RFID, GPS Technology and Electronic Surveillance

Fight Against Terror Must Mean the End of Ordinary People’s Privacy, Says Ex-Security Chief

February 25, 2009

Mail Online - Personal data of innocent citizens must be made available to the Government to combat terrorism, according to an influential former security chief. Sir David Omand, Whitehall’s former and security and intelligence coordinator, called for unprecedented Big Brother powers to allow access to private details - including phone records, emails and travel information - to be given to the intelligence services.

Setting out a hugely controversial blueprint for the future of national security he said ‘moral rules’ about individual privacy would have to be broken. His 17-page report calls for the creation of a vast state database to gather information about terrorist groups which are increasingly recruiting and operating online. But he argued that a citizen’s right to privacy would have to be sacrificed to allow ‘intrusive’ intelligence techniques...

Speak Out Against National Animal Identification System (NAIS)

February 18, 2009

Mother Earth News - Animal owners, consumers and taxpayers: NAIS ALERT! Protect your right to farm and to eat local food. Speak out against the National Animal Identification System!

The USDA has proposed a rule to require all farms and ranches where animals are raised to be registered in a federal database under the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) for existing disease control programs. The draft rule covers programs for cattle, sheep, goats and swine. It also sets the stage for the entire NAIS program to be mandated for everyone, including anyone who owns even one livestock animal (for example, a single chicken or a horse). Learn more about the legislation in The Truth About the Animal ID Plan.

It’s critical that the USDA and Congress hear from the hundreds of thousands of people who will be adversely affected by the NAIS program. This includes not only animal owners, but also consumers who care about local and sustainable foods, taxpayers who object to wasteful government programs, and advocates for a safer food system...

Symposium Planned to Discuss Implementation of Nationwide Mileage-Based Taxing System

February 18, 2009

JustGetThere - Public officials from several states are gathering in Austin, Texas this April for a symposium to discuss the implementation of a nationwide, mileage-based taxing system to replace the gas tax... The technology that will be used is a RFID embedded sticker and GPS satellite boxes installed in all vehicles and gas stations...

BBC Shills for Cashless Society

February 16, 2009

BBC News - Consumers in the UK should expect a revolution in the way they pay for things in the near future, according to payments association Apacs. The cheque, which is 350 years old on 16 February, is said to be in irreversible decline as innovation points towards a cashless society. Banks will increasingly battle for a consumer to use one card exclusively.

But as consumers prepare to pay and access accounts using their mobiles, retailers are worried costs will rise. By 2015, the number of payments made by cash in the UK will be overtaken for the first time by other ways of paying, according to Apacs. At the end of this year, three million Barclays customers will be able to press their debit card to a sensor in more than 8,000 UK shops to register a payment.

Meanwhile, the UK could mirror technology already used in East Asia where the chip now found in a plastic card is placed in an everyday item such as a mobile phone or a watch. This is then pushed against a sensor in a shop to pay, and is known as “contactless” technology...