdom, we have long viewed America's stringent alcohol laws with a sense of both mild amusement and confusion. It would see, to any sensible person, chopped-logic in the extreme for someone to be able to get married, drive a vehicle and serve their country in a theatre of war yet not be able to have a beer legally until they reached the age of 21.
Daniel Hamilton spoke at the Free Society debate 'Civil Liberties: Up in smoke?" chaired by Mark Littlewood (Director-General, Institute for Economic Affairs and with speakers Peter Hitchens (Mail on Sunday), Simon Davies (Director, Privacy International), Chris Snowdon (author, Velvet Glove Iron Fist: A History of Anti-Smoking) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Sir Ronald Harwood.
Daniel Hamilton, Director of Big Brother Watch – a civil liberties and privacy campaign group – said: “While nobody wants to hear foul language while they’re walking down the street, this proposal goes a step too far. Intimidating behaviour should of course be punished, but it’s important to keep things in proportion.
Big Brother Watch found 1,350 cameras in the county, more than any other in Scotland.