Watching The State!

[fred]

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++ GOVERNMENT FACES WRONG WAY ON PRIVACY, SURVEILLANCE
The coalition government has talked a good deal about civil liberties,
but what has it done?

The Protection of Freedoms Bill is still in parliament, having had its
first reading on 11th February 2011. It is in any case a disappointing
piece of legislation, the Home Office seemingly doing the absolute
minimum necessary to cover the narrowest reading of pre-election
promises. In our briefing, we could give it no more than 3/10.

The Identity Documents Act 2010 did repeal the Identity Cards Act
2006, though, as we pointed out at the time, this was at the cost of
entrenching in law the idea of an identity document, and some of the
spurious ideas about personal identity implied by ID cards.

The Cabinet Office has been putting a lot of work into the idea of
having an 'Identity Assurance' infrastructure, where you could prove
who you were, or entitlement to something, without handing over
significant personal information. That is potentially a good idea, and
if done right would fatally undermine many of the arguments for more
government information collections. In pursuit of that, our General
Secretary, Guy Herbert, has been sitting with other privacy experts on
an advisory committee, the identity Assurance Privacy Group, for the
past year.

But one by one the other Whitehall schemes that we have fought against
seem to be creeping back.

* Uploading of medical records to the 'Spine' was briefly halted after
the election, but resumed very quickly.
* Theresa May opted the UK in to the European Investigation Order
scheme, which means the (excessive) data gathering powers of British
police can be coopted by the authorities of any EU country
* ANPR networks and other forms of travel tracking have continued to
expand, with no legal controls
* The government is also rumoured to have revived an internet
surveillance scheme, under Blair called the Intercept Modernisation
Programme, and opposed by both opposition parties. (See Sunday
Telegraph 19th Feb 2012) . ISPs might be forced automatically to
record and trace everything done online by anyone.

And in the last week there has been a very disturbing development.
Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, gave a speech to the
Information Commissioner's conference (March 8th):
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/information-commissioners-conference-francis-maude-keynote-speech
which has scarcely been reported, but could be very important - and
very dangerous. He said (among some entirely harmless,
privacy-friendly things):

"One of the most frequent complaints I hear from doctors and care
workers and data professionals is just how difficult essential data
sharing can be.
"This is because we make it difficult, even when data sharing is in
the national or public interest. [...]"
" ...and so we get situations where officials deny access to data
despite there being legitimate reasons and significant benefits to
sharing it.
"We intend to act - by changing the way we work and by revisiting the
existing legislation.
"In May we will publish proposals that will make data sharing easier -
and, in particular, we will revisit the recommendations of the
Walport-Thomas Review that would make it easier for legitimate
requests for data sharing to be agreed with a view to considering
their implementation.
"And I want to encourage all of you to challenge the received wisdom,
to challenge every assertion, every assumption about what can't be
done.
"And where there are real legal or cultural barriers - tell us what they are."

This sounds like a revival of the ideas in the "Information sharing:
vision statement" of 2006 and part 8 of the Coroners and Justice Bill
in 2009, as put forward by Jack Straw and defeated by this campaign
and its allies.
www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/16/coroners_and_justice_savaged/

We may have to fight that battle all over again.

If there were doubt as to whether NO2ID is still needed, there isn't any mor

[fredduckett]

Suicide risk linked to benefit cuts and flaws in government incapacity test!
An internal e-mail which was recently circulated to staff working within the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP), has warned staff that 'ill-handling' of benefit claims involving claimants being moved off sickness benefits to Jobseekers Allowance(JSA), could lead to suicide risks amongst 'vulnerable customers'. The e-mail says:

"Very sadly, only last week a customer of DWP attempted suicide...said to be the result of receiving a letter, informing him that his sickness benefit would be cut off."

Although the e-mail from the DWP, emphasises the need for the "utmost care and sensitivity", when dealing with 'vulnerable customers', disability campaigners have repeatedly warned government ministers that flaws in the Work Capability Assessment(WCA) - which is carried out when someone applies for Employment and Support Allowance(ESA) - could lead to mentally ill people taking their own lives.

In April, the 'Daily Mirror' newspaper revealed that: "at least 32 people are dying each week despite them being ruled not sick enough in the medical test carried out by the private firm 'Atos Healthcare', for the new sickness benefit."(ESA). Among the cases referred to by the newspaper, was that of a warehouse worker whose degenerative lung condition forced him to give up work. Although the man had trouble breathing and walking and his weight had dropped to seven stone, he was awarded no points in the medical test for ESA carried out by 'Atos', and was told that he would be fit to return to work within three months. But the man died, before the 3 months had expired.

While some people gleefully clamour for more benefit cuts and want more welfare reform, it is the less well off, and the most vulnerable, who are making the biggest scarifices to pay off Britain's financial deficit brought about by the banks.

In August 2011, northernvoices blog reported the tragic case of Richard Sanderson aged 44, from Southfield, South West London, who took his own life when he and his family were threatened with eviction following government cuts in his housing benefit.

In May, it was reported in the press that a man had slashed his wrists during an appointment at Birkenhead Jobcentre. The man - who had mental health issues - had missed several appointments and was warned by the benefits officer that he was at risk of being sanctioned and had two options. He was told that he could start turning up on time or continue being late and lose his benefit. The man replied: "I have a third option." He then took out a knife and cuts his wrists.

Last month, the Guardian reported on the case of a 48-year-old man who set himself on fire outside Birmingham Jobcentre over a dispute about delays in receiving his benefits. According to the newspaper, the man had just been found fit for work following a medical assessment.

Though these kind of cases do get reported, negative press reports about feckless workshy scroungers who are "Living the life of Riley" on state benefits, has allowed the government to take away support from the disabled, the unemployed, and the 'working poor'. As a result of this, the government has been able to slash benefits by £18bn and brush aside objections because it believes that the public support a hardline, on benefit cuts. Indeed, opinion polls do suggest that the majority of the British public tends to believe that the government pays out too much in benefits and that welfare levels overall, should be reduced. However, public attitudes towards welfare are often based on little knowledge or influenced by misleading and negative press reports which are drip-fed, to the public on a daily basis. Although many may believe that benefits are too high in this country, it is a fact that out of 27 EU countries, only Estonia has a higher level of poverty among unemployed people than this country. Benefits paid in the UK are amongst the lowest in Europe and over the last 40 years, unemployment benefit has been cut by 50% as a proportion of average earnings, to just 10%. Though the cuts in benefits have been savage, what few people realise, is that 88% of all benefit cuts are still to come.

POSTED BY BLANCO POSNET AT 6:11 PM
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