NO2ID Press Release RSS

2 to 1 against the database state: Support for ID cards already under 50% as NO2ID takes the battle to YouTube

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:01 GMT

A new poll conducted by ICM for NO2ID [1] shows that support for ID cards is significantly less than the latest Home Office push-poll [2]. More significantly, it indicates that the public opposes government data-trafficking by a majority of 2 to 1. This difference has prompted NO2ID to launch a hard-hitting video campaign on YouTube to highlight the database behind the card and what it will do to real people's lives.

NO2ID [3] has periodically asked an identical unbiased question about ID cards since June 2005 � an approach described by UK Polling Report as 'admirable' [4]. During that time support for the idea has steadily declined to 48%.

Asked by ICM what they thought of 'storing information [on large computer systems] and sharing it between different parts of government', 65% said they thought it was a bad idea, while just 31% said it was a good idea. Slightly more women (67%) than men (64%) were opposed.

The online video campaign dramatises the real personal dangers of such 'information sharing'. Confronting the myth that 'If you've done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to fear' from being identified, the film 'Take Jane' shows a glimpse of one woman's story, in a future Britain where the omnipresent databases make hiding impossible [5]. The grim message is that the ID scheme isn't simple and isn't safe.

Phil Booth, NO2ID's national co-ordinator, said;

'Support for ID cards is already under 50%. Even the government's own biased surveys now show falls in support. The more people know, the less they like it. Once it is common knowledge that the ID scheme is *designed* to pass around the information it collects about you, then the scheme is politically doomed.'

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1) ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1001 adults aged 18+ by telephone between December 3rd-5th 2008. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at www.icmresearch.co.uk

The poll data will shortly be available online, but if you require a copy of the results in the meanwhile please contact Phil Booth directly on national.coordinator@no2id.net

2) The Home Office 'tracking studies' achieve nominally positive ratings for the ID scheme by asking people to list possible (and not necessarily realistic) benefits of the scheme *before* asking them what they think of ID cards.

Until NO2ID made a Freedom of Information request for them, the Home Office did not publish in full the questionnaires used in the quarterly study. It still does not publish the results data.

3) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate for a list of database state initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

4) See http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/279 - 'Majority against ID cards', UK Polling Report, 26/7/06.

5) The video is on YouTube at: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v1JqlvnZANA It may be freely redistributed.

NO2ID's website explains more at: http://www.no2id.net/TakeJane/

Broadcast-standard video is available for TV or theatrical performance. Please contact press@no2id.net

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:
Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839

Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308

Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166

Marper � 'A vindication of privacy' says NO2ID

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:01 GMT

The UK government�s defeat today in the European Court of Human Rights in the cases of �S� and Marper, was warmly welcomed by privacy campaign NO2ID [2].

The men at the heart of the case were not found guilty of any offence, but have had an eight-year fight to get records of their DNA removed from the UK�s National DNA Database. Because the Home Office and police insist on keeping samples for ever from almost everyone arrested, the database is by far the world�s biggest[3].

Phil Booth, NO2ID National Coordinator said:

�This is a victory for liberty and privacy. Though these judgements are always complicated and slow in coming, it is a vindication of what privacy campaigners have said all along.

�The principle that we need to follow is simple: when charges are dropped, suspect samples are destroyed - no charge, no DNA.�

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7764069.stm

2) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of �database state� initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

3) http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/using-science/dna-database/

actually boasts about it.

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:

Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839

Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308

Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166

A Bill to build the database state

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:01 GMT

The Coroners and Justice Bill, to be announced in today's Queen's Speech and expected to be rushed through First Reading in the Commons this Friday, will contain extraordinary new data-sharing powers [1], which could be exercised by regulation without Parliamentary debate.

