I watched the last episode of the BBC’s Last Enemy last night. The ending really caught me unawares as it was not how I thought it would end, good drama.
The serial seems to have drawn quite a number of negative comments on various blogs, one I read seemed to be more critical of the display of the IPv4 address on the TIA login window and the quality of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) on the TLA system!!! Yes in an ideal world it would be nice to have everything right, but I think these blog writers were somewhat missing the point of the whole series.
For me, the fundamental thread was about one possible end result of the ongoing surveillance society that this government is creating through its various security legislation.
Tag loaded vaccinations; genetically and ethically based tagging; RFID tags smaller than a pin-head just around corner! I thought the content of the programme touched on many areas that I believe are already possible.
The final scene where the main character – Stephen Ezard – was told what he could (and could not) do over the next few years all controlled by his own unique implanted tag sent a series of shivers down my back, I wonder how many others felt the same?
Somehow we have to find a way of pulling back from this brink of a total surveillance society. Perhaps this blog will be picked up by various Internet scanner (or even Echelon) to show that there is a negative comment in it. I’ve already written to my MP – John Redwood – voicing my concerns, I would encourage everyone else to do the same.
Some of this is already happening…
“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
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
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
More on this to follow in other posts.
Beasley's Place 