International Law

Gordon Brown spinning unconvincingly for 42 days internment without charge - is this a diversion to allow the rest of the Counter-Terrorism Bill to sneak through without proper scrutiny ?

Posted on June 02, 2008
Remember when Gordon Brown pretended that his Government would not be spinning important policy ideas to the favoured mainstream media before announcing them officially in Parliament first ? There has been no Statement or detailed Government consultation paper explaining the alleged "concessions" and supposed extra safeguards regarding the planned 42 days internment without charge (or even evidence) which is being planned in the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008...

National Grid electricity distribution cascade failure on Tuesday ?

Posted on May 27, 2008
The Times reports, with the somewhat misleading headline: Blackouts hit thousands as generators fail From The Times May 28, 2008 Murad Ahmed and Steve Hawkes Hundreds of thousands of people were hit by electricity blackouts yesterday when six power stations shut down...

Transport Security Bill - implication that Royal Navy anti pirate operations are illegal ?

Posted on May 27, 2008
One of the forthcoming Bills, which, for some short term political expediency and headlines, Gordon brown has decided to pre-announce, ahead of the Queen's Speech in November, is a Transport Security Bill The main part of this Bill appears to be intent on requiring the majority of airports in England, Wales & Scotland to agree a local airport security plan with their key stakeholders, based upon an agreed threat and risk analysis; Are we actually meant to believe that none of these airports and none of the local Police forces have any Security Plans at the moment ? If not, then why not ? The crucial part of this Bill appears to be allowing the policing element of this plan to be charged to the airport operator...

Police Receive £50 Million For 10,000 Hand Held Computers i.e. £5,000 each - are they gold plated ?

Posted on May 26, 2008
Gordon Brown's dire speech to the Labour Party Conference last September promised, amongst other things,"10,000 hand held computers" for the Police. Incredibly, it seems that according to this National Policing Improvement Agency press release, and subsequent reports in The Register and by the BBC, each of these hand held computers is going to cost £5,000 each...

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The Telegraph: Tories pledge to curb use of CCTV cameras - about time

Posted on May 21, 2008
The Daily Telegraph reports some welcome political promises, which we will which hold them to in the future, from the Conservative Shadow Home Secretary David Davis regarding CCTV surveillance cameras. Tories pledge to curb use of CCTV cameras By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent Last Updated: 12:49AM BST 21/05/2008 A Conservative government would put strict new limits on the use of surveillance cameras, David Davis, the shadow home secretary, pledged on Tuesday night...

Path Intelligence FootPath(tm) mobile phone tracking - a few more details

Posted on May 20, 2008
Toby Oliver from Path Intelligence has, via email, answered a few of our Questions and Concerns but raised a few new ones - see below. As a general point we don't use the phones IMEI's we use the TMSI and occasionally part of the IMSI See our previous article "Path Intelligence - Phorm for shopping centres ?" More coverage and comment at The Register

Has anybody missed the Home Office website(s) yet ?

Posted on May 19, 2008
Various Home Office websites seem to be still suffering from serious problems which have effectively taken them offline. since late this afternoon. Websites affected range from the main Home Office website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk and the awful Press website (which never seems to have current Home Office Press releases available) http://press...

Path Intelligence - Phorm for shopping centres ?

Posted on May 18, 2008
Just in case you thought that Phorm was the only threat to your privacy, here is an example of similar "no opt out" snooping technology being installed in the infrastructure of a public space, a shopping centre, which secretly snoops on individuals, without their informed prior consent, in the hope that advertising and sales revenues can be maximised...

Policing and Crime Reduction Bill announcement - already sneakily amended to remove references to Sir Clive Booth's police pay review

Posted on May 16, 2008
When Spy Blog looked at the "Preparing Britain for the future" - Government's Draft Legislative Programme 2008/09 (.pdf) document yesterday, there was not the time, nor the energy to comment on the Policing and Crime Reduction Bill announcement. Yesterday we wrote: Gordon Brown has, either for genuine transparency in Government reasons, or, more likely, for cynical short term "Must be Seen To Be Doing Something" reasons just before the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, pre-announced a list of forthcoming Bills, which would traditionally have been first revealed in the Queen's Speech in November...

Communications Data Bill announced

Posted on May 15, 2008
Gordon Brown has, either for genuine transparency in Government reasons, or, more likely, for cynical short term "Must be Seen To Be Doing Something" reasons just before the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, pre-announced a list of forthcoming Bills, which would traditionally have been first revealed in the Queen's Speech in November...