NO2ID [2] points out that these powers would allow the government effectively to set aside not just the Data Protection Act and data protection principles when it suits, but the much more fundamental protections of Articles 6 and 8 of the ECHR/HRA [3], of common law confidentiality, and of ultra vires. This goes far beyond data protection, into administrative and constitutional law. It is a Bill to build the database state, concealed under a misleading name.

The Ministry of Justice will be tacking onto the Coroners and Justice Bill powers it decided to adopt from the Thomas/Walport Information Sharing Review [4]. In public statements [5], these are presented as more powers and funding for the Information Commissioner and more access to personal medical data for commercial and academic researchers. To a more select audience, Jack Straw highlighted new 'fast track' data-sharing powers which he said will "simplify the data protection framework and remove any unnecessary obstacles to data sharing" [6].

Phil Booth, NO2ID National Coordinator said:

"Rather than protecting our personal information, as it should be, the government is cutting away safeguards for its own data-trafficking convenience. This is a Bill to smash the rule of law and build the database state in its place.

"Burying sweeping constitutional change in obscure Bills is an appalling approach. Having proved - and admitted - they cannot be trusted to look after our secrets, they are still determined to steal what privacy we have left. Parliament needs to wake up before it has no say any more."

NO2ID, Liberty and others have already commented [7] on sweeping powers in the proposed - and still only partially-drafted - Immigration and Citizenship Bill, also announced today, that will affect every British citizen. These include the requirement to produce official ID on demand that would make ID cards (or your passport) effectively compulsory to carry; the compulsory registering and reporting of hotel and B&B guests; employment checks which make Home Office systems the arbiter of everyone's right to work.

Phil Booth, NO2ID National Coordinator said:

"This Bill to 'simplify immigration' will affect everyone. It even changes what it means to be British. Clearly the Home Office already thinks of citizens as suspects; this law would make it so."

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1) Recommendation 8(a) of the Thomas/Walport Review states: ".Primary legislation should provide the Secretary of State, in precisely defined circumstances, with a power by Order, subject to the affirmative resolution procedure in both Houses, to remove or modify any legal barrier to data sharing by: repealing or amending other primary legislation; changing any other rule of law (for example, the application of the common law of confidentiality to defined circumstances); or creating a new power to share information where that power is currently absent."

2) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of 'database state' initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

3) ECHR, the European Convention on Human Rights, pre-dates the formation of the EU and was adopted in British law as the Human Rights Act (HRA) in 1998. Article 8 is the right to privacy and Article 6, the presumption of innocence - which, e.g. data profiling or matching or false biometric matches will contravene.

4) See 'Government Information Sharing Review - "Read the small print," says NO2ID', 25/11/08: http://www.no2id.net/news/pressRelease/release?name=Read_the_small_print

5) The official MoJ press statement - http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/newsrelease241108a.htm - makes no mention whatsoever of the new procedures that will minimise Parliamentary scrutiny of data-sharing powers.

6) See http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest-news/news-article/newsarticle/information-sharing-to-be-easier/ - which sends a completely different message to a Civil Service audience.

7) For an analysis of the Draft (Partial) Immigration and Citizenship Bill, see NO2ID's briefing to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, submitted in October 2008: http://www.no2id.net/IDSchemes/NO2IDsubmissionToJCHRonDraftIACBoct08.pdf

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:

Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839

Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308

Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166

Government Information Sharing Review � �Read the small print,� says NO2ID

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

The most important announcement yesterday for how Britain is governed took place almost silently. The release of the government�s response [1] to the Thomas/ Walport �Data Sharing Review� [2] under cover of the Pre-Budget Report amounts to a scrapping vital constitutional protections. But you wouldn�t know that from the official press release [3], which fails to mention the key point, instead drawing attention to notional increases in the Information Commissioner�s powers that are calculated to have no effect on the behaviour of government itself.

The key recommendation is 8(a) [4], which proposes that whenever a department desires to use existing information for new purposes, ministers should have the power to make regulations to let it do so. They could set aside confidentiality and data-protection in the existing law or allow information that has been collected by government for one purpose to be used for a completely different one � without any new legislation or even a debate in parliament.

