Annual Report of the Chief Surveillance Commissioner to the Prime Minister and to Scottish Ministers for 2007-2008 by the Rt. Hon. Sir Christopher Rose

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Annual Report of the Chief Surveillance Commissioner to the Prime Minister and to Scottish Ministers for 2007-2008 (.pdf 32 pages) by the Rt. Hon. Sir Christopher Rose, published on 22nd July 2008.

Unlike the other two RIPA Commissioners, there is a website for this one: Office of Surveillance Commissioners, which implies a bit more openness and transparency, but not much.

There is no mention this year of Automatic Number Plate Recognition, despite the mention of it in the previous two Annual Reports, and despite the scandalous slurping of the London Congestion Charge scheme CCTV, ANPR and other data into a secret Metropolitan Police system, which we wrote to Sir Christopher about, to no avail.

Sir Christopher gives no details about the use of the new RIPA Part III section 49 notice powers to demand Encryption Keys or plaintext decrypted electronic data, which came into force on 1st October 2007.

There are no more details about the Sadiq Khan MP / Babar Ahmad bugging in Woodhill Prison scandal, which Sir Christopher produced a separate report on.

The reports by the Chief Surveillance Commissioner manage to give a breakdown into various broad categories e.g. illegal drugs, kidnapping, terrorism etc. of the statistics which they publish, without compromising any national security or serious organised crime investigations, so why can't the other RIPA Commissioners do likewise ?

Local Authorities, by virtue of dealing with far fewer requests for Directed Surveillance or for the use of Covert Human Intelligence Sources than the Police, spend less on training, make more mistakes and do not seem to understand the concept of "proportionality". We feel that they should be stripped of these RIPA powers entirely.

Sir Christopher makes some peculiar comments on the Freedom of Information Act, to which his Office is not actually subject.

See our more detailed comments on this latest report below:


As with all of these RIPA Commissioner reports, several paragraphs are devoted simply to explaining which bits of the complicated legislation this particular Commissioner operates under.

The Chief Surveillance Commissioner operates under 3 Acts of Parliament:

1.2. It is my duty to keep under review:

(a) The performance of functions under Part III of the Police Act 1997 ('the 1997 Act');

(b) (except in relation to the Interception of Communications and the Intelligence Services) the exercise and performance of the powers and duties conferred or imposed by or under Part II of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ('RIPA'); and

(c) The exercise and performance of the powers and duties conferred or imposed by or under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 ('RIP(S)A').

The Scottish version of RIPA is more akin to the Police Act 1997 Part III, than to the main Regulation of investigatory Powers Act 2000 i.e. it does not cover interception of communications , communications traffic data or encryption keys.

1.3. This covers the covert activities (except telephone and mail interception) carried out by all public authorities, except the intelligence services. This now include Part III of RIPA relating to protected electronic information which came into force during the period covered by this report.

We were expecting some actual mention of RIPA Part III section 49 notices for encryption keys (or the plaintext of data protected by those keys) in this report, but there is none.

1.4. It is the duty of the Surveillance Commissioners ('the Commissioners') to appraise all authorisations for property interference and intrusive surveillance either before or immediately after they have been given. There is a right of appeal against their decisions to me.

Almost none of the general public even know about the existence of the Chief Surveillance Commissioner, so it is hardly a surprise that there are many appeals to him about abuses of surveillance which happens in secret.

Similarly there is no further detail on the Sadiq Khan MP / Babar Ahmad bugging in Woodhill Prison scandal:

2.5. Finally, I was asked by the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Justice to investigate and report on two visits by Sadiq Khan MP to Babar Ahmad at Her Majesty's Prison Woodhill. I submitted my Report to the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor and the Home Secretary on 20th February 2008. I make no further reference to it in this report. The Report was presented to the House of Commons by the Home Secretary on 21st February and published in full. It speaks for itself.

See Report on two visits by Sadiq Khan MP to Babar Ahmad at HM Prison Woodhill" - Rt. Hon. Sir Christopher Rose finds no illegality

Neither prisons nor secure mental hospitals are actually within the statutory remit of any of the RIPA Commissioners, but the Interception of Communications and the Chief Surveillance Commissioners were asked to inspect them anyway by the Home Secretary.

3.2. I have now conducted the first inspections of the Healthcare Commission, the Gambling Commission and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority. I no longer intend to inspect the special hospitals at Ashworth, Broadmoor and Rampton because legislative adjustments indicate that they can no longer grant covert activity independently. Any covert activity to be conducted in these establishments should be authorised by the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service which I already inspect.

These "special hospitals" are where some extremely dangerous criminally insane people are held, supposedly under conditions of high security.

3.3. I have not inspected the Local Authorities in Northern Ireland as I have not beengiven the power to do so. I note that these authorities have never been inspected.

Given the disproportionate behaviour of some Local Authorities in England and Wales, there is no excuse for Local Authorities in Northern Ireland to be exempt from inspections. This needs to be fixed in any amended Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

3.4. The Commissioners have deduced that they do not currently have the statutorypowers to provide the independent judicial oversight required by the judgment delivered in the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland, Queen's Bench Division (Judicial Review) in the matter of an application by C, A, W, M and McE ([2007] NIQB 101) relating to the conduct of covert activity that is considered likely to acquire confidential information as defined by the legislation. I understand that the judgement is the subject of appeal to the House of Lords.

"judgment" or "judgement" ? Technically "judgement" is the correct British spelling, and "judgment" is the American version, but even the House of Lords , the highest Court in the United Kingdom seems to be using the US spelling - see House of Lords Judgments , and this is also the usage on the Judiciary of England and Wales website.

If the "e" is really superfluous, then why not spell "Judge" as "Judg" or even phonetically as "Juj" ?

