MORE
POWERS
Council snoopers will be given even greater
powers to pry into our phone, email and internet
records, landing the taxpayer with a bill of
almost £50million.
Town halls, along with the police, security
services, health authorities and other public
bodies, will have access to ' communication'
records of anyone suspected of involvement in
even the most minor crime.
The powers stem from an EU directive supposedly
designed to catch terrorists but it will cost the
taxpayer £46.58million over eight years to
compensate mobile phone companies and internet
firms for storing and providing the data.
(Source: Daily Mail, Aug/08) |
HOW TO FINE
FAMILIES
Bureaucrats are being sent on a £9,400-a-head
course to learn how to slap bin fines on
families, at taxpayers' expense.
The "waste prevention" diploma teaches
council officials to "encourage" people
to cut waste using taxes.
Workers are also taught to "monitor"
how much households throw away during the
graduate-level course, which includes a two-day
residential jolly.
Shadow local government minister Bob Neill said,
"Taxpayers will be shocked that their money
is being spent on bin degrees for town hall
bureaucrats, rather than focusing on emptying
rubbish bins on time."
He added, "Government quangos are training
an army of bin bullies to fine hard-working
families and pensioners for minor breaches, such
as not closing a bin lid or putting their rubbish
out on the wrong day."
But the Government's rubbish watchdog Wrap, which
is running the diploma, rejected the claim. In a
statement, the taxpayer-funded quango said,
"We don't accept these courses are poor
value for money. They help to keep waste out of
landfills, which saves taxpayers money and is
good for the environment." (Source: The Sun, Nov/09) |
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SNOOPERS
Britain's next census will include intrusive questions
about the nation’s sleeping arrangements. It will
ask about the number of bedrooms in a home and the name,
sex and birth date of any “overnight visitors”.
The “bedroom snooper” survey will effectively
quiz the nation on its sex life. Everyone must answer
when the survey is carried out in March 2011. There will
be new questions about second homes and what kind of
central heating is installed. There will also be
questions on citizenship, language and the length of time
overseas nationals intend to stay in the country.
Other questions, which were not included in the last
census carried out in 2001, will ask how well people can
speak English, how they define their national identity
and whether they are married or in civil partnerships.
Fines of £1,000 can be imposed for failing to answer or
giving a false answer to census questions. Shadow Cabinet
Office minister Nick Hurd hit out at the “invasive
and intrusive” new demands. He warned that the
questions showed no respect for privacy and would
undermine public confidence in the survey which is
conducted every 10 years.
He said, “An increasingly invasive and intrusive
census will erode public support, cost more and result in
a less accurate survey. Just because the Government has
the legal powers to ask these questions does not give the
state the licence to ask anything they want. These
bedroom snoopers are yet another sign of how the Labour
Government has no respect for the privacy of law-abiding
citizens.” (Source: Daily Express, Oct/09)
Official snoopers will be given extra powers
to enter homes and businesses, despite a pledge by Gordon
Brown to crack down on laws that infringe privacy.
Thirteen pieces of legislation that reinforce or extend
such powers are on their way through Parliament. Among
the laws are powers for a new quango, the Homes and
Communities Agency, to enter and survey any home to
assist in the compulsory purchase of it. State officials
will be able to break into cars if they suspect someone
of evading road taxes.
In October, the Prime Minister admitted that the 266
existing powers of the state to enter homes and premises
without permission undermined "liberty and
privacy". He promised to curtail these laws under a
new "liberty test". The existing laws allow
animal welfare inspectors, as well as bureaucrats from
health and safety or customs and excise acccess to homes.
Last April the Centre for Policy Studies highlighted the
expansion of entry powers under Labour.
It warned that due to the "proliferation and variety
of entry powers", householders cannot now
"realistically be aware" of their rights and
legal obligations. This prompted Mr Brown's assurance
that action would be taken. "Any change should be
and will be accompanied by guidance on how these powers
should be exercised and the rights members of the public
have to take action if these expectations are not
met," he said. (Source: Daily Mail, Feb/08)
Government agencies will be able to access
e-mail and phone data, under measures unveiled by
ministers. Local councils will be among the bodies able
to use surveillance to investigate crimes, protect
national security and protect public safety. They will be
able to use the powers to collect taxes. Initial plans to
revise legislation were dubbed the "snooper's
charter" when announced by home secretary David
Blunkett in 2002. In a separate development phone
companies and internet service providers will be told by
the government to keep records of phone calls and
internet visits for a year.
The civil rights campaigners Liberty have denounced the
latest plans which give agencies such as fire
authorities, jobcentres, the Postal Services Commission,
the Gaming Board and the Charity Commission the power to
use surveillance to investigate crime. Liberty director
Shami Chakrabati said, "This underlines the
uncomfortable fact that the British public are the most
spied upon people in the Western world. The government
has failed to learn from its mistakes. After the original
"snoopers' charter" was published last year,
the government was forced to retreat after enormous
public outcry. We hope the same happens again".
When the home secretary announced plans to revise
existing legislation last year to expand the list of
organisations allowed access to phone and internet
records concern was raised by Liberty about privacy being
eroded. Under the revised legislation, fire authorities
and ambulance services will be given automatic access to
phone and internet data along with six other state
agencies. They will be able to access subscribers' names
and addresses and details of telephone calls and e-mails
made and received. They can also get hold of mobile phone
operators' data that pinpoints a user's location within a
few hundred yards.
The other organisations with automatic access to this
information are the UK Atomic Energy Constabulary, the
Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency, the Maritime and
Coastguard Agency, Financial Services Authority, Office
of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and the
Radiocommunications Agency. The spokesman said the latest
announcement was about providing a "statutory
framework" and "imposing further
restrictions" on the use of existing powers.
"The new measures set out restrictions on the data
organisations can get, states that only senior people
will be allowed access and specifies the reason for
collating this data - the prevention and detection of
crime," he said.
The content of conversations or e-mails will still be
subject to a warrant. These powers were previously the
domain of only the police, MI5, MI6, government listening
post GCHQ, Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue. A
total of 500 other bodies, including councils, have more
limited access to personal information under the
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) passed two
years ago. Home Office minister Caroline Flint said,
"These proposals are about vital investigatory tools
being used now to prevent and detect crime and, in some
cases, save lives." Only designated senior officials
will be able to order investigations.
There will be regular checks by the Interception of
Communications Commissioner, Sir Swinton Thomas, to
ensure powers are not being abused, said the Home Office.
Agencies will be given training on the law and how to
maximise privacy, it continued. The minister said,
"We need to ensure that we strike the right balance
between the privacy of the citizen and the need to
investigate crime and protect the public. I believe that
the new order achieves that balance."
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