This is in line with the database state ambitions set out in previous official documents that give the MoJ a remit to �overcome current barriers to information sharing within the public sector [5]. Such officially identified �barriers� include the human rights of citizens and the basic rules of English law [6].

Phil Booth, NO2ID [7] National Coordinator said:

�The government intends to relieve itself of proper parliamentary scrutiny whenever it increases its own powers to handle personal information. This plan would gives carte blanche to a snooping-obsessed state to dispense with the privacy of citizens, whenever convenient.

�Adopting this single recommendation wipes out any good that the Information Commissioner might ever do."

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1) The government�s response, published by the Ministry of Justice on 24/11/08: http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/response-data-sharing-review.pdf

2) The Data Sharing Review, written by Richard Thomas - the current Information Commissioner, but working �in an independent capacity� - and Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust - the UK�s largest medical research foundation: http://www.justice.gov.uk/reviews/datasharing-intro.htm

NO2ID drew attention to the problematic nature of the Thomas/Walport review on its release in July 2008: http://www.no2id.net/news/pressRelease/release.php?name=Data_Sharing_Review

3) The press statement
http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/newsrelease241108a.htm
from the MoJ makes no mention whatsoever of the new procedures that will minimise Parliamentary scrutiny of future data-sharing powers.

4) ��Primary legislation should provide the Secretary of State, in precisely defined circumstances, with a power by Order, subject to the affirmative resolution procedure in both Houses, to remove or modify any legal barrier to data sharing by:
   repealing or amending other primary legislation;
   changing any other rule of law (for example, the application of the common law of confidentiality to defined circumstances); or
creating a new power to share information where that power is currently absent.�

5)   The �Transformational Government� agenda, as articulated in the �Service Transformation Agreement� � http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/B/9/pbr_csr07_service.pdf � published in October 2007 clearly states (paragraph A.5, p 19) that the new Ministry of Justice is to �deliver a package of measures over the next 3-5 years to overcome current barriers to information sharing within the public sector.� This almost secret proposal would solve its problem.

6) See, HM Government �Information Sharing vision statement� (13 September 2006)
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/information-sharing.pdf

7) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of �database state� initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:
Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839
Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308
Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166

A lifetime of ID control � at a price

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

After years of little more than hot air from a sequence of Home Secretaries, we're finally getting to see the fine detail [1] of what "ID cards" will really mean to the average person. It may be quite a shock to those who haven't been paying attention.

It is not just the sheer amount of personal information that you will be required to surrender � a wake-up for any remaining who thought this was a simple card � it is the threats that will be used to force compliance. You could have £1000 penalties sent to you by e-mail [2] if IPS thinks you've been bad � and why might they think that?

If you fail to turn up at a time and place of their choosing; refuse to be fingerprinted, photographed or hand over documents (e.g. birth or marriage certificates); fail to tell them you've moved house for 3 months.

And anything that *they* reckon is "deliberate or reckless" provision of incorrect information could lead to 2 years in prison. Welcome to a lifetime of state identity control...

Phil Booth, NO2ID [3] national coordinator said:

"So the state 'managing' your identity boils down to telling them everything there is to know about you, under threat � and coughing up time and again for the privilege.

"This must be a wake-up call for everyone who bought the line that ID was just a simple card."

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1) 'Identity Cards Act Secondary Legislation � A Consultation' can be found on the IPS website:

http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/downloads/NIS_Legislation.pdf

2) Only the first official warning need be by letter, and that will give you just a fortnight to comply.

3) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of 'database state' initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

4) Other dubious 'highlights' include:

� a tax on marriage � women who change their name will have to buy a new card;

� those without bank accounts won't be able to get ID � you can only pay by credit or debit card, or cheque;

� the homeless will be able to nominate a park bench as their 'address'

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:

Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839

Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308

Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166