Hazel Blears and Sergeant Flanderka - "tension monitoring" i.e. snooping on local communities

Posted on May 13, 2008
The Hazel Blears the NuLabour former Home Office Minister who introduced so much counter productive bureaucratic red tape and form filling when she used to be in charge of Policing and Counter-terrorism, is at it again, now that she is inflicting a new Community Snooping policy onto Local Government...

Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill - short call for evidence by June 12th 2008

Posted on May 12, 2008
The Joint Select Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (.pdf) has issued a public call for evidence: Joint Committee on the Constitutional Renewal Bill call for evidence (.pdf) According to their Press Release: "The Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill has been heralded by the Government as a chance for Parliament to hold them to account more effectively and we will seek to find out how this can be achieved...

Mail on Sunday: strange "whistleblower spies" article

Posted on May 11, 2008
The Mail on Sunday has put a strange spin on its "whistleblower spies" report, which must stem from the first evidence session of the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (not yet available online), which was, presumably held on Tuesday 6th May 2008...

The Guardian: Government scraps carbon card scheme for fear of ridicule

Posted on May 08, 2008
Just in case any Labour party supporters or others, disillusioned with Gordon Brown (as we have always been) are thinking that David Miliband, the current Foreign Secreatry, would somehow be any less of a totalitarian control freak, regardless of his "good intentions", the Guardian reminds us of his Flagship Policy Idea when David Miliband (not to be confused with his equally reprehensible brother Ed Mliband, who is also a Labour Government Minister) was in charge of the Department of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)...

ID Cards - significant criticism even from the Government 's own Independent Scheme Assurance Panel

Posted on May 08, 2008
Every time that any group of independent experts with any real academic knowledge or practical business experience take a look at the Labour Government's disastrous ID Cards and centralised biometric database National Identity Register scheme, their conclusion is the same - yes, safeguarding people's individual identities from abuse by criminals etc...

Identity Cards scheme 10 year cost guesstimate report - illegally late again, fiddled figures, more spurious consultation threatened

Posted on May 07, 2008
The Home Office tentacle, the Identity and Passport Service, has published the latest 10 Year Cost guesstimate Report for their increasingly hated Identity Cards and centralised biometric database National Identity Register scheme. Identity Cards Scheme Cost Report May 2008 (...

The Guardian: CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police

Posted on May 06, 2008
It is hard to resist shouting "Told You So !": CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police Owen Bowcott The Guardian, Tuesday May 6 2008 Massive investment in CCTV cameras to prevent crime in the UK has failed to have a significant impact, despite billions of pounds spent on the new technology, a senior police officer piloting a new database has warned...

Photography does NOT equal Terrorism

Posted on May 05, 2008
This example of the Suspiciously timed Climate of Fear propaganda campaign by the Police in the run up to the Counter-Terrorism Bill debates is actually being displayed in a window of the Metropolitan Police Service headquarters complex at New Scotland Yard, which backs onto Victoria Street...

How will Labour "listen to the electorate" - even more snooping ?

Posted on May 04, 2008
The Sunday Times has an opinion article by Matthew Parris about the Labour party's disastrous results in the Local Elections and in London last Thursday: "My advice to Labour MPs - give up" One comment on this article chimed with our reaction to the "we must listen to the electorate" media spin uttered by Gordon Brown and the other NuLabour politicians, in a vain attempt to try to blame anybody and anything but themselves for their defeats: My first thought on hearing that New Labour intended listening to the electorate was to wonder whether said goal might be achieved in their minds through increased snooping on emails and bugging of telephone calls...

At least eight RIPA Part III section 49 notices have been served - All Your Crypto Keys Are Belong To Us

Posted on April 30, 2008
The Home Office has given some vague details about the number of

Gordon Brown's Terrorist Asset Freezing bureaucracy - petty, incompetent and illegal

Posted on April 25, 2008
On Thursday, the High Court made a Judgment in the case of 5 anonymous people who have been subjected to the Treasury's bureaucratic nightmare of financial asset freezing. Read the text of the Judgment on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute website: Neutral Citation Number: [2008] EWHC 869 (Admin) Case No: PTA 13, 14, 15, 17 & 19/2007 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION ADMINISTRATIVE COURT Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London, WC2A 2LL 24 April 2008 B e f o r e : Mr Justice Collins ____________________ Between: A, K, M, Q & G Applicants - and - H...