Is this a deliberate choice, or is it sneaking in because people have not installed a British dictionary in their American computer software ?

See C & Ors, Re Judicial Review [2007] NIQB 101 (30 November 2007)
which involves cases where the authorities have electronically snooped on supposedly legally privileged conversations between lawyers and their clients, and between doctors and conducting psychiatric medical examinations in police stations. or prisons,

Why is the Government seeking to continue with these clear breaches of Article 8 in Northern Ireland, especially following the promises made by Ministers about "legal privilege" following the Sadiq Khan MP / Babar Ahmad bugging in Woodhill Prison scandal ? ?

5.2. I continue to require Chief Officers to report to me all covert operations in which statutory requirements have not been observed and also cases which fail in Court on account of defects in covert surveillance. Out of the 56 unauthorised surveillance activities reported to me by law enforcement agencies in this reporting year, most have resulted from the non-retrieval of technical equipment either because circumstances prevented early retrieval or a failure to confirm retrieval at the time the relevant authorisation was cancelled. I am, however, satisfied that appropriate remedial action has been taken in each case.

We assume that this "non-retrieval of technical equipment" i.e. "electronic probes", audio and/or video transmitters or recorders, and vehicle tracking devices etc. is also what has happened with

Thirteen errors in respect of RIPA authorisations and ISA warrants

alluded to in the Report of the Intelligence Services Commissioner for 2007 by Rt. Hon. Sir Peter Gibson

the majority of the thirteen errors occurred in respect of surveillance and interference with property for which there was for a comparatively short time no valid authorisation or warrant in force

There seems to have been an increase in Kidnapping investigations, compared with the previous year:

Property interference

6.3. Excluding renewals, there were 2,493 property interference authorisations during 2007-2008, which is slightly up on the previous year (2,311). There were 525 renewals of authorisations made during 2007-2008, compared with 481 in the previous year.

6.4. There were 242 cases where the urgency provisions allowed for in the legislation were used. There were also two cases where an authorisation was properly given in the absence of the Chief Officer. In the previous year these figures were 216 and four respectively. The increase in the number of urgent cases again appears to be due to the large numbers of investigations into offences of kidnapping.

There is an obscure hint about illegal surveillance which has been detected, but which is not being prevented by Surveillance Commissioners:

6.6. Four authorisations were quashed, where the necessity test was not met - the same number as in the previous year. There were also four invalid cases where there was no power to quash or cancel the authorisations because they did not fall within the relevant Act.

How can there be authorisations for intrusive property interference which "did not fall within the relevant Act." ?

How often is this legal loophole being exploited ?

Intrusive surveillance

6.7. There were 355 intrusive surveillance authorisations during 2007-2008 which is comparable with numbers authorised in the previous year (350). Renewals of authorisations also remain relatively stable, with 77 renewals granted this year, compared with 88 during 2006-2007.

6.8. Urgency provisions were used in 25 authorisations this year, without any needing to be signed in the absence of the Chief Officer. This is a significant increase on the previous year where the numbers were 11 and nil respectively.

[...]

Directed surveillance
7.2. Law enforcement agencies granted 18,767 directed surveillance authorisations during the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008, and 3,020 were still in place at the end of that period. This compares with 19,651 and 2,526 respectively in the previous year indicating a relatively stable situation.

7.3. In relation to other public authorities 9,535 directed surveillance authorisations were granted during the year, of which 1,217 were still in place at the end of the reporting year. With a similar number of public authorities providing statistics as in the previous year, this indicates a significant decrease in the use of such powers, the figures for the previous year being 12,494 and 1,800 respectively.

For some reason, Sir Christopher does not bother to explain the jargon term "CHIS", which stands for Covert Human Intelligence Sources i.e. informers, infiltrators, paid denouncers, secret agents, undercover operatives, spies, agent provocateurs,"grasses", "snouts", "touts" etc. Some of these will be decent people, acting as "whistleblowers", others will be active criminals who are being allowed to continue to commit crimes with a view to informing on their bosses or confederates.

CHIS

7.4. There were 4,498 CHIS recruited by law enforcement agencies during the year; 4,653 were cancelled during the year (including some who were recruited in the previous year); and 3,776 were in place at the end of March 2008. The figures for the previous year which were 4,373, 4,800 and 3,705 respectively indicate a stable usage of CHIS.

7.5. During the current reporting year other public authorities recruited 204 CHIS, of whom 105 were cancelled during the year with 72 in place on 31 March 2008. This is a significant reduction in the use of these powers compared with the previous year when there were 429 recruited, 345 cancelled and 143 in place at the end of the year.

Later in the Report, Sir Christopher comments again on the new Police jargon term tasked witness", which was, perhaps, being used as a means of evading the scrutiny procedures laid down for CHIS.

8.9. I reported last year on the use of the term 'tasked witness' as an alternative to the correct, legally recognised term (CHIS). The Commissioners have reconsidered their stance on this issue and confirm that the use of the term is acceptable on the understanding that whatever term is used anyone acting as a CHIS within the legislative definition is treated accordingly.

The correct handling of such CHIS is important because they and their families could well be in physical danger if their identities are revealed by Government data security blunders, or by corrupt insiders.

There are also huge potential dangers for innocent people who may be falsely accused, arrested, fingerprinted, DNA sampled, and dragged through the Courts, without being able to challenge the testimony of CHIS who become Anonymous Witnesses, who may be acting maliciously or for profit. See the controversial Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Act 2008.

