I am sure like many people last evening, I watched with interest the first episode of The Last Enemy on BBC One last night.
Total Information Awareness or TIA as it usually referred to in the program is all encompassing intelligence system seen by certain elements in a future UK Government as the ultimate citizen surveillance system.
Overall I thought it a pretty good program, it certainly showed what will be achieved by successive UK governments if we don’t wake up and take notice of how close we have already come to having a TIA in place today.
I thought it showed a good example of real joined-up government thinking, albeit the wrong sort! I’ll look forward to the subsequent episodes as I think it will open up our eyes as to sort of society that we are heading for.
Some of the truths behind The Last Enemy…
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Britain has about five million CCTV cameras, one for every 12 people. More cameras than any other country. – The Times, 27 March 2007
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“ID cards will link your basic personal information to something uniquely yours – like the pattern of your iris, your face shape or your fingerprint. It will protect your identity from people fraudulently claiming to be you and make it easier for you to prove your identity when you need to – like opening a bank account, moving house, applying for benefits or starting a job.” – Identity & Passport Service
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Millions of children as young as 11 are to have their fingerprints taken and stored on a Government database, according to leaked Whitehall plans. The Home Office wants to include children in its biometric passport scheme in three years’ time, and automatically transfer their details and fingerprints to the controversial new national identity database when they turn 16. – This is London, 4 March 2007
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21 of the 25 EU Member States have already introduced ID cards. – Home Office
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The costs of the identity cards project were revealed to have risen by £840m in the last six months to £5.75 billion. – The Guardian, May 2007
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British citizens will be quizzed on up to 200 different pieces of personal information in a 30 minute grilling if they want a passport… Those who fail to convince the bureaucrats they are who they say will be denied a travel document or face a full investigation by anti-fraud experts. There is no formal appeal process. – Daily Mail, 21 March 2007
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Advances in surveillance technology could seriously damage individual privacy unless drastic measures are taken to protect personal data, scientists have said. The report by the Royal Academy of Engineering said that travel passes, supermarket loyalty cards and mobile phones could be used to track individuals’ every move. They also predicted that CCTV footage could available for public consumption and that terrorists could hijack the biometric chips in passports and rig them up as a trigger for explosives. – The Times, 27 March 2007
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