Chapter 12
THE TECHNOLOGICAL APPARATUS OF TOTALITARIANISM

12.1 ID Cards and Biometric Identification
12.2 Computer Databases
12.3 DNA Databases
12.4 Implantable Microchips
12.5 Radio Frequency Identification
12.6 Car and Mobile Phone Tracking
12.7 Surveillance Cameras
12.8 Black Budget Funding

[T]he capacity to assert social and political control over the individual will vastly increase. It will soon be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and to maintain up-to-date, complete files, containing even the most personal information about the health or personal behavior of the citizen in addition to more customary data. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities.
– Between Two Ages-America's Role in the Technetronic Era, 1970.

Zbigniew Brzezinski,

first director of The Trilateral Commission 1973-1976 and U.S. National Security Advisor 1977-1981.Source:The Rand Corporation website

In an interview with The Times newspaper, the U.K. Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, expressed his concern that "we don't sleepwalk into a surveillance society".(1) He said that there is a growing danger of East German Stasi-style snooping if the state gathers too much information about individual citizens.

 

He was referring to three projects in particular, which Brzezinski foresaw over thirty years ago: the proposed Identity Card scheme which will have personal details and the fingerprints of everyone in the country; the population database named the 'Citizen’s Information Project' and proposals in the Children Bill - currently before Parliament - which would create a database of personal information on all children from birth to age 18 and details of their parents.

These and many other measures and technologies are being introduced piecemeal across the globe and justified individually. However collectively, they constitute the awesome global network of big brother surveillance planned decades ago.
 

 


12.1 ID CARDS AND BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION
 

EUROPE

After the establishment of biometric ID systems, pressure will begin to build to enact laws that will require citizens to produce an ID whenever a government official demands it. In the countries that already have national ID card systems, the police have acquired such powers e.g. France, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain.(2)

The European Commission has produced two draft Regulations (25.9.03) to introduce two sets of biometric data (fingerprints and facial image) on visas and resident permits for third country nationals by 2005. The biometric data and personal details on visas will be stored on national and E.U.-wide databases and be accessible through the Visa Information System (VIS) held on the Schengen Information System (SIS II). The Regulation stipulates that two biometric identifiers must be held on an imbedded chip in a document. (3)

On 13 December 2004, the E.U. General Affairs Council agreed to adopt a Regulation on mandatory facial images and fingerprints in E.U. passports.(4) Once the details have been decided, replacement and new passports will have to contain facial images within 18 months and fingerprints within three years. The

U.K. has not signed up to this Regulation, but is proceeding with biometric passports and ID cards anyway.
 


UK

The Government introduced The Identity Cards Bill in November 2004, enabling the phased introduction of ID cards by 2008.(5) The Home Office website partly justifies the ID card on the grounds of international requirements, stating that Brits will not be able to travel abroad if we don't have biometric passports and that we might as well have an ID card because the biometric passport system is virtually the same thing!:

The Government's decision to proceed with the introduction of a national identity cards scheme is based in part on the fact that we will have to introduce more secure personal identifiers (biometrics) into our passports and other existing documents in line with international requirements. Right across the world there is a drive to increase document security with biometrics. If our citizens are to continue to enjoy the benefits of international travel, as increasing numbers of them are doing we cannot be left behind. It is worth remembering that 21 of the 25 EU Member States (all apart from the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Latvia) have identity cards.

Already the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has established standards in the use of biometrics in passports and a biometric British passport will be introduced in 2005 that will incorporate a computer chip to store a facial image biometric. The United States is introducing a biometric passport requirement for all visitors going to the US without a visa.

The decision to introduce biometrics into existing identity documents has therefore already been made. Without an identity cards scheme, the majority of the population would be enrolled via existing identity documents like passports anyway. The costs involved in this would be nearly the same as implementing a comprehensive identity cards scheme available to the whole resident population, but without the added benefits.

The British anti-ID campaign, www.no2ID.net, outlines the main aspects of the system (6):

  1. The National Identification Register. The heart of the system. Clause 1 of the Bill imposes an obligation on the Secretary of State to establish a central population register containing a wide range of details of every UK citizen and resident aged from 16 years and 3 months.

  2. The code. Clause 2 (6) requires that every individual must be given a unique number, to be known as the National Identity Registration Number (NIRN). This number will become the “key” for government and private sector organizations to access information on the register and to share that information.

  3. Biometrics. Clause 5 (5) requires individuals to submit to fingerprinting and “other” means of physical identification. This is likely to include electronic face scanning and iris recognition.

  4. The card. Clause 8 establishes the actual identity card, generated from and containing the information in the Register.

  5. Legal obligations. Clause 15 establishes a requirement to produce the card in order to obtain public services.

  6. Administrative convergence. The number and the card register are used by a variety of agencies and organizations as their administrative basis. 1 (5) permits the bringing together of all registration numbers (National Insurance, NHS, etc) used by a person.

  7. Cross notification. Agencies will be required to notify each other of changes to a person's details. Clause 19 authorizes the Secretary of State to disclose details from the register to other agencies without the consent of the individual.

  8. New crimes and penalties. The Bill establishes a large number of new crimes and offences to ensure that people comply with the ID requirements.

 

NORTH AMERICA

 

A Canadian parliamentary committee has unexpectedly told the Canadian Parliament that it could find no evidence to justify a national ID card scheme. Members almost unanimously declared the proposal a waste of time and resources. Government MP Joe Fontana, who chairs the committee, told press that the Committee was still struggling to determine why an ID card was even needed.

"I think the fundamental question of why do we need to have a national ID card has yet to be answered,'' he said.(7)

It was only a matter of days after the attack of September 11th before some members of the U.S. Congress proposed the implementation of a national ID card system as a way of thwarting terrorist attacks. The national ID card had been proposed in the past as a way of stopping illegal immigration. Larry Ellison, chairman and CEO of Oracle, made headlines after 9/11, saying:

"We need a national ID card with our photograph and thumbprint digitized and embedded in the ID card".

The prospect of massive computer databases or registries, software data collection systems, digital fingerprinting, handprint scans, facial recognition technologies, voice authentication devices, electronic retinal scans, and other 'biometric' surveillance technologies have suddenly become realistic options for government identification purposes.(8)

Due to popular suspicion of a compulsory ID card in the U.S., the federal Government is introducing the measure by stealth. On 16 April 2002, the Subcommittee Hearing on Standardizing State Driver's Licenses proposed establishing a national identity system based on the state driver's license. The measures proposed unspecified unique biometric identifiers on the new cards.(9)

H.R. 418, The Real ID Act, passed in the House in February 2005 and will require states to have either an electronic license or ID card by 2008, which interestingly is also the year that ID cards will be phased in the U.K.(10)The legislation allows the Dept. Homeland Security to design state ID cards and drivers licenses with biometric information such as retinal scans, fingerprints, DNA data and RFID tracking technology.

Behind these proposals is a huge Government sponsored research effort into biometric technology. The Office of Homeland Security now has a Behavioral Research and Biometrics Science and Technology Directorate. It has awarded a three year contract to International Biometric Group LLC for research into the effects of identity determination systems and processes on international travel, border management and homeland security.(11)

The Science and Technology section of the Office of Homeland Security's National Strategy for Homeland Security, July 2002, states that it wants to develop systems that can measure 'hostile intent' and sensors that can detect immunization status.(12)The section entitled Law contains proposals for increased information sharing, biometric identification, and standardization of state drivers licenses.(13)

Biometrics and smart-card technologies will play a major role in the ' U.S. Visit ' project, a $1.5-10 billion project under the Dept. Homeland Security, announced in September 2003. The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 mandated the system and set several milestones, including the collection of biometric information from visitors entering the U.S. by air and sea by the end of 2003.

 

All visitors over the age of 13 will now have their fingerprints taken and stored for 75 to 100 years by the Dept. Homeland Security, which will be shared with other government departments and agencies, and other governments. The E.U. Regulation requiring biometric passports has the secondary effect that whenever E.U. citizens travel abroad (not just to the United States), they will again be required to register their fingerprints and face-scans with foreign governments as their passports are verified. As a result, the E.U. is drastically enlarging the U.S. VISIT programme by turning it against its own citizens and then globalising this practice.(14)

The Transportation Security Administration has a major contract in the works called the Transportation Workers Identification Credential. A pilot program involving 10,000 transportation workers is evaluating biometric technologies that can be used for government, contractor, and private-sector workers at transportation facilities.(15)

The Biometrics Management Office (BMO) has been set up as a central procurement agency for the U.S. Dept. Defense. its motto reads,

...ensuring the right person with the right privileges has access at the right time to support war fighting dominance.... Biometrics are measurable physical characteristics or personal behavioral traits used to recognize the identity, or verify the claimed identity of an individual. We are looking at: facial recognition, fingerprint, hand geometry, iris scan, signature verification, and voice recognition.

All military personnel and DOD civilian employees will be subject to biometric identification.(16) In an interview with the BBC, a BMO spokesman said that biometrics are going to play an increasing role in everyone's lives.(17)The BBC also reported in January 2003 that retinal scanners will be used at the new £14.5m Venerable Bede Church of England Aided School.

 

The technology will be used on pupils buying meals in the school canteen and in the library when children want to take out books.(18) In May 2003, Akron School Board in Ohio gave the go ahead for a finger-printing system to be installed in the school canteen.(19) Since October 2002 the U.N. High Commission for Refugees has been taking compulsory iris-scans of returning Afghan refugees at three centers on the Pakistan border. A total of over 130,000 people have been scanned so far. (20)

The Pentagon is developing a radar-based device that can identify people by the way they walk, for use in a new anti-terrorist surveillance system. Operating on the theory that an individual's walk is as unique as a signature, the Pentagon has financed a research project at the Georgia Institute of Technology that has been 80 to 95 percent successful in identifying people.(21)

In 2001 a company called Graphco teamed up with several other companies to bring face scanning cameras to the Super Bowl in Tampa, FL. After the game, Tampa Bay police reported that the technology pinpointed 19 people with criminal records out of a crowd of 100,000.(22)

Biometrics research has been guided by the U.S. military over the past decade. In 1992, the National Security Agency (NSA) initiated the Biometric Consortium, consisting of representatives from six departments of the U.S. Government and each of the Military Services. The NSA initiated the formation of the Consortium as part of its Information Systems Security mission, with a goal to increase the availability of biometric authentication and identification to meet the needs of the Dept. Defense and other Federal agencies.

 

It is chaired by an NSA agent and its stated objective is to build a consensus in industry and academia around the requirements of the NSA:

[To] Create standardized testing databases, procedures, and protocols for the community and security policy organizations. Provide a forum for information exchange between the Government, private industry, and academia. Establish increased Government and commercial interaction. Facilitate symposia/workshops to include the participation of academia and private industry.(23)
 

 

12.2 COMPUTER DATABASES
 

USA

To take advantage of the snooping provisions in Patriot Acts I and II, a project called 'Total Information Awareness Network' was proposed. Although the Government officially shelved the plan in September 2003 due to public outrage, it will only take another terror attack to bring it back. The controversial programme was conceived by retired Admiral John Poindexter and was run by the Information Awareness Office that he headed inside the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

 

The goal was to develop software that could examine the computerized travel, credit, medical and other records of Americans and others around the world to search for telltale hints of a terrorist attack. Poindexter's office told contractors that he wanted the software to allow U.S. agents to rapidly scan and analyze multiple petabytes of information. Just one petabyte of computer data could fill the Library of Congress more than 50 times. (24)

Whilst the Federal Government officially shelved its TIA network, the States have been working on a similar project independently with Federal backing. Dubbed "Matrix", Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, the database has been in use for a year and a half in Florida, where police praise the crime-fighting tool as nimble and exhaustive. It cross-references driving records and restricted police files with billions of pieces of public and private data, including credit and property records. As a dozen more states pool their criminal and government files with Florida's, the Matrix database is expanding in size and power.

 

Organizers hope to coax more states to join, touting its usefulness in everyday policing not just tracking terrorists. Organizers are considering giving access to the CIA even though in the 1970s, Congress barred the CIA from scanning files on Americans. The system is owned by a private company called Seisint, in Boca Raton, but it is federally funded and guarded by state police.(25)

In September 2003, alongside Project VISIT, Dept. Homeland Security launched a Security Planning and Integrated Resources for Information Technology (SPIRIT) system that will combine hundreds to thousands of legacy applications into single computer networks . This will facilitate the creation of a vast federal database encompassing all the large federal agencies.

 

Together, the contracts for this project are worth about $10 billion. In the Information Sharing and Systems section of The National Strategy for Homeland Security 2002, the Government says that it needs to link up all the IT systems of every single agency of the Federal government in order to create accurate terrorist 'watch lists'. More disturbing still is the paper's proposal to use data-mining techniques to interrogate this database in order to spot 'patterns of criminal behaviour' and detain 'suspected terrorists' before they act. (26)(27)(28)

The Transportation Security Administration's Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening (CAPPS II) system, is being developed to screen travelers, rather like the European Schengen Information System (SIS) that monitors peoples' movement around the E.U.. It will use 'dynamic intelligence information' to select passengers for enhanced screening' authenticated from publicly and commercially available databases to 'run against terrorist or other appropriate federal systems and an aggregate numerical threat score will be generated in less than five seconds'.(29)
 


UK AND EUROPE

In June 2002 the British Home Secretary sought to expand the scope of section 22 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. S.22 currently authorizes the police (including MOD police, NCS, NCIS) Secret Intelligence Agencies (MI5, MI6, GCHQ), Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue, to obtain communications data from companies without a court order for the following purposes:

(2)(a) in the interests of national security
(b) for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime or of preventing disorder
(c) in the interests of the economic well-being of the United Kingdom
(d) in the interests of public safety
(e) for the purpose of protecting public health
(f) for the purpose of assessing or collecting any tax, duty, levy or other imposition, contribution or charge payable to a government department
(g) for the purpose, in an emergency, of preventing death or injury or any damage to a person's physical or mental health, or of mitigating any injury or damage to a person's physical or mental health
(h) for any purpose (not falling within paragraphs (a) to (g)) which is specified for the purposes of this subsection by an order made by the Secretary of State

Communications data includes name and address, service usage details, details of who you have been calling, details of who has called, mobile phone location (which through global positioning system tracking chips can place you within 200 meters), source and destination of email, usage of web sites (but not pages within such sites). The draft Statutory Instrument expanded this list to include 24 public bodies, which according to StateWatch, amounted to 1039 individual authorities.(30)(31)

 

The proposed bodies are:

1) Government departments: Dept. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Dept. Health; Home Office; Dept. Trade and Industry; Dept. Transport; Dept. Work and Pensions; Northern Ireland Executive's Dept. Enterprise.

2) Local authorities: Any local authority in England and Wales; any fire authority; any council in Scotland; any district council in Northern Ireland

3) NHS bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland: The common services Agency of the Scottish Health Service; The Northern Ireland Central Services agency for Health and Social Services.

4) Other bodies: Environment Agency; Financial Services Authority; Food Standards Agency; Health and Safety Executive Information Commissioner; Office of Fair Trading; Postal Services Commission; Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency; Scottish Environmental Protection Agency; UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary; a universal service provider covered by Postal Services Act.(32)

Due to a backlash from civil liberties groups, the plans to expand RIPA S.22 were shelved a week after they were announced.(33) Separate from the identity card scheme, the Cabinet has given the go-ahead to set up Britain's first national population computer database under the Office of National Statistics. For use by public services, the 'citizen information project' is to bring together all the existing information held by the Government on the 58 million people residing in Britain.

 

It will include their name, address, date of birth, sex, and a unique personal number to form a 'more accurate and transparent' database than existing national insurance, tax, medical, passport, voter, and driving license records.(34) The Children Bill introduced on 4th March 2004, proposes a database of all children from birth until adulthood.(35) It was put forward after the failure of official agencies to share information in the Victoria Climbie child abuse case.

 

School achievements, medical and social services records and parental marital status could be on the database. The Dept. Health is also planning a database detailing treatments and social care for all patients. Children's' personal files will record every "concern" that a professional has about them. It will also record "concerns" about their parents. The Bill will allow this to happen without the knowledge or consent of children and parents. The information-sharing goes far beyond concerns that a child is at risk of significant harm.

 

It will also include information about other family members that may be considered relevant, such as suspected drug and alcohol misuse or mental health problems. Clause 8 of the Bill empowers the Secretary of State to define by Regulations what information should be held on the database. There is no limit to this power, and there seems to be nothing to prevent the Secretary of State from ordering that all agency files be held centrally.
 


DATA RETENTION

Section 11 of the U.K. 2001 Terrorism Act outlined a voluntary code of practice for Internet Services Providers (ISP's) to hold data on customers' web surfing and email for up to 6 years.(36) This ill thought out piece of legislation hassince been criticized by MPs as being completely unworkable due the huge burden of record keeping it places on ISPs but the Government is still keen to press ahead with it.(37)(38)

E.U. Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (Directive 2002/58/EC) July 2002 allows member states to pass laws mandating the retention of the traffic and location data of all communications taking place over mobile phones, SMS, landline telephones, faxes, e-mails, chat rooms, the Internet, or any other electronic communication device.

 

The retention of the contents of the communications are not covered by the Directive, but the purpose is exactly the same as the British proposals, applied to 450 million citizens: To keep a log of who you have phoned and when; who you have exchanged emails with and when; who you have sent short messages via mobile phone to and when; which internet pages you visited and for how long.

