Another stark warning - 2nd this week !

[Greybeard]

Following all the govt. inspired hyperbole and near hysteria over global warming, another govt. agency has issued a stark warning that we're sleepwalking into a 1984 scenario.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=FRKMTTG4EUYIFQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2006/11/02/nspy02.xml

 

Given that a most of the snooping and data gathering is carried out by the govt. or would prove useful to them, protesting about it would seem a pointless excersise,- even for a govt. agency , but it's good of them to let us know we are "the most snooped upon country in the democratic world".

 

Wonder if Gordon Brown will find some angle in this he can slap a tax on.

[Darbees]

Following all the govt. inspired hyperbole and near hysteria over global warming, another govt. agency has issued a stark warning that we're sleepwalking into a 1984 scenario.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=FRKMTTG4EUYIFQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2006/11/02/nspy02.xml

 

Given that a most of the snooping and data gathering is carried out by the govt. or would prove useful to them, protesting about it would seem a pointless excersise,- even for a govt. agency , but it's good of them to let us know we are "the most snooped upon country in the democratic world".

 

Wonder if Gordon Brown will find some angle in this he can slap a tax on.

It's probably a bluff by the govt to get the confidence of we cynics. Course he'll tax it.

[stackmonkey]

my only issue is that it says we WILL 'sleepwalk into a surveillance society'. I believe we already have.

[Greybeard]

my only issue is that it says we WILL 'sleepwalk into a surveillance society'. I believe we already have.

 

You may be right, but continous 'active' tracking of our movements still requires a lot of manpower. Blanket coverage of APNR or possibly universal road charging would makes things much easier; and cctv coverage with high resolution cameras is still very patchy.

 

I think if I were in charge of MI5 I'd pressing Tony to have everyone 'chipped'.

[Greybeard]

Although reading between the lines of a recent speech by the sinister Dr. Reid MI5 itself could be privatised.

 

"To sustain this would require more public services to be delivered by the private sector, he said. In the context of security, this meant surveillance and a society wrapped in such a cloak would have to change its rules, he said."

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/01/reids_arms_race/

 

Does anyone doubt that changing the rules will not be to our advantage.

 

Edit to add another gem from the Register -

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/02/uk_banks_agree2_datasharing/

 

"UK banks have agreed to government data sharing proposals on suspected financial criminals, but say they want the public sector to share its data with them."

[Longcol]

You may be right, but continous 'active' tracking of our movements still requires a lot of manpower.

 

To continuously track even everyone suspected of criminal activity would take more manpower than the taxpayer would be willing to pay I suspect.

 

The majority of "tracking" that differs from most other countries is CCTV which is mainly in private hands (shops, banks, car parks etc). And this appears quite useful in solving crime - or at least Crimewatch would be virtually redundant without it. We are a long way from "Big Brother" - and I seriously doubt whether the Telegraph would have run the story if there was a Tory government - or it would be portrayed as a "crackdown on criminals" rather than "invasion of civil liberties".