It was entirely foreseeable that the use of information technology, coupled with a secretive, bureaucratic mindset, and the vast increase in the use of the RIPA and Police Act surveillance powers, without any public transparency or individual accountability, would result in:

8.8. The areas that have received the most criticism in this reporting period are:

(a) the incorrect reference to biographical detail as the method to judge whether private information will be acquired when the proper consideration is whether privacy, in its widest sense, will be intruded upon;

(b) the use of templated wording which invariably leads to error and is often an indicator of speculative activity;

(c) the timely cancellation of authorisations and insufficient detail in cancellations;

(d) an apparent over-reliance, by authorising officers, on information technology to prompt management actions and the incorrect use of set times before review; and

(e) the continued failure to articulate properly why the proportionality test has been met.

Sir Christopher re-iterates the lack of proper IT security accreditation for the the IT systems which run the " application and authorisation processes"

8.10. Last year I said that there was a need for agreement on who holds the authority to accredit information technology solutions designed to enhance application and authorisation processes. I have not detected any enthusiasm for this but it seems to be an inhibitor to the proper transfer or storage of information especially in the domain of counter terrorism and inter-agency management of CHIS. In my opinion it is an area on which I am entitled to express a view because it is a requirement for RIPA authorising officers to assess risk; they cannot do so if either they do not have the confidence that they have access to all relevant information or the information that they do have is held on systems that they are not certain are secure.

Why are Privately run Prisons, or indeed State run Prisons, not already under the auspices of all of the RIPA Commissioners ?

8.11. I reported last year that I would welcome an improvement to the regulatory oversight of privately run prisons. I have been informed that it is intended to include these establishments, by way of a Statutory Instrument, on the Schedule of public authorities to be inspected by me.

There appears to have been some sloppiness or incompetence by the Security Service MI5:

8.13. I have no responsibility for the inspection of the Security Service's authorisations but have had occasion to criticise the duplication, by the law enforcement agencies, of RIPA authorisations resulting from dissatisfaction with the details contained in the proper authorisation from the Security Service. If those conducting the surveillance are uncomfortable or unsure of what is being required of them then the authorising officer should be challenged to clarify. There can only be one authorising officer per authorisation and one set of documentation.

This issue has not been highlighted by the Intelligence Services Commissioner Sir Peter Gibson, who does have responsibility for the Security Service's authorisations, or perhaps it has, but it is being kept secret.

Local Authorities have been in the news recently, especially the notorious (Conservative run) Poole Council, which has snooped disproportionately on a couple of parents who were applying to place their child in a particular school catchment area.

None of the RIPA Commissioners will investigate any complaints about such abuses from members of the public or from the media, but they might bring up the topic when the Local Authority is next inspected, which might take a couple of years.

The criticisms of the inexperience and lack of training of Local Authority personnel made here, mirrors that made in the Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner for 2007 by the Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Kennedy

9. Inspections of Government Departments and Local Authorities

9.1. This year 174 inspections of Local Authorities were carried out, which is a slight decrease over the preceding year (184). These authorities do not have the power to grant authorisations for property interference or intrusive surveillance and continue to be inspected less often than law enforcement agencies as they use their powers much less (see Annex E).

9.2. The evidence is that these authorities tend to resort to covert activity as a last resort but, when they do, have a tendency to expose lack of understanding of the legislation by completing documentation poorly. In particular there is a serious misunderstanding of the concept of proportionality. It is not acceptable, for example, to judge, that because directed surveillance is being conducted from a public place, this automatically renders the activity overt or to assert that an activity is proportionate because it is the only way to further an investigation. At the end of the reporting period, media reports highlighted the need for a public debate on the use of these powers and specifically the issue of proportionality. I encourage any debate which assists in educating the public and which enables authorising officers to judge proportionality better.

9.3. The inexperience of some authorising officers is matched, in many cases, by poor oversight by those nominated as monitoring officers and a tendency for Chief Executives not to understand the risks that face their authorities. Many authorities do not recognise that they are vulnerable to criticism - and potentially the exclusion of evidence - if activity is conducted without appropriate management or if activity is being conducted in a disproportionate manner. If authorities wish to retain the protection that RIPA affords, I encourage a greater attention to detail.

There is a strong case for Local Authorities to be stripped of these RIPA directed surveillance powers entirely. On the rare occasions where, say a Trading Standards or Environmental Health investigation becomes serious enough to contemplate the use of RIPA powers, it should be handed over to the Police to investigate.

9.4. An area of concern is the increasing temptation to use innovative technology without properly considering the application of the legislation. I cautioned against this last year (paragraph 11.2). It is not necessarily the fault of the authority but is often a reaction to Government initiatives. For example, the use of tracking devices often introduces the need to acquire a property interference authorisation, as well as a directed surveillance authorisation, and this prevents Local Authorities from using this type of activity. Another example is the use of covert techniques to monitor activities which may provide a product, of the same quality as that of a surveillance device inside a private vehicle, which requires consideration of whether the activity is crossing the line into intrusive surveillance, for which Local Authorities do not have the power.

Is Sir Christoper referring to GPS Tracking devices and Directional Microphones ?

Private vehicles (but not necessarily company fleet or commercial vehicles) are treated the same as residential properties (but not necessarily business premises) under European Court of Human Rights case law regarding Article 8 "Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence", which is incorporated into the UK's Human Rights Act 1998 Schedule 1

Local Authorities appear to have similar problems of of infrequent use of RIPA powers, leading to inexperience and a lack of willingness to invest in proper training, in regard to the use of Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS), as they do with Directed Surveillance.

9.7. Another common weakness is where the authorising officer is head of the department conducting the surveillance. If an authorising officer is too close to the investigation it is difficult to demonstrate the independence and objectivity encouraged by the legislation. On the other hand, it is necessary for authorising officers to have sufficient operational experience to exercise judgment. In many cases, authorising officers are conducting detailed operational discussions and managing investigations well, but this sometimes results in scant description of the details of the activity on the RIPA application - the 'who, what, when, where, why and how' of the surveillance activity: this is often not noticed by the authorising officer partly because such discussions have taken place. In these situations, it is often advisable that another authorising officer, less familiar with the specific operational tactics, be used.

There is an even stronger case for Local Authorities to be stripped of their Covert Human Intelligence Sources powers under RIPA, since many of them are already, sensibly, getting their local Police force to handle such sensitive matters. There is no reason why there should not be joint Local Authority Trading Standards and Police investigations into , say, organised gangs of counterfeit goods suppliers etc.

There are some Annexes in the Report with more detailed breakdowns of the statstics, into broad categories which do not compromise national security or criminal investigations. Why can't the other RIPA Commissioners do the same ?
e.g.

Cases requiring prior approval
by category:
• Dwelling
• Office premises
• Hotel bedroom
• Matters subject to legal privilege
• Confidential journalistic material
• Confidential personal information

Assault
Burglary/Robbery
Conspiracy
Drug trafficking
Firearms offences
(including armed robbery)
Kidnap/extortion
Money laundering
Murder/loss of life
Organised illegal immigration
Tax evasion
Terrorism
Other

Cases by category:
• Private vehicle
• Residential premises


What about RIPA Part III ?

Apart from the mention in the paragraphs outlining under what legal powers he operates under, there is no mention whatsoever of any RIPA Part III section 49 notices, which came into force on 1st October 2007, involving Encryption Keys or de-cryptyed plaintext protected electronic data. We know from a Parliamentary Written Answer that there have been at least 8 such cases, and it would have been a bit more reassuring to know that Sir Christopher had actually been informed about them as required.

Finally, the Chief Surveillance Commissioner the Rt. Hon. Sir Christopher Rose seems to hold views about the Freedom of Information Act which contradict, somewhat, those of the Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Kennedy, the interception of Communications Commissioner, when it comes to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

N.B. Unlike , say, the information Commissioner, none of the RIPA Commissioners are technically subject to the FOIA, despite meeting not just one, but both, of the statutory requirements to be placed on the Schedule of Public Bodies i.e. their Offices have been created by an Act of Parliament (RIPA 2000 and Police Act 1997) and they are appointed by a Minister (the Prime Minister).

10. Freedom of Information

10.1. During this reporting period there has been a significant increase in the number of Freedom of Information requests from the media. It is not usually an area on which I comment but I report my concern. I never disclose the contents of my reports to anyone other than the relevant Chief Constable or Chief Executive. But requests to the recipients of my reports have been aimed at acquiring my reports,my correspondence to and from Chief Officers and the action plans related to the recommendations that I make. Responses by public authorities have been inconsistent and there is the perception that a decision by one authority to respond positively may lead the requestor to view negatively those which do not
disclose the information requested.

10.2. When asked for guidance I have responded that it is in the public interest to demonstrate that covert surveillance conducted on behalf of the State is properly regulated. This Annual Report is designed to provide that assurance.

Whilst slightly better than the other RIPA Commissioners' Reports, this Annual Report fails to provide us or the wider public with that assurance.

Seeking assurance of regulation is one thing, but attempting to acquire, under the auspices of freedom of information, operational details or knowledge of covert techniques is another. Redaction of these details from my reports could be misconstrued as secrecy or might adversely affect context and meaning.

There are a huge number of Exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which are regularly applied by the Police and Government Departments, so that is hardly a risk at all.

10.3. I favour the advice provided by the Information Commissioner (Guidance Note 25). I regard myself as a 'qualified person' as defined by Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act and it is my 'reasonable opinion' that for public authorities to disclose the contents of my reports would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. The risk of disclosure might tempt some individuals to withhold the full details of covert activities from me or my representatives; it might inhibit my ability to provide the evidence that is necessary to support my recommendations and it might inhibit the free and frank exchange of views and provision of advice that is currently the hallmark of the relationship which my Office enjoys with public authorities.

How can a former senior Judge regard himself as a "qualified person" under the Freedom of Information Act, when his Office is not actually listed as a Public Body under that Act ? If he wants to be a "qualified person", then he should be pressing to have his Office included in that Schedule of Public Bodies (there about 100,000 of these at present).

See our rejected request for this to happen back in 2006:

Adding Public Bodies to Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act - or not

10.4. I was particularly concerned by one reporter who declared that the reason for seeking the information (detailed statistical data) would "save him time". This is an abuse of the Act and damages the prospects of those making legitimate

This is not and abuse of the Act !

This demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the Freedom of Information Act by Sir Christopher.

There is a presumption of openness and transparency created by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, only under exceptional circumstances is it legitimate for a Public Body to withhold it.

It is entirely legitimate to request such detailed statistical data, without having to give any reason whatsoever, and even without having to give your name and address (a contact email address is sufficient), provided that such data already exists, and would not require excessive extra work to compile specifically for the FOIA request.

There is already a provision for rejecting "vexatious requests", and a vast array of other Exemptions which are regularly rightly used and wrongly abused to hide information from those seeking it under FOIA.

This contrasts with Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner for 2007 by the Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Kennedy, who seems happy enough for Public Authorities like the Police or Local Authorities etc. to comply with FOIA requests:

although there is no reason why public authorities cannot make a further disclosure in compliance with a request under the Freedom of Information Act if they so wish. There is provision for this in the Code of Practice although each public authority must seek my prior approval before making any further disclosure. That is to ensure that the wider public interest is not adversely affected by a disclosure.

There is no mention this year of Automatic Number Plate Recognition, despite the mention of it in the previous two Annual Reports, and the scandalous slurping of the London Congestion Charge scheme CCTV, ANPR and other data, in Bulk, in Real Time, into a secret Metropolitan Police system, presumably so that data mining and snooping on innocent motorists can be conducted without letting Transport for London staff know what is going on, by virue of Data Protection Act section 29 requests for specific, narrowly targeted data.

