What is the database state? (from NO2ID, with additional material by LTKA)

The 'database state' is what we call the tendency to try to use computers to manage society by watching people. There are many interlocking government plans that do this. Together they mean officials poking into YOUR private life more than ever before.

All the databases could be linked to, or indexed by, the National Identity Register (NIR) that is the main aim of the 'ID cards' scheme. Your NIR number would be the key to your whole life. And by "information sharing", what you tell one public servant could be passed to anyone. The government name: "Transformational Government" sounds nicer - until you understand what is being transformed is not government but its power over you.

Currently the planned systems include:

• Linking many Government computer systems to enable a very detailed profile of an individual to be built up.
• Compulsory 'ID cards' to facilitate a massive accumulation of personal data - see www.no2id.net
  
  1. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are oposed to ID cards and have pledged to scrap them
  2. A YouGov poll in December 2006 found that overwhelmingly, the public is unwilling to trust Government promises not to misuse personal information. Millions would refuse to register on the proposed database that will underpin the scheme, even if this meant a fine or going to jail.
  3. We will all be forced to give fingerprints at ID interrogation centres - 'hunt the interrogation centre'
     
  4. Blair admits people who get identity cards will have their fingerprints checked against those found at the scene of nearly a million unsolved crimes
  5. There will be a £1000 fine for failing to return a dead relative's ID card
     
• So-called 'biometric' ePassports that log data about your travel - see www.RenewForFreedom.org
• Centralised medical records without privacy - see www.TheBigOptOut.org
• Massively increased Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks for employees and volunteers
• The police can take DNA samples without consent from anyone arrested on suspicion of any recordable offence. DNA samples are kept permanently, even if the person arrested is never charged or is acquitted.
• Biometrics in schools for children as young as five - see www.LeaveThemKidsAlone.com
• The Children Act 'Information Sharing Index'
• Fingerprinting in pubs - public campaigns now launching in towns and cities across the UK
• Customers hiring a car at Stansted airport forced to give fingerprints which may be handed over to police
• Roadside fingerprinting - using new police powers to check identity
• Recording of all car journeys as a matter of course, using ANPR
• Routine use of Oyster smartcard tickets to track the movements of individuals on public transport
• Estate agents secretly selling home details to government tax database
• Council tax snoopers will record 287 intimate details including political membership, private pension plans, charity donations, illnesses and hobbies for new database. They will use data from a wide range of sources, including census information and even supermarket loyalty schemes.
• From June 2007, anyone selling a house or flat will have to pay around £700 plus VAT for a new Home Information Pack, including an Energy Performance Certificate required by new EU regulations. In addition, 4000+ Home Inspectors will visit properties and the government will retain a copy of all the information.
• Public and security authorities made a staggering 440,000 requests to monitor people's phone and internet use in 2005-6
• Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act extension (2002), 28+ government departments can now browse your web, email. telephone and fax records, without a warrant and without your knowledge.
• The National Technical Assistance Centre (NTAC) has permanent links to Britain's internet connection companies, making it easy to intercept and decrypt almost anything passing across the net.
• Income tax inspectors seek new surveillance powers to tap people's phones and bug homes
• There's now one CCTV camera for every 14 people in Britain. Now the police want to upgrade ALL 4.2 million cameras to gather police evidence.
• Big Brother is watching, and selling detailed pictures of residents' homes, some including car licence plates and children's faces!
• Anti-smoking police will secretly film people in pubs, clubs and restaurants to police England's smoking ban, newly extended to include boats and ships in British waters
• UK students to be asked if their parents have a degree. (in communist Eastern Europe priority was usually given to children of manual workers)
• And then there's the private sector, where credit reference agencies like Equifax and Experian have gigantic stores of information about millions of people. Equifax has a major contract with the UK Passports Office for the verification of passport information, and the credit agencies are likely to provide a key point of reference for the national ID card scheme.