[privacy] Britain is 'surveillance society'

[Gordon Darling <gordondarling () dsl pipex com>]

Britain is 'surveillance society'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6108496.stm

Fears that the UK would "sleep-walk into a surveillance society" have
become a reality, the government's information commissioner has said. 

Richard Thomas, who said he raised concerns two years ago, spoke after
research found people's actions were increasingly being monitored. 

The Surveillance Studies Network report said there are up to 4.2m CCTV
cameras - about one for every 14 people. 

Other techniques are used to record work rate, buying habits and
movements. 

Surveillance will increase in the next decade, the report added. 

'Looser laws' 

The report's co-writer Dr David Murakami-Wood told BBC News that,
compared to other industrialised Western states, the UK was "the most
surveilled country". 

"We have more CCTV cameras and we have looser laws on privacy and data
protection," he said. 

"We really do have a society which is premised both on state secrecy and
the state not giving up its supposed right to keep information under
control while, at the same time, wanting to know as much as it can about
us."

The research says surveillance ranges from the US national security
agency monitoring all telecommunications traffic passing through Britain
to key stroke information used to gauge work rates and global
positioning satellite information tracking company vehicles. 

The report also highlights "dataveillance" - the combination of credit
card, mobile phone and loyalty card information for marketing purposes. 

Mr Thomas called for a debate about the risks if information gathered is
wrong or falls into the wrong hands. 

"We've got to say where do we want the lines to be drawn? How much do we
want to have surveillance changing the nature of society in a democratic
nation?" he told the BBC. 

"We're not luddites, we're not technophobes, but we are saying not least
don't forget the fundamental importance of data protection, which I'm
responsible for. 

"Sometimes it gets dismissed as something which is rather bureaucratic,
it stops you sorting out your granny's electricity bills. People grumble
about data protection, but boy is it important in this new age. 

"When data protection puts those fundamental safeguards in place, we
must make sure that some of these lines are not crossed." 

'Balance needed' 

The report will be presented to the 28th International Data Protection
and Privacy Commissioners' Conference in London on Thursday, hosted by
the Information Commissioner's Office.

The office is an independent body established to promote access to
official data and to protect personal details. 

The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) said there needed to be
a balance between sharing information responsibly and respecting the
citizen's rights. 

A spokesman said: "Massive social and technological advances have
occurred in the last few decades and will continue in the years to
come. 

"We must rise to the challenges and seize the opportunities it provides
for individual citizens and society as a whole." 

Graham Gerrard from the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said
there were safeguards against the abuse of surveillance by officers. 

"The police use of surveillance is probably the most regulated of any
group in society," he told the BBC. 

"Richard Thomas was particularly concerned about unseen, uncontrolled or
excessive surveillance. Well, any of the police surveillance that is
unseen is in fact controlled and has to be proportionate otherwise it
would never get authorised."

-- 
gordondarling<at>dsl<dot>pipex<dot>com

_______________________________________________
privacy mailing list
privacy () whitestar linuxbox org
http://www.whitestar.linuxbox.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy