“Surveillance Society”

Innovations such as digital identities and live facial recognition should shape the future of the criminal justice system, Tony Blair has said.

Proposals for technological advancement such as the establishment of a unique digital identifier to connect a person’s data, such as health and tax records, have been included in The Times Crime and Justice Commission’s full report and recommendations, which were released on Monday.

Blair was always a creep.

It is many years since I clambered into a cage in Cambridge’s King’s Parade for Amnesty International and stared glumly through the bars at a photographer who snapped me for the front page of the student paper. On that drizzly, damp day, we were trying to draw attention to the plight of prisoners in authoritarian countries where people could be thrown into jail for no reason, except to deter other critics of the regime, and denied their basic human rights.

In the past few days, I’ve found myself wondering what that idealistic young student would have thought if you’d told her that, 40 years in the future, she would be writing about a woman thrown into jail in our own country largely to act as a warning to others. A widely-respected and adored childminder described by one parent as “the kindest British person I’ve met”, a mother of two children (one living, one dead), a carer to a sick husband, by whose side she also appeared in his role as a Tory councillor.

Facial recognition cameras that scan for wanted criminals are being installed permanently on UK high streets for the first time, The Times can reveal.

The Metropolitan Police will permanently put up live facial recognition (LFR) cameras in Croydon, south London, as part of a pilot project that may see the scheme extended across the capital.

The cameras, set to go live in June or July, will monitor the faces of people on the high street and match their image to a database of alleged criminals, including rapists, burglars and robbers.

A grandmother was spoken to at her home by police after she criticised Labour politicians online for sending offensive WhatsApp messages.

In a series of Facebook posts Helen Jones called for the resignation of a councillor embroiled in the WhatsApp scandal which led to the sacking of Andrew Gwynne, the former health minister.

The 54-year-old school administrator, who was not accused of committing a crime, said she was left feeling scared to post on social media following the unannounced visit by two officers on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s immigration ministry has been secretly asking Canadians via surveys if they would accept a mandatory national identification program that likely would require each citizen to always have a type of “digital” passport on them.

Elon Musk’s willingness to share information about the Cybertruck explosion has highlighted how much data cars collect — and left some drivers uneasy.

Video footage and other data collected by Tesla helped law enforcement quickly piece together how a Cybertruck came to explode outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.

The trove of digital evidence also served as a high-profile demonstration of how much data modern cars collect about their drivers and those around them.

Data privacy experts say the investigation — which has determined that the driver, active-duty U.S. Army soldier Matthew Livelsberger, died by suicide before the blast — highlights how car companies vacuum up reams of data that can clear up mysteries but also be stolen or given to third parties without drivers’ knowledge. There are few regulations controlling how and when law enforcement authorities can access data in cars, and drivers are often unaware of the vast digital trail they leave behind.

… The push to remove paper passports is happening worldwide. So far, airports in Finland, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, India, and elsewhere have been trialing various levels of passport-free travel or the technology needed to make it happen. In October, officials in Singapore announced that its residents can fly to and from the country without using their documentation, and foreign visitors can “enjoy the convenience of passport-less clearance when they depart Singapore.” More than 1.5 million people have used the systems, officials claim.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has developed a mobile application with facial recognition capabilities to keep track of those who are required to report to border agents, including those awaiting deportation.

Along with facial recognition, the app also provides GPS locations of users to the CBSA, according to the agency’s website. The app, dubbed ReportIn, is part of the CBSA’s Alternatives to Detention program, which allows individuals to be released from detention under certain conditions.

This will be abused count on it. Assuming it works.