The Directive reverses the 1997 Telecommunications Privacy Directive by explicitly allowing E.U. countries to compel ISPs and telecommunications companies to record, index, and store their subscribers' communications data. These requirements can be implemented for purposes varying from national security to criminal investigations and prosecution of criminal offences, all without specific judicial authorization.(39)

 

The Directive requires records to be kept for up to 24 months.(40) The list of data to be retained by ISPs and telecoms companies was drawn up by Europol as revealed in a confidential document obtained by Statewatch containing the agenda of the Expert Meeting on Cybercrime of 10th April 2002. (41)

At the summit which followed the Madrid bombing in March 2004, the E.U. accepted a draft Framework Decision on data retention at the request of the U.K., France, Ireland and Sweden. This strengthened the 2002 Directive by extending data retention to up to 3 years and widened its use from specific investigations to "prevention and detection" of crime. This opens the door for a dragnet style sweep on the American "Total Information Awareness" model.(42)
 

 

12.3 DNA DATABASES
 

UK

British police have a database of 2 million DNA samples taken from people charged with criminal offences. This is the first of its kind in the world. In September 2003 Kevin Morris, chairman of the Police Superintendent's Association said he would urge the Home Secretary to consider extending the database to everyone in the country in order to solve crimes quicker and prevent them happening.(43)

 

In March 2003 the Home Office announced proposals to take and store DNA samples from anyone arrested even if they are released without charge.(44) The highest court in the land, the law lords, ruled on 22 July 2004 that police can keep these DNA samples indefinitely.(45)
 


USA

The proposals for a DNA database under 'Patriot Act II' were outlined in the previous chapter. However, the FBI already hold a DNA database of 1.5 million people. In April 2003, the U.S. Government announced plans to include DNA samples from everybody arrested even if they are not charged.(46)
 

 

12.4 IMPLANTABLE MICROCHIPS

A study of future military strategy entitled Airforce 2025 was drawn up by the U.S. Air University in 1996. In the section Information Operations: A New War Fighting Capapility, the authors suggest the advantages of satellite linked implanted brain microchips over other communication systems. These will allow the implanted personnel to 'pull a computer-generated mental visualization of the desired battlespace anytime, anywhere'. It suggests that the civilian population can become conditioned to accept the concept of implanted troops in the way they have become accustomed to other medical implants.(47)

Researchers at the University of Southern California are now developing the world's first prosthetic brain part. Funded by DARPA, they are learning how to build sophisticated electronics and integrate them into human brains which could one day lead to cyborg soldiers and robotic servants as well as putting them into diseased brains for medical purposes. Under DARPA'S Brain Machine Interface Program, MIT researchers have monkeys in a laboratory can control the movement of a robotic arm using only their thoughts. This is technology which can literally read your mind.(48) (49) (50)

A Mexican company called Solusat is marketing the Verichip, manufactured by military contractor Applied Digital Solutions of Florida (ADS), as an anti-kidnapping device. The RFID Verichip is injected under the skin and emits a radio frequency signal which can be detected by a scanner. Other potential uses of the chip, according to company officials, include scanning unconscious patients to obtain their medical records or restricting access to high-security buildings by scanning workers to verify their clearance.(51)

ADS is developing Radio Frequency ID chips able to track the movement of people worldwide using global positioning satellites. The company is field testing its Personal Locator Device, or PLD, which ADS says could help track lost children and sick or elderly family members. Currently the company is marketing a GPS system which uses a strap on monitor or watches.(52) (53)


The current body piercing fashion which is being heavily promoted by the controlled media might be seen against this background. The police state planners are using popular culture to persuade today's youth that it is 'cool' to have pieces of metal inserted into their heads. Being linked up to national defence departments by such artifacts will not be such a 'cool' experience however.

On 7 April 2004, Alex Jones interviewed Conrad Chase, director of the Baja Beach Clubs International, an international chain of exclusive nightclubs. He has introduced the VeriPay system for VIP members of his clubs allowing them to pay for services by swiping their microchipped bodies. Chase himself was implanted at the media launch of the VIP implant system along with stars from the Spanish version of the TV Show, "Big Brother," (called "Grand Hermano" in Spain).

Showcased by ADS at a global security conference in November 2003, the VeriPay System is a new syringe-injectable microchip implant for humans, designed to be used as a fraud-proof payment method for cash and credit-card transactions. The chip implant is alleged to be an advance over credit cards and smart cards.(54) The use of ADS chips has also caught on in government agencies.(55)

 

On 14 July 2004, the Associated Press announced:

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Security has reached the subcutaneous level for Mexico's attorney general and at least 160 people in his office - they have been implanted with microchips that get them access to secure areas of their headquarters.

Mexico's top federal prosecutors and investigators began receiving chip implants in their arms in November in order to get access to restricted areas inside the attorney general's headquarters, said Antonio Aceves, general director of Solusat, the company that distributes the [ADS] microchips in Mexico
 

 

12.5 RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID)

Katheryn Albrecht of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) reports:

A new consumer goods tracking system called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is poised to enter all of our lives within five years, with profound implications for consumer privacy. RFID couples radio frequency (RF) identification technology with highly miniaturized computers that enable products to be identified and tracked at any point along the supply chain. The system could be applied to almost any physical item, from ballpoint pens to toothpaste, which would carry their own unique information in the form of an embedded chip.

 

The chip sends out an identification signal allowing it to communicate with reader devices and other products embedded with similar chips. Analysts envision a time when the system will be used to identify and track every item produced on the planet. RFID employs a numbering scheme called EPC (for 'electronic product code') which can provide a unique ID for any physical object in the world.

 

The EPC is intended to replace the UPC bar code used on products today. Unlike the bar code, however, the EPC goes beyond identifying product categories--it actually assigns a unique number to every single item that rolls off a manufacturing line. For example, each pack of cigarettes, individual can of soda, light bulb or package of razor blades produced would be uniquely identifiable through its own EPC number. Once assigned, this number is transmitted by a radio frequency ID tag (RFID) in or on the product.