See our letter to Sir Christopher, which seems to have resulted in no scrutiny of this mass surveillance scheme whatsoever London ANPR mass surveillance snooping - Chief Surveillance Commissioner Sir Christopher Rose refused to get involved

The Chief Surveillance Commissioner has seen your letter and asked me to reply on his behalf. He notes your interest in these matters but does not think it appropriate to answer your questions.

This mechanism of a RIPA Commissioner's Annual Report, does not provide the proper level of transparency and scrutiny of secret snooping and surveillance, which the public has a right to demand in a democratic society.

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About this blog

This United Kingdom based blog attempts to draw public attention to, and comments on, some of the current trends in ever cheaper and more widespread surveillance technology being deployed to satisfy the rapacious demand by state and corporate bureaucracies and criminals for your private details, and the technological ignorance of our politicians and civil servants who frame our legal systems.

The hope is that you the readers, will help to insist that strong safeguards for the privacy of the individual are implemented, especially in these times of increased alert over possible terrorist or criminal activity. If the systems which should help to protect us can be easily abused to supress our freedoms, then the terrorists will have won.

We know that there are decent, honest, trustworthy individual politicians, civil servants, law enforcement, intelligence agency personnel and broadcast, print and internet journalists etc., who often feel powerless or trapped in the system. They need the assistance of external, detailed, informed, public scrutiny to help them to resist deliberate or unthinking policies, which erode our freedoms and liberties.

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Please take the appropriate precautions if you are planning to blow the whistle on shadowy and powerful people in Government or commerce, and their dubious policies. The mainstream media and bloggers also need to take simple precautions to help preserve the anonymity of their sources e.g. see Spy Blog's Hints and Tips for Whistleblowers - or use this easier to remember link: http://ht4w.co.uk

BlogSafer - wiki with multilingual guides to anonymous blogging

Digital Security & Privacy for Human Rights Defenders manual, by Irish NGO Frontline Defenders.

Everyone’s Guide to By-Passing Internet Censorship for Citizens Worldwide (.pdf - 31 pages), by the Citizenlab at the University of Toronto.

Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents - March 2008 version - (2.2 Mb - 80 pages .pdf) by Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Guide to Covering the Beijing Olympics by Human Rights Watch.

A Practical Security Handbook for Activists and Campaigns (v 2.6) (.doc - 62 pages), by experienced UK direct action political activists

Anonymous Blogging with Wordpress & Tor - useful step by step guide with software configuration screenshots by Ethan Zuckerman at Global Voices Advocacy. (updated March 10th 2009 with the latest Tor / Vidalia bundle details)

Convention on Modern Liberty - 28th Feb 2009

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The Convention is being held in the Logan Hall and adjoining rooms at the Institute of Education in Bloomsbury, central London.

Address:

The Institute of Education
20 Bedford Way
London
WC1H 0AL

There are video linked screenings or other parallel meetings being held across the UK in Belfast. Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff and Manchester.

Convention on Modern Liberty blog

David Davis for Freedom

House of Lords Constitution Committee - Surveillance: Citizens and the State

House of Lords Constitution Committee 2008-2009 session - Second Report: Surveillance: Citizens and the State

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WikiLeak.org - ethical and technical discussion about the WikiLeaks.org project for anonymous mass leaking of documents etc.

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Cryptome - censored or leaked government documents etc.

Identity Project report by the London School of Economics
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Statewatch - monitoring the state and civil liberties in the European Union

The Policy Laundering Project - attempts by Governments to pretend their repressive surveillance systems, have to be introduced to comply with international agreements, which they themselves have pushed for in the first place

International Campaign Against Mass Surveillance

ARCH Action Rights for Children in Education - worried about the planned Children's Bill Database, Connexions Card, fingerprinting of children, CCTV spy cameras in schools etc.

Foundation for Information Policy Research
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Technical Advisory Board on internet and telecomms interception under RIPA

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Open Rights Group - a UK version of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a clearinghouse to raise digital rights and civil liberties issues with the media and to influence Governments.

Digital Rights Ireland - legal case against mandatory EU Comms Data Retention etc.

Blindside - "What’s going to go wrong in our e-enabled world? " blog and wiki and Quarterly Report will supposedly be read by the Cabinet Office Central Sponsor for Information Assurance. Whether the rest of the Government bureaucracy and the Politicians actually listen to the CSIA, is another matter.

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Committee to Protect Bloggers - "devoted to the protection of bloggers worldwide with a focus on highlighting the plight of bloggers threatened and imprisoned by their government."

Reporters without Borders internet section - news of internet related censorship and repression of journalists, bloggers and dissidents etc.

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Home Office Watch blog, "a single repository of all the shambolic errors and mistakes made by the British Home Office compiled from Parliamentary Questions, news reports, and tip-offs by the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs team."

UK Government

Home Office - "Not fit for purpose. It is inadequate in terms of its scope, it is inadequate in terms of its information technology, leadership, management systems and processes" - Home Secretary John Reid. 23rd May 2006. Not quite the fount of all evil legislation in the UK, but close.

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FaxYourMP - identify and then fax your Member of Parliament
WriteToThem - identify and then contact your Local Councillors, members of devolved assemblies, Member of Parliament, Members of the European Parliament etc.
They Work For You - House of Commons Hansard made more accessible ? UK Members of the European Parliament

Read The Bills Act - USA proposal to force politicians to actually read the legislation that they are voting for, something which is badly needed in the UK Parliament.

