19 August 2005 23:03

ID cards could be used for mass surveillance system
By Marie Woolf, Chief Political Correspondent
Published: 18 August 2005

The Government is creating a system of "mass public surveillance"
capable of tracking every adult in Britain without their consent, 
MPs say. They warn that people who have never committed a crime can 
be "electronically monitored" without their knowledge.

Biometric facial scans, which will be compulsory with ID cards, are 
to be put on a national database which can then be matched with images
from CCTV. The database of faces will enable police and security
services to track individuals regardless of whether they have broken
the law.

CCTV surveillance footage from streets, shops and even shopping
centres could be cross-referenced with photographs of every adult 
in the UK once the ID cards Bill becomes law. Biometric facial scans,
iris scans and fingerprints of all adults in the UK will be stored on
a national database. Civil liberties groups say the plans are a
"dangerous" threat to people's privacy.

Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said the
plans were being brought in by the Government without informing the
public. "A new system capable of mass public surveillance is being
created with no public debate. The arrival of CCTV cameras which can
recognise you and track you without your knowledge means we are
stepping into an unknown future," he said.

The monitoring will be possible using the country's four million CCTV
cameras - more than any country in the world. Images could be swiftly
cross-referenced with the database.

Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, has said that the "facial images
national database should be operational by December 2006".

The technology is already used by the police to check for offenders,
and for football hooligans. Casinos use it to spot VIPs and to check
for gamblers they have barred.

[...]

Full article at "The Independent"
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article306577.ece

Cheers, Steve...

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