 

These tiny tags, predicted by some to cost less than 1 cent each by 2004, are 'somewhere between the size of a grain of sand and a speck of dust'. They are to be built directly into food, clothes, drugs, or auto-parts during the manufacturing process. They are not removed from the product when it leaves the store. Receiver or reader devices are used to pick up the signal transmitted by the RFID tag.

 

Proponents envision a pervasive global network of millions of receivers along the entire supply chain -- in airports, seaports, highways, distribution centers, warehouses, retail stores, and in the home. This would allow for seamless, continuous identification and tracking of physical items (and their owners) as they move from one place to another, enabling companies to determine the whereabouts of all their products (and owners) at all times.

 

The ultimate goal is for RFID to create a 'physically linked world' in which every item on the planet is numbered, identified, cataloged, and tracked. Since the Auto-ID Center's founding at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1999, it has moved forward at remarkable speed. The center has attracted funding from some of the largest consumer goods manufacturers in the world, and even counts the Department of Defense among its sponsors.

 

The European Central Bank is quietly working to embed RFID tags in the fibers of Euro banknotes by 2005. With corporate sponsors like Wal-Mart, Target, the Food Marketing Institute, Home Depot, and British supermarket chain Tesco, as well as some of the world's largest consumer goods manufacturers including Procter and Gamble, Phillip Morris, and Coca Cola it may not be long before RFID-based surveillance tags begin appearing in every store-bought item in a consumer's home. (56)

Confidential documents obtained by CASPIAN from the AutoID Center show that the industry is fully aware of the massive unpopularity of RFID technology but is relying on consumer apathy to enable them to force it on the public. To reinforce this apathy, the RFID coalition are hiring PR firms to emphasize the "inevitability" of its introduction.(57)

Gillette introduced RFID into its products early in 2003 and combined them with technology to take a photograph of anyone who picked up the product off the shelf. Trials of this anti-theft technology were undertaken by a Tesco Store in Cambridge U.K. (58) Tesco, the world's third largest retailer is also one of the world's largest promoters of RFID technology, and has recently purchased 20,000 readers and antennas for 1300 of its stores.(59) Wal-Mart is the leading promoter of RFID use in American retailing.

Meanwhile the U.S. Defense Dept. announced in October 2003 that by January 2005 all its suppliers must embed passive RFID chips in each individual product where possible.(60)

The European Central Bank is moving forward with plans to embed RFID tags as thin as a human hair into the fibers of Euro bank notes by 2005, in spite of consumer protests. The tags would allow currency to record information about each transaction in which it is passed. Governments and law enforcement agencies hail the technology as a means of preventing money-laundering, black-market transactions, and even bribery demands for unmarked bills.

 

However, consumers fear that the technology will eliminate the anonymity that cash affords.(61)

 

LOYALTY CARDS

On the horizon, the consultants say, is the day when RFID chips would allow shoppers to leave the store without checking out at all and get the bill on their credit card or store account. Stores across the world already track consumer purchases with opt-in loyalty cards. Using RFID to register sales instead of regular checkouts would force people to use the loyalty cards in order to pay for the goods. Anonymous purchases will become a thing of the past. Potential for RFID technology to be used to prescribe or proscribe what people can buy can be seen in the proposed "Fat Tax" whereby sales taxes would be imposed on foods considered to cause obesity.

 

The RFID system could be used to stop people purchasing too many of these items. The "fat tax" idea is backed by major scientific and environmental organizations such as WorldWatch and The Center for Science in the Public Interest and scientists writing in the British Medical Journal.(62)(63)The new Dialogue Youth cards were introduced in October 2003 at the new super-campus incorporating three schools in Midlothian, Scotland, comprising Dalkeith High School, St David's High and Saltersgate school for children with special needs.

 

The use of the cards to monitor eating habits is the latest initiative introduced to fight rising levels of obesity amongst children. The photo ID card is part of a cashless system in the dining areas. Once pupils have topped up the cards with credit, IT systems at the school will be able to record every purchase a pupil makes from the schools' canteen, cafe and vending machines. Those who choose salads and other healthy options will be rewarded with discounts or privileged access to activities.(64)

And who knows, the intelligence services who have access to supermarket databases might decide that your loyalty card needs to be invalidated because their data-mining software has determined that you are a potential terrorist or criminal. If you adjust your behaviour then you may find your loyalty card comes back on-line.

In step with the loyalty card database is the pronouncement by U.S. Postal Service that they are going to end anonymous use of the postal service due to the anthrax mailings in October 2001. The impetus for this move came directly from a Presidential commission, which recommended that USPS introduce sender identification for every item of mail.(65)

 

The investigation of the anthrax mailings by Dr. Leonard Horowitz and Michael Ruppert found that the Government itself was the likely culprit, showing once again how the problem-reaction-solution play is being used to manipulate policy-makers and public opinion into accepting the police state. (66)(67)
 

 

12.6 CAR AND MOBILE PHONE TRACKING

One of the best kept secrets in auto manufacturing is the fact that most new cars have black box data recorders in them. Ford and General Motors began phasing them in six years ago and Toyota and Honda also use them. Ford calls it the 'Electronic Data Recorder'; GM calls it the 'Sensing Diagnostic Module.' It's a small device that records your speed, the percentage of throttle, your RPMs, whether you have your foot on the brake and whether your seat belt is buckled and if you get in an accident, deploys an airbag.(68)

 

The U.K. government is looking at implementing a nationwide satellite global positioning system (GPS) that not only links the black box to a national road toll database but also controls the speed of vehicles by linking the black box to throttle control. When the car enters a 40mph zone the GPS will prevent the car exceeding the speed limit. The GPS system could also be used to detect drivers who have not paid vehicle duty or insurance. Most importantly the Government will know exactly where you are at any time because GPS is accurate within ten meters.

