Big Brother is watching you
Posted on Wednesday, November 01, 2006




Source: Western Mail

If you are worried about the introduction of ID cards then hear this. An official report into the rise of the Big Brother state has suggested that Britons may be implanted with microchips like pet dogs.

Such a move would allow each of us to be tracked. Implants, which could store our medical and police records, could be used by our bosses to keep tabs on our movements or by governments who want to identify all citizens.

The prospect of such "tagging" has been raised in a report into the spread of surveillance, drawn up by academics for Information Commissioner Richard Thomas.

It warns what Britain, whose inhabitants are already the most spied-upon in the free world, may be like in 10 years time.

By 2016 almost our every movement, purchase and communication could be recorded by inter-linking monitors.

Today the typical Briton will be caught on camera up to 300 times a day. The UK now has 4.2 million public CCTV cameras, or one for every 14 people - more than any other country.

Thomas says, "People are being scrutinised and having their lives tracked and they are not even aware of it."

And then in comes Tony Blair to suggest all British citizens should have their DNA stored on a police database, causing opposition MPs and civil rights groups to suggest a "sinister" attempt to turn every citizen into a suspect.

But where's the surprise in being considered a criminal? George Orwell and his dictum "Big Brother is watching you" have nothing on today's culture - a blend of nanny-state-meets-Eastern-Bloc.

Aren't we all being treated as potential crooks already thanks to the raft of cameras, or the law which recently saw a motorist given a £50 fine for throwing a banana skin off his windscreen after yobs threw it there?

This year, with every crime made arrestable - including driving in a bus lane or dropping a piece of litter - the number on the DNA database is set to soar.

Reforms in 2000 mean officers no longer have to erase entries in which people were cleared or a prosecution dropped and in 2004, the power to take swabs was extended to cover anyone arrested even if they later face no charge.

Now in England, ministers plan to use detailed data - bought from stores and credit card firms - to rate the desirability of an area and its council tax bill.

Labelled a "Big Brother" computer scheme, the software contains 287 "lifestyle variables" which include information on whether you wear contact lenses or are vegetarian, the size of your phone bill, what pets you own and where you go on holiday.

The least paranoid among us may have become increasingly wary of stepping outside the front door. Even if you stay inside, your freedom is curbed.

A South London council is banning people from smoking in their own home while carers or maintenance staff are visiting.

If you're a doctor or nurse for East Lancashire NHS, remember you should avoid wearing novelty socks because they are deemed distracting, though if you work on a paediatric ward they may be allowed - with permission.

And if you work for British Airways, don't for God's sake, put a cross around your neck.

Some roads, via a mix of penalties from enforcement cameras and parking attendants, raise more than £1m a year in parking fines - watch out Pontcanna!

Of course, if you live in Richmond in South-West London and own a "gas-guzzling" car, you will soon be paying £300 for a permit to park outside the house (and £450 if you have another high- polluting car, such as a 4x4).

If there's another knock at the door, don't assume it's the window cleaner if you live in England. It might well be one of a new army of council tax inspectors come to flush you out.

Armed with cameras, they will be able to take photos of any home improvements that could mean higher bills, and if you refuse to let them in you could be fined an initial £1,000 and then £200 for each day afterwards.

Don't think the children are exempt from the whose-been -a-naughty-boy-or-girl culture.

Before entering the classroom, a child might face an airport-style security check, thanks to a government crackdown on the growing knife culture.

At home, there's another knock on the door and it's the council (again) many of whom are considering charging families up to £200 a year for putting out bin bags instead of recycling sacks.

Of course, anything helping to halt the decline in the health of the planet is welcome, but this will come at a cost. You might fall foul of the law like Michael Reeves of Swansea, who was fined £200 by a court after a scrap of paper with his name on it was found in a bin bag meant for bottles and cans.

Want to get away from it all? Brace yourself for a "global warming" tax of up to £50 - what the aviation industry is calling a "tax on holidays".

At best, we are looking forward to a limit on global warming (as well as civil liberties) and at worst an increase in stealth taxes.

Where once you climbed in your car and set off, you should now realise congestion charging may be extended to some of the UK's busiest motorways - and thanks to the growing use of automatic number plate recognition, your journey can be tracked.

Did you know that a record is kept of every internet site you visit? Or that the advent of ID cards will mean a record of every time you have anything to do with a public service?

There's not just unwarranted intrusions into privacy, there's also the danger of authorities holding inaccurate information.

Richard Thomas cites an example of a schoolgirl whose playground chat resulted in her father being refused work because he was classed as a suspected paedo- phile.

A dinner lady overheard the little girl saying, "My dad bonked me last night" and reported it to school authorities.

Social services discovered she had meant her father tapped her playfully on the head with an inflatable hammer and the file was closed. But five years later the father discovered he was still a suspected sex offender.So even if you haven't done anything wrong, the state may decide otherwise.
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