Yesterday, I voted for the principle of the controversial Investigatory Powers Bill. I very nearly did not: I detest state surveillance as a matter of principle. Unfortunately, the Internet is not only a force for good. It has also liberated and enabled a number of appalling evils which even an […]
Read MorePost Tagged with: "1984"
Speech on the timetabling of DRIP yesterday
Yesterday in the debate on the timetabling of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill, I said: Steve Baker (Wycombe) (Con): The subject of the Bill is of profound importance to members of the public who care about such matters, and no wonder because it is the paradigmatic example of the conflict […]
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Counter-terrorism powers are too vulnerable to abuse
I recall vividly the day when a police officer – not one serving in Wycombe – told me of his disgust at a superior’s easy resort to counter-terrorism powers against people not suspected of terrorism. Now the police have taken that resort against a Guardian journalist’s partner, we have a […]
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Let’s not be hysterical about CCTV
As reported by the BBC and Sky, the CCTV Code Of Practice (PDF) comes into force today. Nick Pickles of Big Brother Watch featured heavily on BBC Breakfast this morning, urging applicability of the code to private CCTV operators. Big Brother Watch writes: The code is a step in the right direction […]
Read MoreI didn’t seek election to roll forward Labour’s surveillance state
Via Government web surveillance: ‘Expensive, impractical, totalitarian’ – Telegraph: The Government’s plan to make Internet Service Providers capture personal communications data is nothing new. It was brought up under the last Labour government as the “Intercept Modernisation Programme” and received heavy criticism from the Tory party in opposition. The article […]
Read MoreRemember, remember, the 5th of November
As CNN reports, the V for Vendetta-style Guy Fawkes mask has inspired Occupy protesters around the world. CNN points out: Ironically Fawkes, far from being the anti-establishment hero he has come to be seen as in the years since his death, was a monarchist who merely wanted to replace the […]
Read MoreTory MP says HMRC ‘menacing’ letters show state is using ‘sinister’ psychology | News | Money Marketing
Updated. A story on Money Marketing, reporting my comments to them on a letter that two of my constituents received from HMRC as a first demand (notwithstanding HMRC’s claim in the article that it is only sent as a third reminder): A Conservative MP says recent letters from HM Revenue […]
Read MoreSpeech on the retention of DNA from those arrested but not charged or convicted
I spoke yesterday on clause 3 of the Protection of Freedoms Bill in committee. It relates to the retention of DNA from those arrested but not convicted. Via Hansard: Steve Baker: I support the clause. We have heard a great deal this afternoon about balance; in particular, the balance between […]
Read MoreCivil rights organisations capitulate on CCTV reduction – Big Brother Watch
From the excellent JP Floru: Yesterday I witnessed the lamentable spectacle of civil rights organisations bending over backwards not to lose their wished for influence over the government’s civil rights agenda. I attended a Freedom Bill Committee hearing in Parliament. The witnesses included spokespeople for the human rights organisations Justice […]
Read MorePrivate versus Public Nudging
Via Private versus Public Nudging « Mark Pennington on Pileus: Listening to Professor Thaler I was reminded of the claim made by many socialists in the past – Lenin being perhaps the most prominent – that since private firms routinely engage in ‘planning’ there should not be any concern about the […]
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