 

The prototype system for cars is currently being introduced in lorries in Germany and could be implemented in the UK by 2006. All vehicles would have to be fitted with the black box technology.(69)(70)The Institute for Public Policy Research who support the GPS measure have proposed that the national road charge should be £1.30 per mile adding £16 billion per year to the cost of motoring by 2010.(71)

Mobile phones contain GPS tracking chips which can determine the location of users within a few hundred meters. Under the E.U. data retention Directive, the data that can be retained includes all data generated by the conveyance of communications on an electronic communications network ("traffic data") as well as data indicating the geographic position of a mobile phone user (location data Art. 2 (b) and (c) of Dir. 2002/58/EC).(72) In October 2004 a new service was launched in the U.K. by MobileLocate, a company which enables employers to track their employees by their mobile phones down to 200 meters. The company says it takes just 10 to 15 seconds for a manager to make a request to find a mobile phone and receive a reply.(73)

Secret Government plans to turn mobile phone masts into Big Brother spy stations have been revealed. The new system called Celldar works by analyzing radio waves sent out by phone masts. When these waves hit an object they are reflected to the mast. By analyzing the reflections, a picture can be built of moving objects nearby, tracking vehicles and people anywhere in the U.K. using the country's 35,000 masts.

 

The Evening Standard has learned that the Ministry of Defense planned a test in October 2003 but an MoD spokesman said he was unable to comment on the project.(74) MoD is hoping to introduce the system as soon as resources allow. Police and security services are known to be interested in a variety of possible surveillance applications.

 

Celldar, is supposedly aimed at anti-terrorism, defense, security, and road traffic management.(75)
 

 


12.7 SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS

As previously discussed, biometric facial recognition technology already exists. The Orwellian implications of this are mind-boggling bearing in mind the millions of CCTV cameras worldwide. The Pentagon is developing an urban surveillance system whose centerpiece is groundbreaking computer software that is capable of automatically identifying vehicles by size, color, shape, and license tag, or drivers and passengers by face.(76)

In the U.S., tragic school shootings such as that at Columbine have led to hundreds of schools installing surveillance cameras. Some school districts have allowed the local police or head teacher to access the spyware via the internet and monitor the activities of students and staff at the click of a mouse.(77)(78)

Researchers are working to give the new equipment 'X-ray vision' - the capability to 'see' through walls and look into people's homes. In February 2003,

U.S. Federal Regulators in relaxed rules on this "ground-penetrating radar" technology allowing industry to develop technology which gives clearer images. Time Domain Corp., based in Huntsville, Ala., demonstrated a "through-wall motion detector," a briefcase-sized, 10-pound device that can be held up to a wall. A person moving behind the wall shows up as a colorful blob on a small display.

 

The detector is intended for use by law enforcement, firefighters, and the military.(79) The potential military and police use of "through wall surveillance" technology developed by Hughes corp. is discussed in a report by the Department of Applied Military Science at the Royal Military College of Canada. These devices are already being used by police in California and Mexico, and are also designed for urban warfare.(80) Similar technology is useful for seeing through clothing at airports and checkpoints.(81)

In Germany, EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space), the Bavarian Police Helicopter Squadron, and the Bavarian Interior Ministry are collaborating on Project Autopol (automatic object recognition for police helicopters) to help law enforcement agencies track illegal residents. Autopol combines automatic target recognition (ATR) technology with an infrared camera installed in a police helicopter. The infrared camera pinpoints warm objects such as people, animals, cars, or power lines. (82)

The U.S. Centibots project, funded by (DARPA), has developed new technology to support the coordinated deployment of as many as 100 robots for missions such as urban surveillance. These small mobile cameras on wheels, have their own artificial intelligence and can hunt fugitives or provide mobile surveillance and security for government agencies.(83)

The Federal National Science Foundation has awarded Bill Kaiser and his engineering team at UCLA $7.5 million to develop a systems of mobile cameras that zip through the countryside on cables. Designed to monitor endangered species and analyze environmental chemistry, they will also extend the urban surveillance grid out into the wilderness.(84)
 

 


12.8 BLACK BUDGET FUNDING

Development of the technological apparatus of totalitarianism is possibly being funded by the Pentagon's black budget. The Dept. Defense's Inspector General found that the Pentagon couldn't properly account for trillions of dollars in accounting entries every year.(85) For fiscal year 2000, auditors found $1.1 trillion in bookkeeping entries that could not be tracked or justified and $2.3 trillion worth of untraceable bookkeeping entries for year 1999. (86)
 

 


Chapter 12 End Notes

  1. Richard Ford, Beware rise of Big Brother state, warns data watchdog, The Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2710-1218615,00.html

  2. Identity Cards, Frequently Asked Questions, Privacy International Website, 24 Aug.1996. See http://www.privacy.org/pi/activities/idcard/idcard_faq.html

  3. Biometrics -the EU takes another step down the road to 1984, Statewatch, 2003. See http://www.statewatch.org/news/2003/sep/19eubiometric.htm

  4. Statewatch, news index, December 2004 http://www.statewatch.org/news/archive2004.htm

  5. Home Office website, FAQ's on ID Cards. See http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/comrace/identitycards/faq.html

  6. FAQ's on ID Cards, www.no2ID.net http://www.no2id.net/IDSchemes/faq.php#1

  7. Canadian parliamentary report ridicules ID cards as pointless, costly and dangerous, Privacy International Media Release, 8th Oct. 2003. See http://www.statewatch.org/news/2003/oct/14canada.htm

  8. Adam Thierer, National ID Cards: New Technologies, Same Bad Idea, Cato Institute, Issue #21, 28 Sept. 2001. See http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/010928-tk.html

  9. Watching the Watchers -Policy Report #1, Electronic Privacy Information Center. Feb.2002. See http://www.epic.org/privacy/id_cards/yourpapersplease.pdf  Also see http://www.epic.org/privacy/id_cards/

  10. Declan McCullagh, National ID cards on the way?, CNET News.com, 14 February 2005 http://news.com.com/National+ID+cards+on+the+way/2100-1028_3-5573414.html

  11. Gail Repsher Emery, Biometrics company to evaluate technologies for Homeland Security, Washington Technology, 10 Aug. 2003. See http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/1_1/homeland/21866-1.html

