Nick Griffin: Brave or foolhardy?

There was a photo of Nick Griffin in today's Metro proudly holding his invitation to yesterday's 'garden party' - which can't have been much fun as it was raining yesterday afternoon in London.

What is surprising is that he is holding it so that his home address - Y'Gribin, Llanerfyl, Y Trallwng, Welshpool, SY21 0JQ - is clearly legible.

Government Data Loss Of The Week

From the BBC:

The private financial details of up to 50,000 people who claim tax credits have been mistakenly sent out in the post by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Claimants were sent their annual tax credit award notice, along with personal details of other claimants. One woman from Hyde in Greater Manchester has told the BBC her letter included her neighbour's earnings. She also got the bank sort code and the last four digits of the bank account number of another claimant. The HMRC has said the mistake was caused by a printing error and it will be apologising to all the people affected.

"Health records found in Asda car park"

Spotted over at the BBC, does what it says on the tin.

Headline Of The Day

From The Metro: Ex-spy accused of stealing secrets.

In case that's not quite clear to the reader, the article continues: A former spy accused of stealing and disclosing top secret material was appearing in court on Thursday... He is accused of stealing the material and of breaching the Official Secrets Act by disclosing the files...

Yup, right. That's what spies do, they steal secrets, and once caught, they stop stealing secrets, their spying careers are at an end and they become 'ex-spies'. I suppose the novelty here is that the chap worked for, and stole secrets from, our Secret Service, in which case he's not really an ex-spy so much as a 'traitor' or a 'double agent' or something a bit more exciting than an 'ex-spy'.

And they say it like it's A Bad Thing?

From The Times:

Josh Ryan-Collins, of the New Economics Foundation, said: “There’s a sense that they are using their market power to dominate aspects of the economy. There is a need for more affordable housing but there is a danger with Tesco’s moves. If they provide the mortgage, if they act as estate agent, if they provide a credit card, if they sell you a house, they will end up with more personal information about you than the Government.”

OK. Firstly, the info that Tesco collect via your Clubcard or mortgage statement etc. is entirely voluntarily given, and information on mortgage applications tends to get pooled behind the scenes anyway.

Secondly, the statement is quite simply untrue - Tesco wouldn't have (or shouldn't have) access to HM Revenue & Customs, NHS details, criminal records, Contact Point and Heaven forfend, things like DNA records etc.

Thirdly, if we agree that it is A Bad Thing for large organisations to have 'too much' information on you, why doesn't this particular taxpayer-funded leftie 'think tank' say the same thing about the database state?

Another lousy excuse for having ID cards

From The Metro:

Residents in Manchester will become the first people in Britain to be able to apply for ID cards. They can now directly apply to attend appointments from November 30 to have their photograph and fingerprints taken for the £30 cards at Manchester's passport office.

Junior Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said the cards would be particularly useful for students and young people as they would "save the cost and hassle" of getting into clubs and bars. "Really for a lot of people it's a day-to-day convenience thing. For a lot of young people ... they often take their passports to prove their identity in nightclubs and bars and the Passport Service sweeps these up every week. So for a lot of people it'll save the cost and hassle of taking your passport, risking losing it and instead you've got this very convenient little credit-sized card. I've got one and it's very useful."

They are really scraping the barrel now. If they wanted more people to go to clubs and bars, they could just scrap the smoking ban. We've had pubs for centuries and it's never been a problem to get in.

Then it gets absolutely laughable:

The ID cards are very hard to copy and are very secure, with biometric information stored on a database, she added. "This is not a database that can be downloaded onto disks," she said. "It's going to be held in different places so there'll be fingerprints and your picture on one database and your biographical information (on another), which is I must stress just the same as what's held by the Passport Service anyway ... and they will be linked together by another database."

The database would only be used for "serious crime issues" or identity concerns at a border...

Memory loss of the day

From the BBC:

A memory stick containing information on hundreds of police investigations has gone missing in Edinburgh. A search was launched after the loss was reported on 26 February - up to two months after it disappeared at Lothian and Borders Police's headquarters.

Stupid reader's letter of the day

From The FT:

Sir, With reference to Sue Cameron’s Notebook (Wanted: Champion earner for old rope, February 4), the advertisement for the National Identity Scheme commissioner makes abundantly clear that this is not a "selling job for ID cards". The commissioner will be an independent regulator who will act in the interests of the public.

When people talk to me about identity cards, one of their most frequent concerns is how they can be sure their data will be secured safely. The commissioner will have oversight of this, reporting at least once a year to parliament. The government is committed to genuine independence and powers of scrutiny for this role.

Meg Hillier, Minister for Identity, London.

"Act in the interests of the public"? Hmmm. How about just not having ID cards in the first place? What could possibly go wrong?

On a related topic, half a cheer for Chris Grayling of the Tories, who appears to oppose the travel data scheme, although whether out of principle or because it simply won't work on a technical level, is unclear.

I bet nobody saw this one coming ... (2)

From The Metro:

Fears that new Google software will spy on workers

The internet giant is marketing its Latitude download as a way for friends to keep in touch or for anxious parents to keep tabs on their children. Google has been accused of putting a spy in everyone's pocket by launching software which maps the location of mobile phone users anywhere in the world...

A spokesman for data watchdog, the information commissioner, said: 'Customers opting into the service should be made aware of how their information will be used. We will be monitoring the system closely.'

Oh, I bet they bloody well will! They must be positively salivating at the thought.

What can possibly go wrong? (2)

Obnoxio assesses the impact of The EU Council Decision of 20 January 2009 on the establishment of the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) in application of Article 11 of Framework Decision 2008/…/JHA*

* I hope this isn't a spoof or something.

What can possibly go wrong?

From The Metro:

400,000 to access children's data