Bichard Inquiry delving into criminal records and "soft intelligence" policies highlighted by the Soham murders. (taken offline by the Home Office)

ACPO - Association of Chief Police Officers - England, Wales and Northern Ireland
ACPOS Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland

Online Media

Boing Boing

Need To Know [now defunct]

The Register

NewsNow Encryption and Security aggregate news feed
KableNet - UK Government IT project news
PublicTechnology.net - UK eGovernment and public sector IT news
eGov Monitor

Ideal Government - debate about UK eGovernment

NIR and ID cards

Stand - email and fax campaign on ID Cards etc. [Now defunct]. The people who supported stand.org.uk have gone on to set up other online tools like WriteToThem.com. The Government's contemptuous dismissal of over 5,000 individual responses via the stand.org website to the Home Office public consultation on Entitlement Cards is one of the factors which later led directly to the formation of the the NO2ID Campaign who have been marshalling cross party opposition to Labour's dreadful National Identity Register compulsory centralised national biometric database and ID Card plans, at the expense of simpler, cheaper, less repressive, more effective, nore secure and more privacy friendly alternative identity schemes.

NO2ID - opposition to the Home Office's Compulsory Biometric ID Card
NO2ID bulletin board discussion forum

Home Office Identity Cards website
No compulsory national Identity Cards (ID Cards) BBC iCan campaign site
UK ID Cards blog
NO2ID press clippings blog
CASNIC - Campaign to STOP the National Identity Card.
Defy-ID active meetings and protests in Glasgow
www.idcards-uk.info - New Alliance's ID Cards page
irefuse.org - total rejection of any UK ID Card

International Civil Aviation Organisation - Machine Readable Travel Documents standards for Biometric Passports etc.
Anti National ID Japan - controversial and insecure Jukinet National ID registry in Japan
UK Biometrics Working Group run by CESG/GCHQ experts etc. the UK Government on Biometrics issues feasability
Citizen Information Project feasability study population register plans by the Treasury and Office of National Statistics

CommentOnThis.com - comments and links to each paragraph of the Home Office's "Strategic Action Plan for the National Identity Scheme".

De-Materialised ID - "The voluntary alternative to material ID cards, A Proposal by David Moss of Business Consultancy Services Ltd (BCSL)" - well researched analysis of the current Home Office scheme, and a potentially viable alternative.

Surveillance Infrastructures

National Roads Telecommunications Services project - infrastruture for various mass surveillance systems, CCTV, ANPR, PMMR imaging etc.

CameraWatch - independent UK CCTV industry lobby group - like us, they also want more regulation of CCTV surveillance systems.

Every Step You Take a documentary about CCTV surveillance in the Uk by Austrian film maker Nino Leitner.

Transport for London an attempt at a technological panopticon - London Congestion Charge, London Low-Emission Zone, Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, tens of thousands of CCTV cameras on buses, thousands of CCTV cameras on London Underground, realtime road traffic CCTV, Iyster smart cards - all handed over to the Metropolitan Police for "national security" purposes, in real time, in bulk, without any public accountibility, for secret data mining, exempt from even the usual weak protections of the Data Protection Act 1998.

RFID Links

RFID tag privacy concerns - our own original article updated with photos

NoTags - campaign against individual item RFID tags
Position Statement on the Use of RFID on Consumer Products has been endorsed by a large number of privacy and human rights organisations.
RFID Privacy Happenings at MIT
Surpriv: RFID Surveillance and Privacy
RFID Scanner blog
RFID Gazette
The Sorting Door Project

RFIDBuzz.com blog - where we sometimes crosspost RFID articles

Genetic Links

DNA Profiles - analysis by Paul Nutteing
GeneWatch UK monitors genetic privacy and other issues
Postnote February 2006 Number 258 - National DNA Database (.pdf) - Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

The National DNA Database Annual Report 2004/5 (.pdf) - published by the NDNAD Board and ACPO.

Eeclaim Your DNA from Britain's National DNA Database - model letters and advice on how to have your DNA samples and profiles removed from the National DNA Database,in spite of all of the nureacratic obstacles which try to prevent this, even if you are innocent.

Miscellanous Links

Michael Field - Pacific Island news - no longer a paradise
freetotravel.org - John Gilmore versus USA internal flight passports and passenger profiling etc.

The BUPA Seven - whistleblowers badly let down by the system.

Tax Credit Overpayment - the near suicidal despair inflicted on poor, vulnerable people by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown's disasterous Inland Revenue IT system.

Fassit UK - resources and help for those abused by the Social Services Childrens Care bureaucracy

Former Spies

MI6 v Tomlinson - Richard Tomlinson - still being harassed by his former employer MI6

Martin Ingram, Welcome To The Dark Side - former British Army Intelligence operative in Northern Ireland.

Operation Billiards - Mitrokhin or Oshchenko ? Michael John Smith - seeking to overturn his Official Secrets Act conviction in the GEC case.

The Dirty Secrets of MI5 & MI6 - Tony Holland, Michael John Smith and John Symond - stories and chronologies.

Naked Spygirl - Olivia Frank

Blog Links

e-nsecure.net blog - Comments on IT security and Privacy or the lack thereof.
Rat's Blog -The Reverend Rat writes about London street life and technology
Duncan Drury - wired adventures in Tanzania & London
Dr. K's blog - Hacker, Author, Musician, Philosopher

David Mery - falsely arrested on the London Tube - you could be next.