  12. The National Security Strategy for Homeland Security, July 2002, Science and Technology, p.52. See http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/book/sect4-1.pdf  Mainpagehttp://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/book/index.html

  13. Ibid., Law, p.49. See http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/book/sect4.pdf

  14. An Open Letter to the European Parliament on Biometric Registration of All EU Citizens and Residents, Privacy International, 30 November 2004. See http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/terrorism/ep_letter_biometrics.html

  15. Homeland Security takes action, Washington Technology, 1 Sept 2003; Vol. 18 No. 11. See http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/18_11/cover-stories/21541-1.html

  16. Biometrics Management Office, Dept. of Defense website. See http://www.defenselink.mil/nii/biometrics/

  17. Alfred Hermida, Faces and eyes rival passwords, BBC, London, 23 Jan. 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/faces_and_eyes_rival_passwords

  18. Eye scanners for school children, BBC, London, 8 Jan. 2003, http://www.propagandamatrix.com/eye_scanners_for_school_children

  19. Stephanie Warsmith, Students will scan for meals: Akron school board OKs fingerprint system, Akron Beacon, 28 May 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/students_will_scan_for_meals

  20. UNHCR imposing compulsory iris-scans on returning refugees over six years old, Statewatch, Aug. 2003. See http://www.statewatch.org/news/2003/aug/04afghan.htm

  21. Pentagon System Hopes to Identify Walks, Rocky Mount Telegram, 19 May 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/pentagon_system_hopes_to_identify_walks

  22. Biometrics Benched for Super Bowl, Wired News, 31 Dec. 2002. See http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56878,00.html

  23. Background of the US Government's Biometric Consortium, The Biometric Consortium website. See http://biometrics.org/REPORTS/CTST96/

  24. Michael J. Sniffen, Pentagon office creating surveillance system to close, The Associated Press, copy on StarTelegram.com, 25 Sep. 2003. See http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/6857188.htm

  25. Organizers say 'Matrix' Big Brother database would be tied in with CIA, AssociatedPress,copy on propagandamatrix.com. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/240903matrix.html

  26. Homeland Security takes action, Washington Technology, op cit.

  27. Amelia Gruber, Government rife with opportunities for small IT companies, survey finds, GovExec.com, 14 Aug. 2003. See http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0803/081403a1.htm

  28. The National Security Strategy for Homeland Security, Information Sharing and Systems, pp. 55-58

  29. Privacy and Human Rights, a report by Privacy International, 2003. See http://www.privacyinternational.org/survey/phr2003/threats.htm#The%20Current%20Landscape%20in%20the%20United%20States 

  30. Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, 2000, section 22.See http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--c.htm#22

  31. UK government forced to delay new surveillance powers, Statewatch, news, June 2002. See http://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/jun/05datauk.htm

  32. Stuart Millar, Government sweeps aside privacy rights, The Guardian, London, 11 June 2002. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4431109,00.html

  33. Stuart Millar, Lucy Ward and Richard Norton-Taylor, Blunkett shelves access to data plans, The Guardian, London, 19 June 2002. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,739959,00.html

  34. Alan Travis, Secret go-ahead for ID card database, The Guardian, London, 30 Sept. 2003. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0%2C3858%2C4763836-103685%2C00.html

  35. UK: Children Bill to introduce surveillance of every child and record "concerns" about their parents, Statewatch news, April 2004 http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/apr/07children-bill.htm

  36. Anti-Terrorism Legislation in The United Kingdom, Liberty, 2003, p.29. See http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/resources/publications/pdf-documents/anti-terrornew.pdf  

  37. MPs urge changes to net snooping laws, BBC, London, 28 Jan. 2003. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2702889.stm

  38. Stuart Millar, Internet providers say no to Blunkett, The Guardian, London, 22 Oct. 2002. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,816523,00.html

  39. Data Retention, Electronic Privacy Information Center. See http://www.epic.org/privacy/intl/data_retention.html#origins

  40. Privacy fears over EU snooping plans, BBC, London, 20 Aug. 2002. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2204909.stm

  41. EU surveillance of telecommunications, Statewatch, news, May 2002. See http://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/may/18europol.htm

  42. Data retention comes to roost - telephone and internet privacy to be abolished, Statewatch news, September 2004. See http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/apr/21dataretention.htm

  43. Simon Jeffery, Police seek DNA record of everyone, The Guardian, London, 8 Sept. 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/police_seek_dna_record_of_everyone

  44. Nick Hopkins, Police to get right to DNA test everyone they arrest, The Guardian, London, 27 March 2003, See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/ police_to_get_right_to_dna_test_everyone_they_arrest

  45. Police can keep DNA of innocent people indefinitely, statewatch, September 2004 http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/sep/03uk-dna-database.htm

  46. Richard Willing, White House seeks to expand DNA database, USA Today, 15 April 2003. See http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-04-15-dna-usat_x.htm

  47. LTC William B. Osborne, Maj Scott A. Bethel, Maj Nolen R. Chew, Maj Philip M. Nostrand and Maj YuLin G. Whitehead, Airforce 2025, The Air University, August 1996, Information Operations: A New War-Fighting Capability, Ch.4 Implanted Microscopic Chip. See http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/usaf/2025/v3c2/v3c2-1.htm#Contents

  48. Brain Machine Interfaces, DARPA Defense Sciences Office, Biological Sciences, http://www.darpa.mil/dso/thrust/biosci/brainmi.htm

  49. Michael Rosenwald, Can an electronic device replace damaged brain circuits?, Popular Science, June 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/darpa_cyborg_race

  50. Gareth Cook, Defense Department funding brain-machine work,The Boston Globe,5 August 2003. See. http://www.propagandamatrix.com/defense_department_funding_brain_machine_work 

  51. Tracking Junior With a Microchip, Wired News. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/101003microchip.html

  52. Angela Swafford, Barcoding humans, Boston Globe, 20 May 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/barcoding_humans

