CCTV IN THE SKY: POLICE PLAN TO USE MILITARY-STYLE SPY DRONES

Arms manufacturer BAE Systems developing national strategy with consortium of government agencies

Drones could be used for civilian surveillance in the UK as early as 2012. Source: BAE

Police in the UK are planning to use unmanned spy drones, controversially deployed in Afghanistan, for the ­"routine" monitoring of antisocial motorists, ­protesters, agricultural thieves and fly-tippers, in a significant expansion of covert state surveillance.

The arms manufacturer BAE Systems, which produces a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for war zones, is adapting the military-style planes for a consortium of government agencies led by Kent police.

Documents from the South Coast Partnership, a Home Office-backed project in which Kent police and others are developing a national drone plan with BAE, have been obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act.

They reveal the partnership intends to begin using the drones in time for the 2012 Olympics. They also indicate that police claims that the technology will be used for maritime surveillance fall well short of their intended use – which could span a range of police activity – and that officers have talked about selling the surveillance data to private companies. A prototype drone equipped with high-powered cameras and sensors is set to take to the skies for test flights later this year.

The Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates UK airspace, has been told by BAE and Kent police that civilian UAVs would "greatly extend" the government's surveillance capacity and "revolutionise policing". The CAA is currently reluctant to license UAVs in normal airspace because of the risk of collisions with other aircraft, but adequate "sense and avoid" systems for drones are only a few years away.

Five other police forces have signed up to the scheme, which is considered a pilot preceding the countrywide adoption of the technology for "surveillance, monitoring and evidence gathering". The partnership's stated mission is to introduce drones "into the routine work of the police, border authorities and other government agencies" across the UK.

Concerned about the slow pace of progress of licensing issues, Kent police's assistant chief constable, Allyn Thomas, wrote to the CAA last March arguing that military drones would be useful "in the policing of major events, whether they be protests or the ­Olympics". He said interest in their use in the UK had "developed after the terrorist attack in Mumbai".

Stressing that he was not seeking to interfere with the regulatory process, Thomas pointed out that there was "rather more urgency in the work since Mumbai and we have a clear deadline of the 2012 Olympics".

BAE drones are programmed to take off and land on their own, stay airborne for up to 15 hours and reach heights of 20,000ft, making them invisible from the ground.

Far more sophisticated than the remote-controlled rotor-blade robots that hover 50-metres above the ground – which police already use – BAE UAVs are programmed to undertake specific operations. They can, for example, deviate from a routine flightpath after encountering suspicious ­activity on the ground, or undertake numerous reconnaissance tasks simultaneously.

The surveillance data is fed back to control rooms via monitoring equipment such as high-definition cameras, radar devices and infrared sensors.

Previously, Kent police has said the drone scheme was intended for use over the English Channel to monitor shipping and detect immigrants crossing from France. However, the documents suggest the maritime focus was, at least in part, a public relations strategy designed to minimise civil liberty concerns.

"There is potential for these [maritime] uses to be projected as a 'good news' story to the public rather than more 'big brother'," a minute from the one of the earliest meetings, in July 2007, states.

Behind closed doors, the scope for UAVs has expanded significantly. Working with various policing organisations as well as the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, the Maritime and Fisheries Agency, HM Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency, BAE and Kent police have drawn up wider lists of potential uses.

One document lists "[detecting] theft from cash machines, preventing theft of tractors and monitoring antisocial driving" as future tasks for police drones, while another states the aircraft could be used for road and railway monitoring, search and rescue, event security and covert urban surveillance.

Under a section entitled "Other routine tasks (Local Councils) – surveillance", another document states the drones could be used to combat "fly-posting, fly-tipping, abandoned vehicles, abnormal loads, waste management".

Senior officers have conceded there will be "large capital costs" involved in buying the drones, but argue this will be shared by various government agencies. They also say unmanned aircraft are no more intrusive than CCTV cameras and far cheaper to run than helicopters.

