ID to contain `biometric features`

"Earlier this month, Rep. Bob Goodlatte [R-VA-6] introduced H.R.4760 – Securing America’s Future Act of 2018, a sweeping bill that entails everything from Education and the Workforce to Homeland Security to the military. Also, tucked away in this 400-page behemoth of a bill are the details of a new biometric National ID card that could soon be required for everyone."

"Not surprisingly, there is almost no media coverage on this legislation."

"H.R. 4760 establishes a mandatory National Identification system that requires all Americans to carry a government-approved ID containing "biometric features." Without this card, according to the legislation, you will not be able to work in this country."

"The legislation was drafted under the auspices of providing a legislative solution for the current beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program."

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/national-id-hr4760-biometrics/?utm_campaign=crowdfire&utm_content=crowdfire&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#898736670-tw1517114123822

Grenfell: an excuse for biometrics

 

"The devastating fire which took place in the early hours of 14 June 2017 at Grenfell Tower in West London is a national tragedy. The Home Office will not use this as a reason to carry out immigration checks on those receiving support or providing vital information to identify victims or otherwise assist the authorities investigating the fire."

"However, we recognise that not all those directly affected may be in the UK lawfully and some may be concerned about their immigration status. Some may have valid leave which is about to expire in circumstances where there is no current basis under the Immigration Rules for it to be extended, or may have conditions attached to their existing leave that might hinder their access to the support they need."

"This policy covers leave granted outside the Immigration Rules to individuals directly affected by this tragedy. The leave granted will be temporary (for 12 months) and granted on an exceptional basis to allow those directly affected by the fire ... time to deal with the immediate aftermath of these terrible events, and to consider their future options. This is intended as a time-limited policy and any further leave sought on the expiry of leave granted under the policy will be considered in accordance with the Immigration Rules in force at the time."

Policy intention

"The policy allows those who have been directly affected by the fire to be granted a temporary period of lawful residence in the UK, or if they have valid leave, to have the no recourse to public funds condition lifted where the leave is currently subject to this, or if their existing leave to remain is due to expire within 12 months of the publication of this policy with no opportunity to extend that leave to switch to 12 months’ leave under this exceptional policy. This will give them a firm legal footing to ensure they can access ongoing support, including social assistance, local authority housing support or any welfare benefits they may be eligible for."

"The Government has already stated publicly that the Home Office will not use the tragedy as a reason to carry out immigration checks on those involved, and that all victims, irrespective of their immigration status, will be able to access the services they need. Public authorities (including local authorities and the NHS) are assisting those directly affected by the fire notwithstanding their immigration status. The Secretary of State has the power to grant leave on a discretionary basis outside the Immigration Rules under the Immigration Act 1971. Unless extended, this policy will remain in place until 31 August 2017."

Liberty comments: `At best this is compassion lite with a question mark over residents' futures - at worst a trap to pull people into the immigration system`.  

https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/sites/default/files/Grenfell_fire_immigration_guidance_final_-_highlight%20and%20comments.pdf

Surveillance is being normalised in schools

 

"School lunch lines in the UK can be fraught: students receiving free lunches may not want their peers to know, lost payment cards mean some go without, and code-based payments leave children at risk of `shoulder surfing`, where others spot their number and use it to buy their own meal."

"Fingerprint scanners are being presented as one solution for doing away with this stress. They can be linked to online payments, making busy lunchtimes easier and faster, plus it will save schools from printing ID cards."

"A typical secondary school in the UK can end up producing more than 400 new payment cards every year to account for lost, damaged and new intake ones, says Nigel Walker, managing director of biometrics company BioStore. `Biometrics can’t be lost or forgotten, stolen or used by someone else. When students and staff identify themselves on the system, you can be sure it’s them. This improves a school’s safety in terms of access, security and accountability`."

"The Department for Education doesn’t track how many schools use biometric systems, but in 2014, campaigning group Big Brother Watch estimated that more than a million secondary schoolchildren had handed over their fingerprints."

"In these hi-tech schools, biometrics – in particular fingerprints but also palm prints – can be used for entering and exiting the main school building as well as classrooms and buses, taking attendance, and accessing lockers, computers, library books and printers. Add in other new technologies such as wearables, and civil rights campaigners fear the result is that surveillance is quietly being normalised in children from a young age."

"The Protections of Freedoms Act 2012 states that schoolchildren cannot have their fingerprints taken without written parental consent. Until then even the youngest of students may have had their biometric data captured. `There is no need to retrospectively gain this consent so many children are having their data processed without their, or their parents’, consent," says Emmeline Taylor, author of Surveillance Schools.`..."