  53. Digital Angel Corporation website, GPS technology section. See http://www.digitalangel.net/consumer.asp

  54. Alex Jones, infowars.com, Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain Launches Microchip Implantation for VIP Members, 7 April 2004 http://www.infowars.com/print/bb/bajaimplantupdate.htm

  55. Chip Implanted in Mexico Judicial Workers,Associated Press 14 July 2004. See http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2004/140704chipimplanted.htm

  56. Katherine Albrecht, RFID: Tracking everything, everywhere, Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN). See http://www.stoprfid.com/rfid_overview.htm

  57. Alex Jones Interviews Katherine Albrecht, The Alex Jones Show, 8 July 2003. See http://www.prisonplanet.com/jones_report_071403_albrecht.html

  58. Alok Jha, Tesco tests spy chip technology: Tags in packs of razor blades used to trackbuyers, The Guardian, London, 19 July 2003. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0%2c3604%2c1001211%2c00.html

  59. Tesco Spychips, www.boycotttesco.com. See http://www.boycotttesco.com/wrong.html

  60. Matthew Broersma, Defense Department drafts RFID policy, CNET News.com, 24 Oct. 2003. See http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5097050.html

  61. Electronic Privacy Information Center, RFID page. See http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/

  62. Fat tax 'could save lives',BBC, London, 28 Jan. 2000. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/620844.stm

  63. More Absurd Fat Tax Proposals, Consumer Freedom, 1 March 2000. See http://www.consumerfreedom.com/article_detail.cfm?ARTICLE_ID=102

  64. Stephen Naysmith, New ID cards let parents spy on what kids eat, Sunday Herald, 26 Oct. 2003. See http://www.sundayherald.com/37698

  65. Audrey Hudson, 'Smart stamps' next in war on terrorism, The Washington Times, 26 oct. 2003. See http://washingtontimes.com/national/20031026-124606-8419r.htm

  66. Dr Leonard Horowitz, The CIA's Role in the Anthrax Mailings: Could Our Spies be Agents for Military-Industrial Sabotage, Terrorism, and Even Population Control?. See http://www.tetrahedron.org/articles/anthrax/anthrax_espionage.html

  67. Investigators Conclude Russian Defector is Lead Suspect in Anthrax Mailings Case, Tetrahedron LLC. News Release: No. DITA-81, 30 Aug. 2002. See http://www.tetrahedron.org/news/NR020830.html

  68. In-Car Black Boxes: Safety Measure Or Spy Tactic? Louisville Ky. --transcript of John Boel's report shown exactly the way it appeared on WLKY NewsChannel 32 at 11 p.m. on 17 Feb. 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/in_car_black_boxes_safety_measure_or_spy_tactic 

  69. Juliette Jowit, Black box in car to trap speed drivers, The Observer, London, 3 Aug. 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/black_box_in_car_to_trap_speed_drivers

  70. Tom Symonds, Tracking the future of driving, BBC, London, 9 June 2003. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2975216.stm

  71. Anger at £1.30-a-mile road toll plan, The Scotsman, 14 Oct. 2003. See http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=477&id=1136522003

  72. Electronic Privacy Information Center, op cit.

  73. Now Employers Can Spy on Staff Out of Office, The Scotsman, 17 October 2004 http://www.infowars.com/print/bb/employersspy.htm

  74. Mark Prigg, Secret MoD plan to create spy stations, The Evening Standard, London, 23 Oct. 2003. See http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/7321553?source=Evening%20Standard

  75. Jason Burke and Peter Warren, How mobile phones let spies see our every move, The Observer, London, 13 Oct. 2002. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/how_mobile_phones_let_spies_see_our_every_move 

  76. Noah Shachtman, The Pentagon's Plan for Tracking Everything That Moves, BigBrother Gets a Brain, Village Voice Media, 9-15 July 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/the_pentagons_plan_for_tracking_everything_that_moves

  77. Sam Dillon, U.S. schools resort to security cameras, International Herald Tribune, 25 Sept. 2003. See http://www.milestonesys.com/?cid=250&newsId=115. Also http://www.propagandamatrix.com/cameras_peer_into_school_hallways

  78. Donna Lowry, Web Cameras Monitor Class Activity, WXIA-TV Atlanta,15 Oct. 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/web_cameras_monitor_class_activity

  79. David Ho, Federal regulators ease restrictions on technology that can see through walls, Associated Press, copy on The San Diego Union Tribune website. 13 Feb. 2003. See http://www.propagandamatrix.com/federal_regulators_ease_restrictions_on_technology_that_can_see_through_walls

  80. Major G.J. Burton CD, PPCLI and Major G.P. Ohlke CD, Intelligence, Exploitation of millimeter waves for through-wall surveillance during military operations in urban terrain, Land Force Technical Staff Programme V, Department of Applied Military Science, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, 24 May 2000, pp.14, 30, 35. See http://www.rmc.ca/academic/gradrech/millimeter-e.pdf

  81. New airport scans could expose travelers: Screeners could get x-ray vision, CNN, 26 June 2003. See http://infowars.com/print/ps/xray_screeners.htm

  82. Felix Soh, "Using War Technology to Track Illegals," Singapore Straits Times Online, 15 June 2002, copy on Justice Technology Information Network website, a division of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center. See http://www.nlectc.org/justnetnews/06202002.html

  83. Cenibots: The 100 Robots Project, DARPA. See http://www.ai.sri.com/centibots/

  84. Charles Choi, Tiny robots in the trees, United Press International, science news, copy on Colaradodaily.com, 12 Oct. 2003. See http://www.coloradodaily.com/articles/2003/10/12/news/est/est02.txt

  85. Tom Abate, Military Waste Under Fire, $1 Trillion Missing - Bush targets Pentagon Accounting, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 May 2003. See http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/05/18/MN251738.DTL

  86. David Wood, Pentagon's Unreliable Bookkeeping Stands as Obstacle to Bush Reforms, New House News Service, 2001. See http://www.newhouse.com/archive/story1a061301.html

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