Sweet is the spectacle of a home secretary bitten by her own snake. The outrage of Jacqui Smith's television expenses claim lies not in its content, lurid as it is, but in the way it was exposed. How many times must the home secretary have been assured in security briefings that her latest purchase of some data storage gizmo was "totally secure"?
"Don't worry," the briefers would have said, "the material will be protected by the finest firewalls, the most foolproof anti-hacking devices and the most savage legal defence. Nothing will be transferable and only the highest in the land will have access. Besides, home secretary, as you have so often said, the innocent have nothing to fear."
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Showing posts with label Databases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Databases. Show all posts
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Threat to Privacy Under Data Law, Campaigners Warn
Data held by the police, the NHS, schools, the Inland Revenue, local councils and the DVLA could all end up in private hands, according to Privacy International.
At the same time, information gathered by companies including hotel registrations, bank details and telecommunications data could be transferred to the Government as part of the provisions of the Coroner's and Justice Bill, it is claimed.
Privacy International also warns that there will be no protection from such mass transfers of data, which would only require ministerial approval under the new law.
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At the same time, information gathered by companies including hotel registrations, bank details and telecommunications data could be transferred to the Government as part of the provisions of the Coroner's and Justice Bill, it is claimed.
Privacy International also warns that there will be no protection from such mass transfers of data, which would only require ministerial approval under the new law.
Read more...
Friday, January 16, 2009
Big Brother Database a 'Terrifying' Assault on Traditional Freedoms
Sweeping new powers allowing personal information about every citizen to be handed over to government agencies faced condemnation yesterday amid warnings that Britain is experiencing the greatest threats to civil rights for decades.
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Monday, November 10, 2008
'Odourprinting' Could Be Used To Identify People
Every person has a unique fragrance, similar to a fingerprint or DNA sample, which could be used to create a database of human scents, scientists said.
Eating powerful foods such as chili or garlic may change how we smell, but it does disguise our underlying genetically-determined aroma, tests on mice have shown. Creatures who were given strong-smelling foods were still recognised by their peers.
The signature smells may have evolved to help in choosing mates and marking out territories.
Jae Kwak, lead author of the study at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, said that the research suggested that "odourprinting" could soon have a practical use.
"These findings indicate that biologically based odourprints, like fingerprints, could be a reliable way to identify individuals," he said.
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"Fart into this bag" and we will take it away for forensics !!!
Eating powerful foods such as chili or garlic may change how we smell, but it does disguise our underlying genetically-determined aroma, tests on mice have shown. Creatures who were given strong-smelling foods were still recognised by their peers.
The signature smells may have evolved to help in choosing mates and marking out territories.
Jae Kwak, lead author of the study at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, said that the research suggested that "odourprinting" could soon have a practical use.
"These findings indicate that biologically based odourprints, like fingerprints, could be a reliable way to identify individuals," he said.
Read more...
"Fart into this bag" and we will take it away for forensics !!!
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Tax Website Shut Down As Memory Stick With Secret Personal Data Of 12million Is Found In A Pub Car Park
Ministers have been forced to order an emergency shutdown of a key Government computer system to protect millions of people's private details.
The action was taken after a memory stick was found in a pub car park containing confidential passcodes to the online Government Gateway system, which covers everything from tax returns to parking tickets.
An urgent investigation is now under way into how the stick, belonging to the company which runs the flagship system, came to be lost.
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The action was taken after a memory stick was found in a pub car park containing confidential passcodes to the online Government Gateway system, which covers everything from tax returns to parking tickets.
An urgent investigation is now under way into how the stick, belonging to the company which runs the flagship system, came to be lost.
Read more...
Monday, October 27, 2008
Police Will Use New Device To Take Fingerprints In Street
Every police force in the UK is to be equipped with mobile fingerprint scanners - handheld devices that allow police to carry out identity checks on people in the street.
The new technology, which ultimately may be able to receive pictures of suspects, is likely to be in widespread use within 18 months. Tens of thousands of sets - as compact as BlackBerry smartphones - are expected to be distributed.
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'As long as they aren't added to databases', yeah as if that isn't going to happen !
The new technology, which ultimately may be able to receive pictures of suspects, is likely to be in widespread use within 18 months. Tens of thousands of sets - as compact as BlackBerry smartphones - are expected to be distributed.
