Mon 20 Nov 2006; rpt Sat 25 Nov 7.05pm; Wed 29 Nov 10pmHow is information being collected? Could new identity technology actually put at risk the very people it seeks to protect?
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Since Tony Blair's New Labour government came to power in 1997, the UK civil liberties landscape has changed dramatically. ASBOs were introduced by Section 1 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and first used in 1999. The right to remain silent is no longer universal. Our right to privacy, free from interception of communications has been severely curtailed. The ability to travel without surveillance (or those details of our journeys being retained) has disappeared.
Also, cameras will be able to identify "abnormal" behaviour. For instance, if someone is standing near a cash machine, but not using it, software can alert the CCTV operator. Which is fine until you stop to consider just what suspicious behaviour might entail.
"Perhaps," as Porter asks, "it's time for us to start practising our normal behaviour."
Another argument, it is often pointed out, is if we aren't doing anything wrong, and we don't have anything to hide, we should have nothing to fear from all this legislation.
Porter demolishes this last argument by stating it's not a question of individuals doing "wrong", it's a question of how much we can trust future governments. There is immense potential for future authoritarian regimes to abuse anti-liberty legislation and the huge new supply of information it provides for them. What's more, as Porter shows, these abuses are already happening now.
Porter also blasts the argument about terrorism. First, backed up by the former US Presidential candidate Al Gore, the film describes how counter-productive all this directionless information gathering can be. In making suspects of us all, our governments are actually making it harder for security forces to target the real trouble-makers.
"We're looking for needles in haystacks and the Bush Cheney administration keeps piling more hay on top of the stacks," explains Gore.
Secondly, in a triumphant piece of investigative reporting, Porter demonstrates that the new tools that are supposed to fight terrorism could actually make life easier for those that want to hide their true identity. He meets a security expert who demonstrates just how easy it is to crack into the signals given off from CCTV cameras and by downloading their footage could gain crucial security information from the people they follow (for instance the cameras can be used to work out security protocols inside buildings).
Meanwhile, the chips that will go into ID cards and into our passports contain information that can easily be obtained, and potentially duplicated, by outside sources. Porter argues that in the not too distant future terrorists will be able to furnish themselves with the perfect alibi and hiding place. They will be able to take the data from the chips we will all be required to carry, and become us.
As Porter asks: "Is this really what we want for ourselves?"
Channel 4 linksHow Secure is the Net?
Counter-Terror: Fact or Fiction
Science of Secrecy
External related linksComment is freeHenry Porter's blog on 'The Guardian's' site.
LibertyOne of the UK's leading human rights and civil liberties organisations.
The Home OfficeWith info on crime, security, passports and immigration, anti-social behaviour, justice and prisons.
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