Feds to collect DNA from every person they arrest - Yahoo News
Posted April 17, 2008 
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Posted April 17, 2008 Comments(0) Put young children on DNA list, urge police - The Observer
Posted March 26, 2008 Comments(0) Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain’s most senior police forensics expert.
Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five.
Put young children on DNA list, urge police | Society | The Observer
Fingertip biometrics at Disney turnstiles: the Mouse does its bit for the police state - Boing Boing
Posted March 15, 2008 Comments(0) 
Today in my ongoing series of photos from my travels, this shot of the fingerprint reader at Walt Disney World’s turnstiles. These machines (which, I’m told, capture the shape of your fingertip instead of your fingerprint itself) are used to keep Disney World customers from sharing or re-selling their admission tickets, and are part of a general and growing police-state climate at the parks that includes routine bag-searches at each park entrance.Read Entire Post Here: Fingertip biometrics at Disney turnstiles: the Mouse does its bit for the police state - Boing Boing
BBC NEWS - Americas - US House passes surveillance law
Posted March 15, 2008 Comments(0) House OKs bill defying Bush on eavesdropping
Seattle Times, United States -
By Jonathan Weisman WASHINGTON — A deeply divided House approved its latest version of terrorist surveillance legislation on Friday, rebuffing President …
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Surveillance bill passes House despite Bush veto threat |
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House passes wiretapping bill |
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US House passes surveillance law |
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US House defies Bush on spy bill |
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House of Reps passes FISA bill sans telecom immunity provision |
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Michele Bachmann: Democratic leaders stand in the way of Americans … |
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House votes 213-197 to reject retroactive telecom immunity |
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House passes surveillance bill without immunity |
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US House Approves Intelligence Measure Over Bush Objections |
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House Dems Stand Up |
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US House challenges Bush on surveillance bill |
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US House passes spy bill, rejects phone immunity |
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FISA infinitum: More reaction |
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US House passes spy bill, challenges White House |
House Passes FISA Bill
CBS News, NY -
By Daniel W. Reilly (The Politico) The House passed a controversial electronic surveillance measure Friday morning, capping nearly a month of intense debate …
Debate about Secret Session in House of Representatives
Posted March 15, 2008 Comments(0) NSA shifts to e-mail, Web, data-mining dragnet - The Iconoclast
Posted March 14, 2008 Comments(0) The National Security Agency was once known for its skill in eavesdropping on the world’s telephone calls through radio dishes in out-of-the-way places like England’s Menwith Hill, Australia’s Pine Gap, and Washington state’s Yakima Training Center.
Today those massive installations, which listened in on phone conversations beamed over microwave links, are becoming something akin to relics of the Cold War. As more communications traffic travels through fiber links, and as e-mail and text messaging supplant phone calls, the spy agency that once intercepted telegrams is adapting yet again.
Recent evidence suggests that the NSA has been focusing on widespread monitoring of e-mail messages and text messages, recording of Web browsing, and other forms of electronic data-mining, all done without court supervision. Taken together, those activities raise unique privacy and oversight concerns greater than those posed by large-scale monitoring of voice communications.
Documents released last week by a security consultant (PDF) indicate that an unnamed major wireless provider has opened its network to the U.S. government, allowing customers’ e-mail, text messaging, and Web use to be monitored. And Assistant Attorney General for National Security Kenneth Wainstein said last week that surveillance of e-mail was the real concern raised by the debate over amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
That led some high-ranking House Democrats, including Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, to circulate a letter (PDF) advising their colleagues to look skeptically at a Republican proposal that would grant retroactive immunity to companies that illegally let the Feds plug into their networks. The Republicans’ blanket of retroactive immunity would likely cover e-mail providers, search engines, Internet service providers, and instant-messaging services too.
Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring - New York Times
Posted March 10, 2008 Comments(0) 
ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.
The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.
Whistle-Blower: Feds Have a Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier - Wired.com
Posted March 7, 2008 Comments(0) 
A U.S. government office in Quantico, Virginia, has direct, high-speed access to a major wireless carrier’s systems, exposing customers’ voice calls, data packets and physical movements to uncontrolled surveillance, according to a computer security consultant who says he worked for the carrier in late 2003.
“What I thought was alarming is how this carrier ended up essentially allowing a third party outside their organization to have unfettered access to their environment,” Babak Pasdar, now CEO of New York-based Bat Blue told Threat Level. “I wanted to put some access controls around it; they vehemently denied it. And when I wanted to put some logging around it, they denied that.”
Microsoft seeks patent for office spy software - Times Online
Posted January 16, 2008 Comments(0) The Times has seen a patent application filed by the company for a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolism. The system would allow managers to monitor employees’ performance by measuring their heart rate, body temperature, movement, facial expression and blood pressure. Unions said they fear that employees could be dismissed on the basis of a computer’s assessment of their physiological state.
Microsoft seeks patent for office spy software - Times Online
