UK Jails Schizophrenic for Refusal to Decrypt Files

The first person jailed under draconian UK police powers that Ministers said were vital to battle terrorism and serious crime has been identified by The Register as a schizophrenic science hobbyist with no previous criminal record.

His crime was a persistent refusal to give counter-terrorism police the keys to decrypt his computer files.

The 33-year-old man, originally from London, is currently held at a secure mental health unit after being sectioned while serving his sentence at Winchester Prison.'

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Secret CCTV Cameras Fitted INSIDE People's Homes to Spy on Neighbours Outside

Town halls are installing cameras inside suburban homes to spy on the neighbourhood.
The Big Brother tactic - which is allowed under the anti-terrorist Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - is being used by Croydon council in South London to catch those suspected of 'anti-social behaviour'.
The CCTV cameras are placed inside the house of a willing resident, but trained on the street.
If deemed successful, the £1,000 cameras could be installed across the country to catch low-level offenders.'

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Hackney Council Hires 'Blue Badge' Fraud Spies... at £33,000 a Year

Undercover investigators on salaries of nearly £33,000 are being recruited to spy on motorists suspected of abusing disabled parking badges.
Using powers originally intended to combat terrorism and serious crime, they will undertake covert missions, making use of video and digital cameras ‘or other appropriate methods of surveillance’ to gather evidence for prosecutions.

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Town Halls Banned From Using Spy Laws For Petty Offences

Jacqui Smith is to order an overhaul of the use of the controversial powers which have seen councils target the public for trivial offences such as dog fouling, littering or "bin crimes".
Authorities will be told that use of the legislation, which was designed to tackle serious crime and terrorism, must be proportionate as part of a review of the code of practice.
A consultation will suggest only chief executives should authorise their use. It will also raise the prospect that some public authorities could be stripped of their powers.
It follows growing concern over the potential abuse of powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).

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Councils Ordered To Stop Snooping On Residents

Ministers from the Department of Communities and the Home Office have undertaken a thorough review of official surveillance powers, some of which are open to public bodies such local authorities, the NHS and even the Coastguard.
The review was triggered by ministers’ concerns that incidents where council staff were found putting microchips into residents’ dustbins and tailing parents to school had eroded public support for the entire enforcement system.
Two-thirds of councils have taken up the snooping powers open to them under the Regulation of Investigative Powers Act since its introduction in 2000.
Ministers believe that while surveillance including covert cameras is sometimes necessary to detect offences such as fraud, it must only be used as a last resort and in the most serious cases.
They plan to issue guidance and set strict new limits to ensure that in future the RIPA powers are not used to tackle minor infringements or the law or local regulations.
John Healey, Local Government Minster, said: “My main concern is to tighten up the operation of the system so it can command the public confidence that is needed.
“Councils do need these powers, but they need to use them only when it is necessary and proportionate, and only if the information can not be found another way. They should not be used lightly, because their use is a serious business.”
A number of councils have been accused of snooping since the introduction of Ripa, often for putting microchips in rubbish bins to discover if items had been thrown away which should have been put out to be recycled.

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Council Use Anti-Terror Laws To Spy On Binmen Accused Of 'Accepting Strawberry Pop Bribe To Take Away Trade Waste'

A council used controversial anti-terror laws to spy on a crew of refuse collectors after receiving a tip-off that they were incorrectly emptying a dustbin.
Officials set up an undercover surveillance operation in an attempt to prove the three binmen were being bribed by a newsagent to take away trade waste when he had not paid the extra fee for it to be collected.
Bury Council in Greater Manchester said the investigation proved that the men had removed trade waste - and it also claimed they had used their refuse truck for ‘pecuniary gain’ because one accepted a bottle of strawberry-flavoured mineral water from the shopkeeper.
As a result, the refuse collectors, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were suspended on full pay for ten months and then sacked.
But now they have won more than £100,000 between them in an out-of-court settlement after claiming unfair dismissal.
One of the collectors said: ‘I thought the law allowing secret filming was to help protect us from terrorists - not for filming three binmen who might have made a mistake by collecting an extra bin or accepting a bottle of pop.’
The episode is just the latest example of town halls using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) - introduced in 2000 ‘in the interests of national security’ - to investigate trivial offences.

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This just shows that anti terrorist laws are being abused on a massive scale and for such petty reasons.
What is more indicative is the fact that the council were tipped off by a snooper.
The Stasi in action here and well in the UK!