Opinion: Lib Dems must lead the way in improving scrutiny of council surveillance

Written by Chris Ward on 3rd May 2009 – 5:25 pm

Media coverage of the abuses by various councils regarding the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) has been very welcome. Conversely, it has unfortunately meant that (at least from my experience) whenever it is brought up at council, those who dare scrutinise the usage of this law are dismissed as bandwagon-jumpers who simply wish to capitalize on the media orgy against council surveillance.

This is why I brought a motion to Liberal Youth Conference in February that was passed unanimously to make restrictions on the legislation party policy; and Liberal Youth subsequently chose for it to go …


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Posted in Big mad database, LDV campaigns, Local government, Op-eds | Comments Off

The Independent View: Statebook – knowledge is power

Written by Jim Killick on 13th April 2009 – 12:30 pm

Launching our spoof Statebook website and campaign this bank holiday, we knew we’d be tapping into a strong and growing public unease about digital privacy.

Data leaks, massive government IT projects and ‘data retention’ are creating a sense that things in this area are going in the wrong direction. Perhaps people aren’t aware of all the details – but they know there’s a problem.

Statebook tries to bridge that gap by illustrating the wealth of information the government already holds on you, and how the government wants to get its hands on even more if it can – popularising the …


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Posted in Op-eds, The Independent View | 1 Comment »

The database state and the true cost of Labour’s free lunches

Written by James Graham on 23rd March 2009 – 9:55 am

During the Unlock Democracy debate at the Convention on Modern Liberty last month, Justice Minister Michael Wills defended the growth of the database state by arguing:

“We’ve heard a lot of about datasharing today. But that datasharing, that so many here today say is an unacceptable intrusion of privacy by the state, can actually help thousands and thousands of children who are eligible for free school meals but don’t get them at the moment… Look, it’s all very well for you to sit here. You’ve probably all had a hot meal in the last week. One


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Posted in Big mad database, Op-eds | 7 Comments »

Lib Dems help force Labour data sharing U-turn

Written by Stephen Tall on 18th March 2009 – 8:54 pm

A big well done to Lib Dem MP Adrian Sanders for what his blog calls his “little victory” in helping to force the Government to drop proposals which would have allowed people’s details to be shared between organisations. The BBC reports:

The Lib Dems said plans for secret inquests in England and Wales were “misguided” and they would continue to oppose any moves which “undermined” the jury system. … They would have allowed ministers to apply for orders to remove data protection restrictions preventing the use of information for secondary purposes in certain circumstances.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw had argued


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Posted in News | 4 Comments »

Enough is enough

Written by Alex Foster on 5th January 2009 – 9:22 am

Anyone from any political persuasion can list things this Government has done that annoy them.

Personally, I was annoyed enough to join millions of others on the march against the war in Iraq – now it’s time to hold them to account.

I’m not so sure how I will react if and when I get the orders from the Government to present myself at the interrogation centre in nearby Derby and hand over more personal information than is currently demanded from sex offenders.  I’m not certain I’m ready to join Simon Hughes in jail for refusing an ID card.

I’ve never …


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Posted in News, e-campaigning | 5 Comments »

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