James Hammerton
White Rose - a thorn in the side of Big Brother
Big Blunkett
Into The Machine - formerly "David Blunkett is an Arse" by Charlie Williams and Scribe
infinite ideas machine - Phil Booth
Louise Ferguson - City of Bits
Chris Lightfoot
Oblomovka - Danny O'Brien

Liberty Central

dropsafe - Alec Muffett
The Identity Corner - Stefan Brands
Kim Cameron - Microsoft's Identity Architect
Schneier on Security - Bruce Schneier
Politics of Privacy Blog - Andreas Busch
solarider blog

Richard Allan - former Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam
Boris Johnson Conservative MP for Henley
Craig Murray - former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan, "outsourced torture" whistleblower

Howard Rheingold - SmartMobs
Global Guerrillas - John Robb
Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends

Vmyths - debunking computer security hype

Nick Leaton - Random Ramblings
The Periscope - Companion weblog to Euro-correspondent.com journalist network.
The Practical Nomad Blog Edward Hasbrouck on Privacy and Travel
Policeman's Blog
World Weary Detective

Martin Stabe
Longrider
B2fxxx - Ray Corrigan
Matt Sellers
Grits for Breakfast - Scott Henson in Texas
The Green Ribbon - Tom Griffin
Guido Fawkes blog - Parliamentary plots, rumours and conspiracy.
The Last Ditch - Tom Paine
Murky.org
The (e)State of Tim - Tim Hicks
Ilkley Against CCTV
Tim Worstall
Bill's Comment Page - Bill Cameron
The Society of Qualified Archivists
The Streeb-Greebling Diaries - Bob Mottram

Your Right To Know - Heather Brooke - Freedom off Information campaigning journalist

Ministry of Truth _ Unity's V for Vendetta styled blog.

Bloggerheads - Tim Ireland

W. David Stephenson blogs on homeland security et al.
EUrophobia - Nosemonkey

Blogzilla - Ian Brown

BlairWatch - Chronicling the demise of the New Labour Project

dreamfish - Robert Longstaff

Informaticopia - Rod Ward

War-on-Freedom

The Musings of Harry

Chicken Yoghurt - Justin McKeating

The Red Tape Chronicles - Bob Sullivan MSNBC

Campaign Against the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

Stop the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

Rob Wilton's esoterica

panGloss - Innovation, Technology and the Law

Arch Rights - Action on Rights for Children blog

Database Masterclass - frequently asked questions and answers about the several centralised national databases of children in the UK.

Shaphan

Moving On

Steve Moxon blog - former Home Office whistleblower and author.

Al-Muhajabah's Sundries - anglophile blog

Architectures of Control in Design - Dan Lockton

rabenhorst - Kai Billen (mostly in German)

Nearly Perfect Privacy - Tiffany and Morpheus

Iain Dale's Diary - a popular Conservative political blog

Brit Watch - Public Surveillance in the UK - Web - Email - Databases - CCTV - Telephony - RFID - Banking - DNA

BLOGDIAL

MySecured.com - smart mobile phone forensics, information security, computer security and digital forensics by a couple of Australian researchers

Ralph Bendrath

Financial Cryptography - Ian Grigg et al.

UK Liberty - A blog on issues relating to liberty in the UK

Big Brother State - "a small act of resistance" to the "sustained and systematic attack on our personal freedom, privacy and legal system"

HosReport - "Crisis. Conspiraciones. Enigmas. Conflictos. Espionaje." - Carlos Eduardo Hos (in Spanish)

"Give 'em hell Pike!" - Frank Fisher

Corruption-free Anguilla - Good Governance and Corruption in Public Office Issues in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla in the West Indies - Don Mitchell CBE QC

geeklawyer - intellectual property, civil liberties and the legal system

PJC Journal - I am not a number, I am a free Man - The Prisoner

Charlie's Diary - Charlie Stross

The Caucus House - blog of the Chicago International Model United Nations

Famous for 15 Megapixels

Postman Patel

The 4th Bomb: Tavistock Sq Daniel's 7:7 Revelations - Daniel Obachike

OurKingdom - part of OpenDemocracy - " will discuss Britain’s nations, institutions, constitution, administration, liberties, justice, peoples and media and their principles, identity and character"

Beau Bo D'Or blog by an increasingly famous digital political cartoonist.

Between Both Worlds - "Thoughts & Ideas that Reflect the Concerns of Our Conscious Evolution" - Kingsley Dennis

Bloggerheads: The Alisher Usmanov Affair - the rich Uzbek businessman and his shyster lawyers Schillings really made a huge counterproductive error in trying to censor the blogs of Tim Ireland, of all people.

Matt Wardman political blog analysis

Henry Porter on Liberty - a leading mainstream media commentator and opinion former who is doing more than most to help preserve our freedom and liberty.

HMRC is shite - "dedicated to the taxpayers of Britain, and the employees of the HMRC, who have to endure the monumental shambles that is Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC)."

Head of Legal - Carl Gardner a former legal advisor to the Government

The Landed Underclass - Voice of the Banana Republic of Great Britain

Henrik Alexandersson - Swedish blogger threatened with censorship by the Försvarets Radioanstalt (FRA), the Swedish National Defence Radio Establishement, their equivalent of the UK GCHQ or the US NSA.

World's First Fascist Democracy - blog with link to a Google map - "This map is an attempt to take a UK wide, geographical view, of both the public and the personal effect of State sponsored fear and distrust as seen through the twisted technological lens of petty officials and would be bureaucrats nationwide."

Blogoir - Charles Crawford - former UK Ambassodor to Poland etc.

No CCTV - The Campaign against CCTV

Barcode Nation - keeping two eyes on the database state.

Lords of the Blog - group blog by half a dozen or so Peers sitting in the House of Lords.

notes from the ubiquitous surveillance society - blog by Dr. David Murakami Wood, editor of the online academic journal Surveillance and Society

Justin Wylie's political blog

Panopticon blog - by Timothy Pitt-Payne and Anya Proops. Timothy Pitt-Payne is probably the leading legal expert on the UK's Freedom of Information Act law, often appearing on behlaf of the Information Commissioner's Office at the Information Tribunal.

