Subscribe"The UK would appear to have around 4.2m cameras in operation," says Professor Clive Norris, of Sheffield University's centre for criminological research. "That's more than anywhere else in the world, with the possible exception of China. It's one for every 14 citizens."While you're here, admire the ANPR system, that will record every journey by private car, anywhere in the country and keep the information for five years. It will be switched on this summer. Not everyone is happy.
the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate [in this case you] into a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action; that the perfection of power should tend to render its actual exercise unnecessary; that this architectural apparatus should be a machine for creating and sustaining a power relation independent of the person who exercises it...Perhaps, the UK is a mere testing ground for good ol American entrepreneurship here at home? In any case, at home or across the pond, thars a career to be had:
"For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed."President John F. Kennedy
“The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. ”
You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.—Blair, 1948.I am perplexed that there is not more resistance to this in the UK, such as the fuss that gets kicked up every time there’s a proposal to introduce ID-cards: does everyone care about watching Big Brother more than being watched by him?
Wireless transmission is not the only way to transmit video signals without installing any additional cables [84]. The video signal can be transmitted by means of unused
power wiring or telephone lines.[...]
Conductors do not necessarily need to be wires. Keep an eye on anything conductive that is not implicitly grounded. Even drain pipes that contain water should be measured. In an experimental setup video signals were successfully transmitted by means of an iron banister that extended across three floors, without using any additional amplifiers.
The department admits that car cloning will remain a serious problem until plates with embedded microchips that can be read by roadside beacons are in use. Trials are under way.WHAT ? So let me see
It is possible to compromise an RFID system by wrapping the protected material in two to three layers of ordinary household foil to block the radio signal. Clearly, bringing household foil into a library using RFID would represent premeditated theft, just as bringing a magnet into a library using EM technology would be.As we all become more familar with our respective roles, will convenience will push us over the edge?
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It is also possible to compromise an RFID system by placing two items against one another so that one tag overlays another. That may cancel out the signals. This requires knowledge of the technology and careful alignment.
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The author found no evidence of removal in the libraries he visited, nor did any of the library administrators contacted by telephone report a problem. That does not mean that there won’t be problems when patrons become more familiar with the role of the tags.
Wal-Mart's data center remains mysteryConvenience and profit are irresistible forces.
According to one consumer activist, Katherine Albrecht [SpyChips.Com], even the wildest conspiracy buff might be surprised at just how much Wal-Mart knows about its customers - and how much more it would like to know.
"We were contacted about two years ago by somebody who runs a security company that had been asked in a request for proposals for ways they could link video footage with customers paying for their purchases," Albrecht said. "Wal-Mart would actually be able to view photos and video of customers paying, say, for a pack of gum. At the time, it struck me as unbelievably outlandish because of the amount of data storage required."
But Wal-Mart, according to a 2004 New York Times article, had enough storage capacity to contain twice the amount of all the information available on the Internet. For the technically minded, the exact amount was for 460 terabytes of data.
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At Brockton, Mass., Albrecht said, the company used a surveillance camera on a shelf that was linked to chips in packages of razor blades. When someone picked up a package, she said, the shelf camera would be activated. Another camera would take a mug shot of the customer at the checkout stand.
At Broken Arrow, Okla., she said, the company linked devices in packages of lipstick that triggered a camera that allowed the lipstick manufacturer to watch consumers on live video.
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Robin: Holy gazookas, Batman ! The will track the batmobile licence plate, our secret is gone !
Batman: never worry, my young friend ! Only the criminals will be punished by this system
R: But Batman, what happens if Joker enters the database of licence plates and discovers the batcave by tracking ?
B: Balony, Robin. It's Windows Based, Diebold enforced, it's a secure system. Nobody ever hacked into secure servers
R: But Batman, what if Joker corrupts an officier to extract the information from the database ? Nobody will notice, but we will be discovered
B: Never worry, Robin. Officials are honest and would never do that ! NEVER ! Plus 9/11 changed everything, don't you know ?
posted by elpapacito at 3:32 AM on June 20, 2006 [1 favorite]