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'As long as they aren't added to databases', yeah as if that isn't going to happen !
Monday, October 20, 2008
Interpol Wants Facial Recognition Database To Catch Suspects
Interpol is planning to expand its role into the mass screening of passengers moving around the world by creating a face recognition database to catch wanted suspects.
Every year more than 800 million international travellers fail to undergo "the most basic scrutiny" to check whether their identity documents have been stolen, the global policing cooperation body has warned.
Senior figures want a system that lets immigration officials capture digital images of passengers and immediately cross-check them against a database of pictures of terror suspects, international criminals and fugitives.
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Every year more than 800 million international travellers fail to undergo "the most basic scrutiny" to check whether their identity documents have been stolen, the global policing cooperation body has warned.
Senior figures want a system that lets immigration officials capture digital images of passengers and immediately cross-check them against a database of pictures of terror suspects, international criminals and fugitives.
Read more...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Private companies could get access to millions of NHS medical records
The Government is considering giving firms access to a massive computer database which will contain the records of almost every man, woman and child in England.
The information is a goldmine for private companies, who could use it for medical research or for helping them to sell products to the NHS.
But privacy campaigners say they are "horrified" by the proposals which could see patients' postcodes, medical conditions and treatments - and in some circumstances, their names - passed on to third parties without their consent.
The database, part of a long-delayed scheme to give NHS staff access to computerised medical records, will hold details of almost all visits by patients to hospitals and GPs.
The plans have been dogged by controversy. Last week. ministers gave in to pressure from privacy campaigners and agreed that medics will have to gain the consent of patients before opening their computer records. Yet patients will have almost no control over the same information being passed on to companies and other bodies outside the NHS.
The Department of Health says most records passed onto third parties would be made anonymous, but admits that identifiable data - which could include patient names - could also be handed on if it was deemed to be more useful.
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The Data Protection Act is dead and buried !!
The information is a goldmine for private companies, who could use it for medical research or for helping them to sell products to the NHS.
But privacy campaigners say they are "horrified" by the proposals which could see patients' postcodes, medical conditions and treatments - and in some circumstances, their names - passed on to third parties without their consent.
The database, part of a long-delayed scheme to give NHS staff access to computerised medical records, will hold details of almost all visits by patients to hospitals and GPs.
The plans have been dogged by controversy. Last week. ministers gave in to pressure from privacy campaigners and agreed that medics will have to gain the consent of patients before opening their computer records. Yet patients will have almost no control over the same information being passed on to companies and other bodies outside the NHS.
The Department of Health says most records passed onto third parties would be made anonymous, but admits that identifiable data - which could include patient names - could also be handed on if it was deemed to be more useful.
Read more...
The Data Protection Act is dead and buried !!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Prisoner data loss firm allowed to work on database of every child in England
The private firm which lost the details of the entire prison population is being allowed to continue working on the controversial project to build a database of every child in England
PA Consulting was branded "completely unacceptable" by ministers and lost its three-year contract with the Home Office after an employee mislaid an unencrypted memory stick containing the names, addresses and expected release dates of all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales.
Its other contracts with the Home Office, worth £8million a year, are now under review.
But the firm is being allowed to continue working on the highly sensitive £224million ContactPoint scheme to create a computerised record of the names, addresses, dates of birth, parents, schools and GPs of all 11 million children in England, which has already been delayed by security concerns.
Critics said the involvement of PA Consulting – which is also working on the national ID card scheme – in the project should lead to it being scrapped completely, before any serious mistakes can be made.
Read more...
PA Consulting was branded "completely unacceptable" by ministers and lost its three-year contract with the Home Office after an employee mislaid an unencrypted memory stick containing the names, addresses and expected release dates of all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales.
Its other contracts with the Home Office, worth £8million a year, are now under review.
But the firm is being allowed to continue working on the highly sensitive £224million ContactPoint scheme to create a computerised record of the names, addresses, dates of birth, parents, schools and GPs of all 11 million children in England, which has already been delayed by security concerns.
Critics said the involvement of PA Consulting – which is also working on the national ID card scheme – in the project should lead to it being scrapped completely, before any serious mistakes can be made.
Read more...
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