Partnership officials have said the UAVs could raise revenue from private companies. At one strategy meeting it was proposed the aircraft could undertake commercial work during spare time to offset some of the running costs.

There are two models of BAE drone under consideration, neither of which has been licensed to fly in non-segregated airspace by the CAA. The Herti (High Endurance Rapid Technology Insertion) is a five-metre long aircraft that the Ministry of Defence deployed in Afghanistan for tests in 2007 and 2009.

CAA officials are sceptical that any Herti-type drone manufacturer can develop the technology to make them airworthy for the UK before 2015 at the earliest. However the South Coast Partnership has set its sights on another BAE prototype drone, the GA22 airship, developed by Lindstrand Technologies which would be subject to different regulations. BAE and Kent police believe the 22-metre long airship could be certified for civilian use by 2012.

Military drones have been used extensively by the US to assist reconnaissance and airstrikes in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But their use in war zones has been blamed for high civilian death tolls.


* guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

New ID cards will carry your key biological data

Fiach Kelly Political Correspondent
The Irish Independent
Wednesday, January 27, 2010

THE controversial public services identity card will be equipped to carry biological data — such as fingerprints and eye scans — when it is unveiled later this year.

The new details emerged following the confirmation yesterday that the Department of Social and Family Affairs contracted a biometrics company to produce the cards.

The scheme will now be rolled out in the second half of the year.

The department told the Irish Independent that there were “no current plans to carry DNA or any form of biometric data on the card”.

“However, the card, as proposed, can include biometric data,” it added.

The Government says that about three million people over the age of 16 will carry the card.

And thousands may have to present themselves at welfare offices to sign up for it when it is launched.

It is hoped that every adult in the country will have a card within three or four years.

Existing data held by the Government — such as photographs, signatures and PPS numbers — will be used to create the cards.

Much of the data is already available to the State through other forms of identification, such as passports.

More than three million people over the age of 18 hold Irish passports, but it is not clear how many of them live in the State. Figures for those aged 16 and over could not be provided.

If there are any gaps in a person’s information held by the authorities, that person will then have to give the missing details — meaning thousands of people could have to go to welfare offices.

“It is not possible at this time to estimate the volume of customers for whom data is not held but it is intended to ask these customers to personally register for the card,” a statement from Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin’s department said.

The card will initially contain the holder’s name, photograph, signature and public service number, which is used to access welfare benefits and other state services.

In addition, personal details such as a person’s date of birth, former surnames and mother’s surname are likely to be electronically encoded on the identity card.

Any other information that may be deemed necessary can be either inscribed or electronically encoded on the card.

The Government is ploughing ahead with the scheme despite the reservations of groups like the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

Fraud

Officials say that it will allow easier access to public services, cut red tape and clamp down on welfare fraud.

Biometric Card Services, part of the Smurfit Kappa Group, has won the tender for the €18m contract.

The company — which is based in Bray, Co Wicklow — specialises in vouchers, revenue stamps, cheques, passports and other security-printed products.

The company declined to comment on what kind of biometric data the cards would be equipped to carry, and the Department of Social and Family Affairs could not specify either. The department says that Biometric Card Services will handle what it calls the “personalisation, distribution and customer handling” of the card system.

It also says the company will handle the “provision of associated card bureau services”.

“Other departments and agencies would also be in a position to use the card.

“A public service provider who uses the Public Service Card will be able to gain the benefits of card-based identity and authentication with minor changes to their systems,” the department said.

“The card can be distributed through multiple means such as the postal system, collected at public offices, etc.

“The method of distribution and location of delivery will depend on the circumstances of each applicant.”

It is not intended as a national identity card and the department says that such a card is a “wider issue”.

“It would require due consideration by the Government and the development and implementation of legislation to support any such policy.”

This has been taken from refuseresist.net

YOUR COMMON LAW RIGHT TO TRAVEL - HOW TO DEAL WITH POLICE OFFICERS

Robert Arthur Menard; Freeman on the Land.

