First-time applicants for passports may be asked about their credit card debts - which is one result of a link between public and private sector databases.
David Smith, the deputy Information Commissioner, is demanding tighter controls amid concerns the police are pressuring businesses to install closed circuit television because it helps gather intelligence.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
via: The Register
Last month [The Register] reported how … police requested a licensing condition be set for all future events [at South London nightclub SEOne] that “all persons entering the premises must supply verifiable identification details that are passed through a digital scanning and recording system”…
The good news comes from Torture Garden, where a spokesman told us: “We have now met again with SEOne and explained the Data Protection Act. They accept that they do not need to retain data for three years, and have agreed with police and local council that in respect of TG events, and in the absence of serious incident, data will only be kept for 31 days.
“They have also now accepted their obligation to register and appoint a named data controller: and are looking at the possibility of extending the 31-day policy to other events that they host.”
…
The real problem which government seems determined to ignore is the “big picture”. If one club has ID scanning, it is … a matter of choice for individuals whether they visit that club or not. If all clubs in an area have scanning, then there is no choice.
… Another privacy concern repeatedly mentioned to the European Commission these days is behavioural advertisement: systems that monitor internet users’ web browsing to better target them with advertisements. Now, European privacy rules are crystal clear: a person’s information can only be used with their prior consent. And ee cannot give up this basic principle, and have all our exchanges monitored, surveyed and stored, in exchange for a promise of “more relevant” advertisement! The Commission is closely monitoring the use of behavioural advertising to ensure respect for our privacy rights. I will not shy away from taking action where an EU country falls short of this duty….
Source: European Commission, Viviane Reding
There is a video of her full speech and also a transcript.
A place to access your citizens’ information. Statebook
Airport face scanners designed to verify travellers’ identity against their passport photographs are working at such a low level that they would be unable to tell the difference between Osama bin Laden and the actress Winona Ryder, it has been claimed.
In a leaked memo, an official says the machines have been recalibrated to an “unacceptable” level meaning travellers whose faces are shown to have only a 30 per cent likeness to their passport photographs can pass through.
Source: Telegraph
Hat Tip: Phil
European authorities are to investigate consumer profiling by online advertisers amid allegations by senior European Union officials that “basic rights in terms of transparency, control and risk” are being violated.
Officials say they will collect evidence from consumers and industry on the information commercial websites are collecting and how it is being used. It could result in new controls on online advertisers, internet service providers and networking sites.
Source: Financial Times
Hat tip: William
Security flaws have halted work on the internet database designed to hold the details of 11 million children and teenagers.
… a spokeswoman for the DCSF said that the department had ordered a “pause in the ongoing data update” pending an investigation into the shielding problems.
The shielding system for vulnerable children is supposed to withdraw everything but a child’s name, sex and age from the computer record that will be available to 400,000 children’s services workers with access to the database. But local authority staff who have been uploading information on to ContactPoint have discovered that the shielding does not always work.
Source: The Times
Seven of the UK’s biggest web firms have been urged to opt out of a controversial ad-serving system.
Phorm - aka Webwise - profiles users’ browsing habits and serves up adverts based on which sites they visit.
In an open letter, the Open Rights Group (ORG) has asked the firms to block Phorm’s attempts to profile their sites, to thwart the profiling system.
Source: BBC
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the world wide web, has warned MPs and peers that they should not allow third parties, including commercial companies, to snoop on people’s internet browsing.
Source: Guardian
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