Posts Tagged privacy
MP wants to hobble a useful counter-measure to Identity theft
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime on 23/07/2010
Geraint Davies MP wants to end the use of anonymous pre-paid credit cards on the grounds that they can be used to purchase child pornography. The problem with his suggestion is that it doesn’t take into account all the manifold legitimate uses of pre-paid credit cards. In fact, they might well be much more of a force for good, allowing vulnerable people, especially children, to protect their identity on the Internet.
Criminals use the database state too
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime on 06/02/2008
A terrorised pensioner died of a heart attack during an attack on his home in a dispute over a parking space at a supermarket. What makes this story especially worrying is that a policeman (and friend of the defendants) traced the 79-year-old by his car registration number, using the police national computer database. There is no word in the news on what legal action the policeman will face, which is strange considering that accessory to manslaughter would be appropriate.