Saturday, Jan 09 2010

Passenger forced off Detroit-bound plane after shouting 'I want to kill all the Jews'

By Wil Longbottom
Last updated at 9:50 AM on 08th January 2010

Abusive: Mansor Mohammad Asad is alleged to have shouted 'I want to kill all the Jews' on board a flight at Miami airport before he was arrested

An airline passenger has been forced off a Detroit-bound plane and arrested after shouting 'I want to kill all the Jews'.

Miami police said in a statement today that 43-year-old Mansor Mohammad Asad, of Toledo, Ohio, faces several charges including disorderly conduct.

Police say the Northwest Airlines flight was taxiing at Miami International Airport yesterday, but was turned around after Asad became abusive.

Witnesses told authorities he was loud, disruptive and claimed to be Palestinian. They believed he was sometimes speaking Arabic.

The Transportation Security Administration said three of his companions were also taken off the plane and questioned.

The flight later took off after it was searched.

It comes as EU nations remained sharply divided over the need to install full-body scanners at European airports, with some countries playing down the need for increased security measures.

Italy today joined Britain, the U.S. and the Netherlands in announcing plans to install the scanners following the alleged attempt on Christmas Day to blow up an airliner flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Washington is seeking enhanced security measures on all transatlantic flights heading to the U.S.

European airports see thousands of passengers on more than 800 flights a day making the trip across the lucrative North Atlantic route.

But Belgium's secretary of state for transport, Etienne Schouppe, described the measures as 'excessive' and said security requirements at European airports were already 'strict enough'.

Spain has also expressed scepticism about the need for body scanners, and the German and French governments remain uncomitted.

Until now, the EU has allowed members states to decide on whether to use body scanners at airport checkpoints.

Divided: EU nations remain undecided on whether it is necessary to install full body scanners at European airports

'Excessive': Some European countries say tight airport security is already strict enough and there are concerns over privacy with full body scanners

In 2008, the EU suspended work regulating the use of body scanners after the European Parliament demanded a more in-depth study of their impact on health and privacy.

Amsterdam's Schipol Airport, where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded a Detroit-bound plane allegedly carrying explosives sewn into his underwear, has 15 of the scanners and the Dutch have vowed to buy 60 more.

They are also retrofitting the scanners with software that projects a stylised human figure on to the computer rather than the actual body image to address privacy concerns.

Charges: Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, is alleged to have tried to detonate explosives in his underwear on board a Christmas Day flight to Detroit

Gordon Brown is pressing for Britain to add more scanners than the few they have been testing at London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest terminal, Manchester and other sites.

In Italy, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said today that full body scanners will be installed at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, Milan's Malpensa airport and possibly in Venice within the next three months.

'The right not to be blown up on an airplane is a more important right than privacy,' Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which uses 40 scanners throughout the United States, has announced plans to order dozens more.

A report into intelligence failings that led to the failed attack is due to be made public today by the White House. President Barack Obama will also reveal new steps intended to strengthen security.

Since the attempted attack on Christmas Day, the EU has been reevaluating its security regulations. Aviation experts now must assess whether body scanners can fit into EU legislation, officials said.

'We have to reach agreement together with the (European) parliament and member states,' Antonio Tajani, European Commission Vice President, said today.

'It's best to have a European solution than having individual member states deciding on their own.'

Any significant action on the issue would have to be taken by the European Commission, and approved by the EU parliament - a process that could take several months even if all member states agreed on the need.

Mr Schouppe said: 'We must have a common position for all European Union members states so that there is a real transparency between measures taken on the European side and the U.S. side.

'I have the feeling that (the Americans) are exaggerating. I don't know what kinds of controls they were using previously, but here, in Belgium and in the large majority of European airports, security controls were strict enough.'

Abdulmutallab was indicted yesterday on charges including attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill nearly 300 people.

The 23-year-old Nigerian was on a database of people with links to terrorists and his father had warned U.S. officials that he may have been radicalised, but that threat was never fully identified by U.S. intelligence officials.