"`As some schools introduce tracking devices to supposedly increase efficiencies, safeguard students and respond to issues such as truancy and obesity, other schools quickly follow suit through fear of otherwise being regarded as negligent of their responsibilities," says Taylor. "The only beneficiaries are the companies selling the equipment. Once these systems are viewed as necessary, then any cost, whether financial or social, becomes worth the trade. It is an ingenious strategy to turn limited public funds into private profits`."

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/19/surveillance-state-fingerprinting-pupils-safety-privacy-biometrics

The surveillance state

"Anytime you see the word 'SMART', you should perhaps consider who it is 'SMART' for ... 'cos it sure isn't 'SMART' for you or me! SMART Phones, SMART Meters, SMART Motorways and now Glasgow is being set up as the experimental SMART City."

"For the past decade Pippa King has been at the forefront of the resistance against the use of Biometrics and RFID monitoring in schools and colleges. Through the prolific use of Freedom of Information Requests (FOIR's), Pippa has been able to establish where when and how these surveillance and tracking tools are introduced ... and then strives to get them shut down. It is primarily thanks to Pippa's tenacity that all UK students are NOT yet wearing active RFID devices! However, the latest move is to promote internet CCTV in the classroom; thereby enabling parents to monitor their children via their 'SMART' Phone ... or could it perhaps also provide the Establishment paedophile community to identify their next victims? "

"Pippa's presentation illustrates how we have slowly become accustomed to sharing our data, our biometrics, the radio frequency grid, devices we use and carry - mass data gathering. The 'big data' that is gathered is used for profiling, us individually and en mass as a society, analysed by A.I. Artificial Intelligence. As our cities, homes and lives move to become 'smart' - what exactly is gathered about us, how is it used ... and by whom? "

Website: www.stateofsurveillance.blogspot.co.uk

Fingerprinting children for food

UK - Another school fingerprinting children for food... "The school has assured parents that the fingerprints cannot be...
Posted by Biometrics in schools on Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Facial scans every sixty seconds in place of passwords

From Change.org

"On March 18, 2015 the Encinitas School Board approved an annual contract with a newly formed biometric company called Virtual Keyring LLC. They will pilot and eventually install a program on student IPads to continuously scan (every 60 seconds) our children's face so that they no longer have to input a password to log on."

"Biometrics-- facial recognition-- should NOT be allowed on EUSD student iPads because:"

"1. This is an annual contract of $63,000 to bypass a password! How many volunteer hours does it take your PTA to raise $63,000? This money could be used to pay for a math specialist and other much needed supplies for your children's classroom."

"2. Collecting biometrics on children is forever. Facial biometrics is the same as a finger print or eye scan. This information stored is not 100% safe and no one can guarantee it. According to Virtual Keyrings website the software continuously monitors every 60 seconds to make sure it's the same person and automatically logs out if authentication fails. This program will be scanning our children's face every 60 seconds!!!! "

https://www.change.org/p/encinitas-union-school-district-reconsider-the-contract-with-virtual-keyring-llc-dated-march-18-2015-to-pilot-biometrics-facial-recognition-student-ipads?recruiter=268281371&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive

Glasgow`s a smart city

From Future City Glasgow:

Future City Glasgow is an ambitious £24million programme which will demonstrate how technology can make life in the city smarter, safer and more sustainable.

Glasgow beat 29 other cities to win funding for the programme in a contest run by the Technology Strategy Board - the UK Government's innovation agency.

The city is now embarking on a trail-blazing programme which will put residents at the forefront of technology integration and application. Analysis of data collected during the demonstrator will assist policymakers and inform future investment...

Future City Glasgow is a collaboration between public and private sector agencies providing a range of services to the city. They include Glasgow City Council, Police Scotland, housing providers, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, universities, energy providers and Scottish Enterprise.

http://futurecity.glasgow.gov.uk/

From State of Surveillance:

Whilst Glasgow City Council claim they are not currently utilising NICE System’s facial recognition capabilities, the new HD CCTV system being installed for the Future Cities Demonstrator initiative, funded by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills via its quango the Technology Strategy Board, is still capable of tracking individuals within the city. A spokesperson from Glasgow City Council stated:

"A trial of NICE's video analytics is planned for later in the year [2015]. This involves Suspect Search which can be used to find missing children or vulnerable adults quickly, such as those with dementia, as well as tackling crime. Again it does not involve facial recognition or emotional intelligence.”

