Big Brother // Current TV

Britain's freedoms under threat from 'security state,' warns Director of Public Prosecutions

The country's top prosecutor today delivered an unprecedented warning that... more

toshiba
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3 years ago
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0 comments

UK military targets domestic opinion leaders

Exposed: UK military "Media Operations" are designed to manipulate UK... more

toshiba
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3 years ago
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2 comments

New law to allow police to collect DNA in secret from teacups

MI5 and the police may be allowed to secretly collect genetic samples from items such... more

toshiba
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3 years ago
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40 comments

Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones

Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.

Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society.

A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. Whitehall officials have raised the idea of a register containing the names and addresses of everyone who buys a phone in recent talks with Vodafone and other telephone companies, insiders say.

The move is targeted at monitoring the owners of Britain’s estimated 40m prepaid mobile phones. They can be purchased with cash by customers who do not wish to give their names, addresses or credit card details.

The pay-as-you-go phones are popular with criminals and terrorists because their anonymity shields their activities from the authorities. But they are also used by thousands of law-abiding citizens who wish to communicate in private.

The move aims to close a loophole in plans being drawn up by GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham, to create a huge database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telephone records of everyone in Britain.

The “Big Brother” database would have limited value to police and MI5 if it did not store details of the ownership of more than half the mobile phones in the country.

Contingency planning for such a move is already thought to be under way at Vodafone, where 72% of its 18.5m UK customers use pay-as-you-go.

The office of Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, said it anticipated that a compulsory mobile phone register would be unveiled as part of a law which ministers would announce next year.

“With regards to the database that would contain details of all mobile users, including pay-as-you-go, we would expect that this information would be included in the database proposed in the draft Communications Data Bill,” a spokeswoman said.

Simon Davies, of Privacy International, said he understood that several mobile phone firms had discussed the proposed database in talks with government officials.

As The Sunday Times revealed earlier this month, GCHQ has already been provided with up to £1 billion to work on the pilot stage of the Big Brother database, which will see thousands of “black boxes” installed on communications lines provided by Vodafone and BT as part of a pilot interception programme.

The proposals have sparked a fierce backlash inside Whitehall. Senior officials in the Home Office have privately warned that the database scheme is impractical, disproportionate and potentially unlawful. The revolt last week forced Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, to delay announcing plans for the database until next year. Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a... more

TravG73
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3 years ago
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22 comments

Big Brother gone mad?

A comment on the plans for a new super-database in the UK of electronics communication

spongebath
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3 years ago
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0 comments

Use Facebook to order your pizza

Pizza hut think we are all very lazy and have unveiled an application for Facebook... more

Mr_Costello
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3 years ago
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0 comments

Record 720,000 people added to Britain's DNA database - making it world's largest

The number of people whose details were added to the DNA database rose to its highest... more

toshiba
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3 years ago
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5 comments

Concerns Over Posse Comitatus Violations

An interesting article........

PatrioticAstronaut
added this
4 years ago
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0 comments

Is Posse Comitatus Dead?

In a barely noticed development last week, the Army stationed an active unit inside... more

fighttheNWO
added this
3 years ago
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2 comments

Is Posse Comitatus dead? US troops on US streets

AMY GOODMAN: In a barely noticed development last week, the Army stationed an active... more

synclaire
added this
3 years ago
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20 comments

Thousands of troops are deployed on U.S. streets ready to carry out “crowd control”

photo used with permission by http://stpaulrnc.shutterfly.com/20 by Naomi Wolf... more

DandelionSalad
added this
3 years ago
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34 comments

UK government will spy on every call and e-mail

Ministers are considering spending up to £12 billion on a database to monitor... more

toshiba
added this
3 years ago
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57 comments

"We're living in a police state"

US military brigade deployed Oct 1st, first time in 200 years. Wall St... more

uppityprogressive
added this
3 years ago
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18 comments

DHS satellite spy program going forward despite objections

The Department of Homeland Security has been given the money it needs to begin turning... more

buttcrack
added this
3 years ago
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24 comments

GRANDSONS OF LIBERTY, UNITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

F the bailout F clean coal! Grandsons of liberty, it's TIME TO ROLL!!!... more

onechance
added this
3 years ago
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0 comments

D.J. Caruso Interview: It's true! Eagle Eye REALLY IS listening!!!

Damn...this is scary...aparently the bit in Eagle Eye that you thought was... more

MandyMonroe
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3 years ago
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0 comments

New guidelines will allow the FBI to interview you, under a false pretext.

URGE AN IMMEDIATE FBI INVESTIGATION!! PETITION: Inspector General Fine, I... more

onechance
added this
3 years ago
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30 comments

The Current Pitch in Association with Sheffield Docfest

Do you want to make a short documentary for Current? Have you always wanted to go to... more

Emily_RS
added this
3 years ago
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2 comments

Fox airs Western Hemisphere ID Card commercial!

This is a real commercial.

RyanLYoungblood
added this
3 years ago
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3 comments

Homeland Security tests machine that reads your mind

Baggage searches are SOOOOOO early-21st century. Homeland Security is now testing the... more

Pericles_Lewnes
added this
3 years ago
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53 comments

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