27 August 2009

UK Surveillance Fails? Solution: Use More

This is so rich. The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is becoming less and less useful as it produces more and more errors; these arise in part because the CRB is getting far too big to be manageable as the insanely authoritarian UK government tries to get as many people as possible on it (currently 11 million and counting).

So what's the solution to having a broken system of surveillance? Use another one even more intrusive and even less useful:

Millions could be asked to provide ID card and fingerprint data to get a job under new systems being developed by the Home Office following a collapse in the accuracy of background checks.

News of the plans emerged in the response to a Register Freedom of Information Act request to the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Today campaigners warned it could be used to help impose ID cards through the back door.

The way that one failure is used to justify an even bigger one would be funny if it weren't so serious. Roll on the General Election...
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6 comments:

  1. Roger Lancefield1:59 pm

    "Today campaigners warned it could be used to help impose ID cards through the back door."

    Grrr. I wish feckin' journalists would stop understating the opposition to these pathological policies. It's not only *campaigners* who are "concerned", it's anyone with one iota of common sense.

    Give me strength!

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  2. Glyn Moody2:04 pm

    True. But what a cunning approach: make one mega-surveillance plan so bad that you have to invoke another, even more mega...

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  3. Roger Lancefield2:04 pm

    Hmm. Probably unfair to rant at El Reg, they've done much more than most to draw attention to surveillance measures and general authoritarian policy in recent years.

    Complaint retracted for this reason.

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  4. Glyn Moody2:05 pm

    Very noble. But your point stands in general.

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  5. guy11:29 am

    Glyn (or anyone); with the general election due to roll on at some point (we assume!) are there any resources on the net that summarise the positions of the various parties towards the issues on which this blog focuses?

    This is partly for me (I kind of know what the current lot are pushing, and don't like it) but know less about others (except pirate party, obviously). But it's also for my less techy friends as a prod in the right direction.

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  6. Glyn Moody11:39 am

    @guy: I don't, I'm afraid. But is sounds like something the Open Rights Group could try to get from the parties - as you say, it would be useful. I'll email ORG and see what they are doing in this area.

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