Online Copyright Infringement Act is one step closer to becoming law

"Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee in the US approved a bill that would allow the Attorne y General to shut down any website that held copyright ‘central to the activity’ of the website. Under the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) a website can be shut down by the Attorney General even if that website’s activities are not criminal"

 Three year old girl terrorised by airport security staff 

 "The decision of an airport security officer at Chattanooga Airport to body-search a three year old - who has no doubt been educated by her parents to steer clear of strangers, especially those invading their personal space - amounts to nothing more than the terrorisation of a young child"

 Manchester Airport to introduce eye scanners to track passenger movements

"Following on the back of the controversy surrounding the decision of some airports to force people to pass through potentially dangerous body scanners, Manchester Airport has announced it will be the world's first airport to install iris-scanners designed to track the movements of passengers around their terminals"

Spooky Spokeo

"Over the course of the weekend, a Big Brother Watch supporter wrote bringing news of the new American website Spokeo.

"Spokeo, which markets itself as "not your grandma's phonebook" draws together your contact details (including your phone number, e-mail and postal address), information about your personal wealth, your spouse and any social networks you might be a member of. In compiling the data, the website searches databases including "phone books, marketing surveys, business databases, ecommerce stores, and other public databases""

Guest post: a “militarisation” strategy to help counter civil disobedience

"In the wake of the student protests that took place last Wednesday, November 10th, and with the potential for more looming as the impact of the coalition government’s cuts are felt, the Observer has been informed of discussions of a “militarisation” strategy to tackle civil disorder"

 

Media Coverage

Alex Deane speaks truth to power at the Global MSC Conference (of CCTV manufacturers!) in Newcastle
Alex Deane debated the motion 'this House believes Civil Liberties were unnecessarily eroded by the Labour Government' against former cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw MP in Exeter. We won, the bad guys lost.

Alex Deane on ITV Tyne & Tees TV discussing CCTV technology.

Daniel Hamilton on Radio Forth discussing CCTV coverage in Scotland.

Alex Deane interviewed about student rioters on Roy Green Show, Corus Network, Canada

Daniel Hamilton discussing the effectiveness of CCTV on Radio Clyde
ITPro - Google to dump UK wifi data

"Big Brother Watch has questioned whether the news was comforting at all, telling IT PRO Google had never been punished and the “victims” would never know what data was taken or how it was used.

"“If and when this deletion actually takes place, no further investigation into what Google did can be done – and whether it was accidental or deliberate will never be established after that,” said Alex Deane, director for Big Brother Watch.

"“So, whilst in a way this is good news for the privacy of the individuals concerned, it’s a bad day for the future of privacy.”

Politics.co.uk - Google escapes lightly in Street View saga

Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch, called the initial decision last month not to pursue more stringent sanctions "disgraceful". He referred to the information commissioner as "an apologist for the worst offender in his sphere of responsibility, not a policeman of it".

Pajamas Media - Google Street View: A Systematic Invasion of Privacy

After "accidentally" gathering 600 gigabytes of private information in the process of creating Street View, Google finds itself under unprecedented attack from nations around the world

City AM - The Big Society: An Anatony of New Politics by Jesse Norman

It’s brave of any author in the modern age to begin their work by stating that there isn’t a Twitter summary for the text – anyone interested will simply have to “read the book”. But Jesse Norman, an MP, is a genuine philosopher, and – in delivering an anatomy of the “Big Society” – he is dealing in terrain all-too-susceptible to sound-bites, so his approach is wise.

Samizdata - Five years after the Irish smoking ban the Irish are smoking more than ever

According to Allison Bray writing in the Irish Independent the smoking rate in Ireland has soared despite the Irish smoking ban. Despite hikes in tobacco tax, the smoking ban and a new law against the public display of cigarettes for sale, the number of smokers has steadily risen since 2007 when 29pc of the population smoked. The survey, which was conducted between March and September, revealed the largest group of smokers -- 45pc -- is aged between 16 and 30. I wonder if "despite" should actually be "because of", though I am not sure why that should be. The Irish Independent article is actually over a year old, but still of interest, I thought. I found it via a comment from Dave Atherton to this post by Mahendra Jadeja at Big Brother Watch.