Re: [CTRL] Big Brother is getting even bigger
-Caveat Lector- they make war on the people whilst they rape the system more efficiently than we ever could - passports for belize, churchhill matrix, exocet sales to france, landmines to w,y,z. at a miltary college recently a naval intelligence officer lectured that they need to win the information war - against whom I asked my friend - not against russia, or china, or germany - its against the dying middle classes. in the UK the polarisation of rich vs poor is intense, the middle classes are being squeezed out onto the scrap heap. the trick is to fool them into beleving that its nice down there - meanwhile Lord Archer and his happy friends continue to reap the rewards of audacity. andrew - Original Message - From: radtimes [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 12:22 AM Subject: [CTRL] Big Brother is getting even bigger -Caveat Lector- Every move you make Be afraid. Big Brother is getting even bigger Official spying is on the march as we bank, pay tax or claim benefit. But, says Neasa MacErlean, liberty is on the line in the race to cut crime Neasa MacErlean Observer Sunday June 24, 2001 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4209280,00.html You do not have to be paranoid to think Big Brother is watching you. He is. Many arms of the government, other parts of the establishment and even your friends, family and neighbours are at it. The monitoring of ordinary people has increased dramatically over the past decade and is set to become far more widespread again this year. Closed-circuit television is spreading rapidly across the roads network and other public areas; most employers now mount some form of surveillance on staff, including a watch on emails and telephones; and a raft of significant changes are tightening the watch on customers in the financial services sector. The Department of Work, the Home Office, the Inland Revenue, Customs Excise, the Financial Services Authority, police and the private sector are all beefing up their anti-fraud and surveillance activities. While fighting fraud is a primary concern for the Government, some fear that civil liberties may be sacrificed in the process. The Financial Services Authority disclosed last March that 'significant control weaknesses' in 15 UK banks had enabled the former Nigerian President General Sani Abache to launder more than US$1 billion through Britain. The public may find it ironic that wealthy criminals can so easily find a way through the system when most of us are asked to show a passport or pension book, utility bills and other proof of residence just to open a simple savings account. Several new initiatives are being used to increase surveillance. These include: . The Social Security Fraud Act, which received royal assent last month, will give the Department of Work 'powers to require information from private and public sector organisations about individuals suspected of benefit fraud'. Up to 250,000 requests a year are expected to be made of banks and utility companies, for instance. As the department explains: 'If a person was claiming Income Support at a particular address and was con suming no electricity there, this could indicate that he does not, in fact, live there and that his claim may be fraudulent.' Similar requests could be made to banks to check for benefit recipients with large amounts on deposit. . The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, due to start In November, gives new regulatory powers to the FSA to prosecute, fine and 'name and shame' banks and other institutions which do not monitor clients and accounts closely enough for suspicious transactions. 'There will be a tougher implementation across the whole industry,' says an FSA spokesman. Several banks are introducing far more sophis ticated computer systems to monitor customers' transactions. (See box, opposite.) 'In the past six months, the FSA has told some banks they will be prosecuted unless they change their procedures,' says Mark Tantam, a former Serious Fraud Office barrister who now runs the fraud management unit at accountant Deloitte and Touche. 'We will see a lot more disclosures from banks and other institutions to the National Criminal Intelligence Service [about suspect transactions and customers] in future. Banks will want to err on the side of caution.' . A new Proceeds of Crime Bill, announced in the Queen's Speech last week, is expected to make it easier to prosecute negligent bank staff. 'If the authorities wanted to prosecute staff for turning a blind eye to suspicious transactions, it would be much easier than before,' says Steve Lock at Alliance and Leicester, who is its money laundering reporting officer, a post common to all financial institutions since 1993. The bill
[CTRL] Big Brother is getting even bigger
-Caveat Lector- Every move you make Be afraid. Big Brother is getting even bigger Official spying is on the march as we bank, pay tax or claim benefit. But, says Neasa MacErlean, liberty is on the line in the race to cut crime Neasa MacErlean Observer Sunday June 24, 2001 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4209280,00.html You do not have to be paranoid to think Big Brother is watching you. He is. Many arms of the government, other parts of the establishment and even your friends, family and neighbours are at it. The monitoring of ordinary people has increased dramatically over the past decade and is set to become far more widespread again this year. Closed-circuit television is spreading rapidly across the roads network and other public areas; most employers now mount some form of surveillance on staff, including a watch on emails and telephones; and a raft of significant changes are tightening the watch on customers in the financial services sector. The Department of Work, the Home Office, the Inland Revenue, Customs Excise, the Financial Services Authority, police and the private sector are all beefing up their anti-fraud and surveillance activities. While fighting fraud is a primary concern for the Government, some fear that civil liberties may be sacrificed in the process. The Financial Services Authority disclosed last March that 'significant control weaknesses' in 15 UK banks had enabled the former Nigerian President General Sani Abache to launder more than US$1 billion through Britain. The public may find it ironic that wealthy criminals can so easily find a way through the system when most of us are asked to show a passport or pension book, utility bills and other proof of residence just to open a simple savings account. Several new initiatives are being used to increase surveillance. These include: . The Social Security Fraud Act, which received royal assent last month, will give the Department of Work 'powers to require information from private and public sector organisations about individuals suspected of benefit fraud'. Up to 250,000 requests a year are expected to be made of banks and utility companies, for instance. As the department explains: 'If a person was claiming Income Support at a particular address and was con suming no electricity there, this could indicate that he does not, in fact, live there and that his claim may be fraudulent.' Similar requests could be made to banks to check for benefit recipients with large amounts on deposit. . The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, due to start In November, gives new regulatory powers to the FSA to prosecute, fine and 'name and shame' banks and other institutions which do not monitor clients and accounts closely enough for suspicious transactions. 'There will be a tougher implementation across the whole industry,' says an FSA spokesman. Several banks are introducing far more sophis ticated computer systems to monitor customers' transactions. (See box, opposite.) 'In the past six months, the FSA has told some banks they will be prosecuted unless they change their procedures,' says Mark Tantam, a former Serious Fraud Office barrister who now runs the fraud management unit at accountant Deloitte and Touche. 'We will see a lot more disclosures from banks and other institutions to the National Criminal Intelligence Service [about suspect transactions and customers] in future. Banks will want to err on the side of caution.' . A new Proceeds of Crime Bill, announced in the Queen's Speech last week, is expected to make it easier to prosecute negligent bank staff. 'If the authorities wanted to prosecute staff for turning a blind eye to suspicious transactions, it would be much easier than before,' says Steve Lock at Alliance and Leicester, who is its money laundering reporting officer, a post common to all financial institutions since 1993. The bill will make it clear that laundering covers cash from ta x evasion as well as the proceeds of drug trafficking and other crimes. . A call for government departments to share far more information about individuals is expected from the Cabinet Office's Performance and Innovation Unit later this summer. In a report called 'Privacy and Data Sharing', the unit will discuss the possible use of tax and benefits records as well as basic information on passport and driving licence applications and patient registrations with GPs. The report could provoke an outcry about civil liberties. . More money is being put into the NCIS, the police unit which co-ordinates work against money laundering. Next month, NCIS is expected to report that 18,000 suspicious transactions were reported to it in 2000, up nearly 25 per cent on the 14,500 transactions reported in 1999. In the past, NCIS was so understaffed that many reports lay unexamined for
