Hello All,
The following is what I've picked up recently. Hope it's
of interest...
TELEVISION
Leigh, Danny. 'Obscured vision'. Guardian, G2, 16/06/99, p
17. The proposal to install the 'v-chip' in all US TV's to
enable parents to vet their children's viewing habits.
Perhaps not strictly a surveillance issue, but could be
linked to viewing habits?
Christy, Desmond. 'Crime Squad? It's a fraud.' Guardian
G2, 08/06/99, p 22. Review of 'The Crime Squad' (BBC1, tx
07/06/99) about how to fight crime. Christy sums up the
paradox of the programme thus: 'People don't behave as if
they are about to be robbed in shopping centres because
they quite rightly think they should not have to worry
about being mugged in a shopping centre.'
INTERNET/COMPUTING
Hopkins, Nick. 'Hi-tech policing urged to fight crime'.
Guardian 23/06/99. Police demand for a dedicated unit to
fight computer-based criminal activity, the result of
'Project Trawler', a three-year study of the subject.
Campbell, Duncan. 'Trawler's empty net'. Guardian Online,
24/06/99, p 9. Campbell points up the flaws in 'Project
Trawler' and the lack of 'joined-up thinking' by both
police and government.
Keegan, Victor. 'A week in view'. Guardian Online,
29/04/99, p 2. A snippet in this column suggests
strategies for catching racist and fascist activity on the
web. Note: 'If it hasn't already done so it would give
GCHQ and the secret services a job for life.'
Anon (?). 'Call for fairer encryption code'. Guardian
Online, 17/06/99, pp12-13. Accusations of government bias
towards industry and against consumers private individuals
as regards encryption of electronic data. [Essentially
the charge is that the government doesn't want private
encryption for fear of criminal usage - like saying you
can't drive because crooks use cars as getaway vehicles.]
CCTV
Anon. 'Newcastle set to be switched on to CCTV after long
campaign.' The Sentinel, 17/06/99, p21. Introduction of
CCTV to Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England.
Interesting example of how, because one town centre has
CCTV, a neighbouring one feels it 'must' have it too.
Anon. 'Drunk captured on CCTV damaging car.' The
Sentinel, 10/06/99, p19. Apparently the footage was
published in 'a Neighbourhood Watch magazine' where the
offender was recognised.
And talking of publication...
Dillon, Martin. 'X-rated CCTV video on sale'. LIverpool
Echo, 3/6/99, p5. Commercial sale of CCTV footage of
late-night Birkenhead, Merseyside, UK. Sex, fighting and
female urination - police and local politicians are
outraged. [Incidentally, the controversial play 'Shopping
and Fucking' refers to exactly this kind of incident, which
might suggest that the circulation of CCTV footage has a
status between fact and urban myth]
CRIME
Norton-Taylor, Richard. 'Straw aims phone tap law at
mobile phone users.' Guardian, 23/06/99. Proposals to
extend tapping laws to cover internal phone networks,
individuals rather than mobile numbers, pagers, etc.
Somehow Jack Straw thinks this won't lead to an increase in
interception warrants.
And finally...
UNEMPLOYMENT/WELFARE
Watt, Nicholas. 'Ministers drop (pounds)1.5bn benefit swipe
cards.' Guardian, 25/05/99, p 14. Anti-fraud measure aimed
at all benefit claimants abandoned in favour of bar codes.
Another duff government IT project bites the dust at a cost
of (pounds)125 million.
That's it for now...I'll probably send some more stuff in
the autumn.
Have a good summer.
Derrick Cameron
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