Armed and Dangerous - Sex, software, politics, and firearms. Life’s simple pleasures… - by Open Source Software advocate Eric S. Raymond.

Other Links

Spam Huntress - The Norwegian Spam Huntress - Ann Elisabeth

Fuel Crisis Blog - Petrol over £1 per litre ! Protest !
Mayor of London Blog
London Olympics 2012 - NO !!!!

Cool Britannia

Identity Cards Bill clause by clause analysis and comments

NuLabour

Free Gary McKinnon - UK citizen facing extradition to the USA for "hacking" over 90 US Military computer systems.

Parliament Protest - information and discussion on peaceful resistance to the arbitrary curtailment of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, in the excessive Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 Designated Area around Parliament Square in London.

RIPA Consultations

RIPA Part III consultation blog - Government access to Encrypted Information and Encryption Keys.

RIPA Part I Chapter II consultation blog - Government access and disclosure of Communications Traffic Data

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UK Legislation

The United Kingdom suffers from tens of thousands of pages of complicated criminal laws, and thousands of new, often unenforceable criminal offences, which have been created as a "Pretend to be Seen to Be Doing Something" response to tabloid media hype and hysteria, and political social engineering dogmas. These overbroad, catch-all laws, which remove the scope for any judicial appeals process, have been rubber stamped, often without being read, let alone properly understood, by Members of Parliament.

The text of many of these Acts of Parliament are now online, but it is still too difficult for most people, including the police and criminal justice system, to work out the cumulative effect of all the amendments, even for the most serious offences involving national security or terrorism or serious crime.

Many MPs do not seem to bother to even to actually read the details of the legislation which they vote to inflict on us.

UK Legislation Links

UK Statute Law Database - is the official revised edition of the primary legislation of the United Kingdom made available online, but it is not yet up to date.

UK Commissioners

UK Commissioners some of whom are meant to protect your privacy and investigate abuses by the bureaucrats.

UK Intelligence Agencies

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Intelligence.gov.uk - Cabinet Office hosted portal website to various UK Intelligence Agencies and UK Government intelligence committees and Commissioners etc.

Anti-terrorism hotline - links removed in protestClimate of Fear propaganda posters

MI5 Security Service
MI5 Security Service - links to encrypted reporting form removed in protest at the Climate of Fear propaganda posters

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Secure Your Fertiliser - advice on ammonium nitrate and urea fertiliser security

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Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure - "CPNI provides expert advice to the critical national infrastructure on physical, personnel and information security, to protect against terrorism and other threats."

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Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) recruitment.

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Government Communications Headquarters GCHQ

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Serious Organised Crime Agency - have cut themselves off from direct contact with the public and businesses - no phone - no email

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Defence Advisory (DA) Notice system - voluntary self censorship by the established UK press and broadcast media regarding defence and intelligence topics via the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee.

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National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit - keeps a watch on animal extremists, genetically modified crop protesters, peace protesters etc.
(some people think that the word salad of acronyms means that NETCU is a spoof website)

Campaign Button Links

Watching Them, Watching Us - UK Public CCTV Surveillance Regulation Campaign
UK Public CCTV Surveillance Regulation Campaign

NO2ID Campaign - cross party opposition to the NuLabour Compulsory Biometric ID Card
NO2ID Campaign - cross party opposition to the NuLabour Compulsory Biometric ID Card and National Identity Register centralised database.

Gary McKinnon is facing extradition to the USA under the controversial Extradition Act 2003, without any prima facie evidence or charges brought against him in a UK court. Try him here in the UK, under UK law.
Gary McKinnon is facing extradition to the USA under the controversial Extradition Act 2003, without any prima facie evidence or charges brought against him in a UK court. Try him here in the UK, under UK law.

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FreeFarid.com - Kafkaesque extradition of Farid Hilali under the European Arrest Warrant to Spain

Peaceful resistance to the curtailment of our rights to Free Assembly and Free Speech in the SOCPA Designated Area around Parliament Square and beyond
Parliament Protest blog - resistance to the Designated Area restricting peaceful demonstrations or lobbying in the vicinity of Parliament.

Petition to the European Commission and European Parliament against their vague Data Retention plans
Data Retention is No Solution - Petition to the European Commission and European Parliament against their vague Data Retention plans.

Save Parliament: Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (and other issues)
Save Parliament - Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (and other issues)

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Open Rights Group

The Big Opt Out Campaign - opt out of having your NHS Care Record medical records and personal details stored insecurely on a massive national centralised database.

Tor - the onion routing network
Tor - the onion routing network - "Tor aims to defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal anonymity and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. Communications are bounced around a distributed network of servers called onion routers, protecting you from websites that build profiles of your interests, local eavesdroppers that read your data or learn what sites you visit, and even the onion routers themselves."

Tor - the onion routing network
Anonymous Blogging with Wordpress and Tor - useful Guide published by Global Voices Advocacy with step by step software configuration screenshots (updated March 10th 2009).

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Amnesty International's irrepressible.info campaign

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BlogSafer - wiki with multilingual guides to anonymous blogging

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NGO in a box - Security Edition privacy and security software tools

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Home Office Watch blog, "a single repository of all the shambolic errors and mistakes made by the British Home Office compiled from Parliamentary Questions, news reports, and tip-offs by the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs team."

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Reporters Without Borders - Reporters Sans Frontières - campaign for journalists 'and bloggers' freedom in repressive countries and war zones.

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Committee to Protect Bloggers - "devoted to the protection of bloggers worldwide with a focus on highlighting the plight of bloggers threatened and imprisoned by their government."

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Icelanders are NOT terrorists ! - despite Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling's use of anti-terrorism legislation to seize the assets of Icelandic banks.

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No CCTV - The Campaign Against CCTV

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