As well as missing children and vulnerable adults presumably Suspect Search can also track suspects - the clue is in the name. No facial recognition. No surreptitiously taking and covertly using our biometrics, that’s okay then? So how does this tracking work? The software still has the same outcome as using facial biometrics - individuals can be identified, traced and tracked. According to NICE;

“Working with information about the entire body, from head to foot (clothes, accessories, skin, hair) enables faster and more accurate matches.”

Read More http://stateofsurveillance.blogspot.co.uk/
 

Schools get involved in pupils` lunches

Parents have removed six children from a primary school after they introduced a blanket ban on packed lunches. Milefield Primary School in Grimethorpe, Barnsley, South Yorks., only informed parents of their controversial move in a letter sent home with the children on the last day of term in July.

And despite repeated calls from parents for their thoughts to be heard, the new dinner policy was implemented when the kids returned to school last Friday. Angry dad Adam Martin, 31, has now taken his three children, Harry, four, George, five and Amelia, seven, out of the school after losing all faith over the lunch dispute.

Gas engineer Adam said: "I feel like our freedom of choice has been taken away. We were appalled to be told our children couldn't take in pack lunches and further incensed with how the school have dealt with the situation. "We feel very strongly about this. I'm sure this must be violating some kind of human right." According to their strict new rules the only options open to parents now is to let them have a school cooked lunch or to go home.

Headteacher Paula Murray said: "We're not forcing anyone.[?] We're encouraging the promotion of healthy eating [?] and it's had such positive impact and we're only into day four of the actual programme being run out in the school. [After four days there`s a positive impact? She sounds like a politician.]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11090606/Parents-remove-children-from-school-after-headmistress-bans-packed-lunches.html

Perhaps there are plans for biometric databases in the near future. See the Express:

Pupils will have their fingerprints taken at their £20,000 high-tech new school canteen in a bid to reduce queues and monitor pupils’ diets.

Redhill School in Stourbridge will bring in the controversial technology as part of a plan to implement a cashless system throughout the school. The system requires pupils to press a finger against a machine which converts the print into biometric data. This can then be used to identify individual pupils accounts.

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2014/09/12/school-pupils-to-be-fingerprinted/

A lot of the respondents to the article are blase about the introduction of biometric databases into schools but you have to ask what incentives there are for schools to set up such expensive systems?  It would be naive to assume that there are none or that they are not financial. Training pupils to accept a cashless society also has political and economic consequences for them in their adult lives.

There are a few other assumptions that are not without controversy:

- that it should be the role of the school to monitor pupils` eating

- that collecting personal data and putting it into databases does not infringe privacy rights

- that schools do provide a `healthy` diet (If they do, this does beg the question then why monitor pupils?)

Biometrics banned in Florida schools

Kevin Townsend in his blog comments on Florida`s decision to ban the use of biometrics in schools.

We do not need biometrics to provide secure identity. However, once it is widespread within a system, its value is less as an access or identity device, but more as a tracking device. Consider movement around a campus. If students need an eye or palm or fingerprint scan to enter the library, board a bus, or buy a snack in the cafeteria, then the system knows who is where all of the time.

Then imagine this writ large across the nation. The authorities will know where everyone is, all of the time. The problem with introducing biometrics into schools is that we are breeding a generation that will be comfortable with and fully accepting of total government surveillance. And that is something we need to prevent now rather than redress when it’s too late.

http://kevtownsend.wordpress.com/2014/03/29/why-we-must-keep-biometrics-out-of-schools/

13 year old girl refuses to be fingerprinted

"Since 2012, over 800,000 children have had their biometric data taken by the government in the United Kingdom via the school system. One 13-year-old girl is refusing to comply with the demands."

"In 31 percent of cases, the programs obtaining fingerprints or other biometric data from minors across the UK have done so without parental consent, according to Big Brother Watch. The civil liberties watchdog filed Freedom of Information Requests with over 3,000 schools. Less than half of those schools responded as required by law."

"The watchdog’s report states:"

"As we are now one term into the 2013-14 academic year, and expect the number of schools using the technology to have increased over the summer, and the secondary school population now above 3.2 million, if the number of secondary schools using biometric technology increased from 25% to 30%, more than one million children would be fingerprinted."

"A 13-year-old student at a school in Wales refused to submit to the data collection. Melody, whose last name is being withheld due to her age, doubted the school’s good intentions when it was declared that fingerprints were going to be collected from students in order to shorten lines in the cafeteria. A simple act of defiance was not enough for Melody, who discussed her idea for a one-person protest with her mother, Kirstie, over dinner. Her mother signed a form stating that she did not give consent for her daughter to be fingerprinted."

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/13-year-old-defies-big-brother-and-refuses-to-be-fingerprinted/article/370009