Banksy "One Nation Under CCTV" - tourists and beggars

Posted on April 23, 2008
The graffiti stencil artwork,"One Nation Under CCTV", presumably by "Banksy", which recently appeared in Newman Street in London, is definitely now a tourist attraction : Here are some more Spy Blog photos and social observations:

London ANPR mass surveillance snooping - Chief Surveillance Commissioner Sir Christopher Rose refused to get involved

Posted on April 21, 2008
Just in case you thought that Spy Blog has not tried the available, alleged "checks and balances" which are supposed to prevent the disproportionate abuse of our privacy and freedoms, you might be interested in our brief correspondence with the Office of the Surveillance Commissioners, regarding the function creep of what were supposed to have been "save the environment" schemes: the London Congestion Charge and the London Low Emission Zone, but which have now mutated into a secretive, unaccountable, mass surveillance snooping scheme...

More secrecy over the London Congestion Charge and Low Emission Zone CCTV and ANPR spy cameras - data on innocents handed over to USA spooks

Posted on April 20, 2008
The Daily Telegraph has a story which confirms our suspicions and fears about the controversial secret mass surveillance snooping scheme, which the London Congestion Charge, the London Low Emissions Zone and other linked Transport for London CCTV and ANPR systems have become, with not even a whimper of opposition from the incumbent Labour control freak Mayor of London...

Is graffiti artist Banksy being hypocritical with his "One Nation Under CCTV" art ?

Posted on April 16, 2008
Former street graffiti artist "Banksy", whose often witty stencil graffiti artworks, now fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds in art galleries, is being credited with a new wall painting in London, which appeared over the weekend. The location is an "end of terrace" blank wall, on Newman Street, at the junction with Eastcastle Street...

Parliamentary Privilege allows OGC to win Appeal against having to disclose Gateway Reviews on ID Cards scheme

Posted on April 11, 2008
Today's High Court Judgment regarding our FOIA request, made over 3 years and 4 months ago is totally unacceptable: High Court upholds OGC appeal against Information Tribunal and suppresses publication of the Home Office ID Cards Gateway Reviews, on grounds of "Parliamentary Privilege" Bad news for Transparency, Open Government,and Freedom of Information - the OGC has won their appeal in the High Court against the Information Tribunal, over the disclosure of the early Gateway Reviews of the Home Office's Identity Cards Programme...

e-petitions for the House of Commons by 2010 ?

Posted on April 09, 2008
The Procedure Committee of the House of Commons has now published their Report about the possibility of introducing an e-petitions to the House of Commons, perhaps by 2010, based mostly on the on the experience of the No. 10 Downing Street e-petitions to the Prime Minister and the Scottish Parliament e-petitions systems...

Counter-Terrorism Bill - DNA and Data Sharing by MI5, MI6 and GCHQ - no more Duty of Confidentiality or the Wilson Doctrine ?

Posted on April 03, 2008
The Labour Government's latest terrorism legislation got an unopposed Second Reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday 1st April 2008. The Opposition parties and the media, as we predicted when the Bill was announced, have been distracted by the extremely controversial 42 days internment without charge provisions and have, so far, ignored all the other sneaky and repressive bits of the Bill...

Counter-Terrorism Bill - DNA and Data Sharing by MI5, MI6 and GCHQ - no more Duty of Confidentiality or the Wilson Doctrine ?

Posted on April 02, 2008
The Labour Government's latest terrorism legislation got an unopposed Second Reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday 1st April 2008. The Opposition parties and the media, as we predicted when the Bill was announced, have been distracted by the extremely controversial 42 days internment without charge provisions and have, so far, ignored all the other sneaky and repressive bits of the Bill...

NO2ID Database State hustings for the Mayor of London election candidates - Tuesday 8th April 2008

Posted on March 29, 2008
The 10 candidates for the Mayor of London election , as well as those representing other groups contesting the Greater London Assembly elections, on May 1st 2008 are now officially listed by London Elects. Interestingly, the broad political spectrum cross-party NO2ID Campaign has organised a campaign hustings meeting, which will give members of the public and the press and media a chance to see how the candidates stack up against each other, in terms of their policies and promises for London, regarding privacy, security, surveillance, data protection, civil liberties etc...

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