statism watch

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The Daily Mail
June 30, 2010

Full body scanners at airports could increase your risk of skin cancer, experts warn.

The X-ray machines have been brought in at Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow.

But scientists say radiation from the scanners has been underestimated and could be particularly risky for children.

They say that the low level beam does deliver a small dose of radiation to the body but because the beam concentrates on the skin – one of the most radiation-sensitive organs of the human body – that dose may be up to 20 times higher than first estimated.

Dr David Brenner, head of Columbia University’s centre for radiological research, said although the danger posed to the individual passenger is ‘very low’, he is urging researchers to carry out more tests on the device to look at the way it affects specific groups who could be more sensitive to radiation.

He says children and passengers with gene mutations – around one in 20 of the population – are more at risk as they are less able to repair X-ray damage to their DNA.

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Related: Fake Lakes not Required, But $50 Million of G8 ‘Legacy’ Spending Pours into Clement’s Riding | Security unit shows off G8 plans for Huntsville | G20 media centre with fake lake to cost $1.9M | Clement blasted for G8 riding spending, Baird drags out 9/11 trope | Budget watchdog probing G8/G20 summits’ $1-billion price tag | Toronto Police to take up to $100-million of G20 security funds | Toronto and Muskoka G8/20 Summit security costs hit $1.1B | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Richard J Brennan, Toronto Star
June 22, 2010

They should chill out, says bemused resident

HUNTSVILLE—Sipping on a cold beer, Steve Groomes looks at the reinforced steel mesh wall in front of his place on Highway 60 outside Huntsville and lets out a chuckle.

“I call this part, prison valley,” said the 43-year-old contractor, who minutes earlier had been mowing the lawn, a simple chore that seemed somehow out of place.

His home and that of his father’s next door are behind the security perimeter that is meant to keep intruders away from nearby Deerhurst Lodge, where the long-awaited G8 is being held, starting Thursday evening, a kind of a warm-up act for the G20 in Toronto on Saturday.

Groomes’s home is not far from one of the checkpoints along this busy highway that bisects Algonquin Provincial Park, which was already starting to seal up like a drum on Monday. There are actually gates across the highway and only those with special passes get through.

Everywhere are police officers of all stripes, and soldiers to boot, especially along the highway, where they mean business.

That message comes across loud and clear with a LAV 3 Canadian Forces armoured vehicle — the kind used in Afghanistan — parked in a field along Hidden Valley Rd.

Even a Star reporter shooting photos along Highway 60 is soon rounded up and given the third degree. The call came into the OPP from the all-seeing RCMP.

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Wardriving, for those who may not know, is the practice of going around storing Wifi network info for later exploitation – precisely what Google was doing. And the reason they give?

The company says it uses the location of Wi-Fi networks to enhance location-based services on smartphones.

It’s just to help track your cellphone for location-based services. Oh, well, that’s okay then.

Related: Google, NSA may team up to probe cyberattacks | Google Street View goes live in Canadian cities | Google PowerMeter to track home energy usage in Toronto test drive | Britons block Google Street View van | Google Street View comes to Canada | Google Street View could care less about your privacy

Diane Bartz, Reuters
June 21, 2010

WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s attorney general will lead a multi-state probe of whether Google Inc. broke laws when it siphoned personal data off wireless networks around the world, which the Internet search leader has said was inadvertent.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said on Monday more than 30 states participated in a recent conference call on the issue. He said consumers have a right to know what information was collected, and whether U.S. states need to alter procedures to guard against such leaks in future.

Shares in Google slid 1.4% to US$492.81 in a relatively flat market.

In May, Google said its cars photographing streets around the world have for years accidentally collected personal data — which a security expert said at the time could have included email messages and passwords — sent by consumers over wireless networks.

“My office will lead a multi-state investigation — expected to involve a significant number of states — into Google’s deeply disturbing invasion of personal privacy,” Mr. Blumenthal said in a statement.

“Consumers have a right and a need to know what personal information — which could include emails, Web browsing and passwords — Google may have collected, how and why.”

Mr. Blumenthal said Google has cooperated but “its response so far raises as many questions as it answers.”

“Our investigation will consider whether laws may have been broken and whether changes to state and federal statutes may be necessary,” he said.

The revelation marked the latest development in a privacy controversy surrounding Google. The company already faces an informal investigation over the matter by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, a variety of probes overseas, and class action lawsuits.

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Spy blimps – coming soon to a major domestic event near you. Like the Indy race.

Related: FAA Experiments With Integrating Drones in Civil Airspace | Predator drones to begin flying Texas border patrol in a matter of months | Waterloo firm creates ‘flying robot spies from the skies’ for global law enforcement market | UK Police use spy drone for first domestic arrest – without airspace clearance | Future police: Meet the UK’s armed robot drones | UK police plan to use military-style spy drones | US Domestic Espionage Alert: Spy Drone Discovered | US Air Force confirms new ‘Beast of Kandahar’ drone | Clinton confronted by Pakistanis over attacks by aerial drones | UN: Drone attacks may violate international law | Kandahar spy blimp raises privacy concerns | US drone ’shot down over Somalia’ | Canada’s military peers into future, sees drone patrols, draft, insurgency | 250-Foot Long Hybrid Airship Will Spy Over Afghanistan Battlefields in 2011 | Sarnia resident plans ‘moon’ protest of US border spy balloon | Military spycraft patrols Ontario border from Fort Drum | Military spy blimp watched Indy race from on high | Homing chips are CIA’s latest weapon against ‘al-Qaida’ targets hiding in Pakistan’s tribal belt | CIA: Our Drones are Killing Terrorists. Promise | Pentagon plans blimp to spy from new heights | Remote-controlled planes could spy on British homes | Predator drones patrolling border irk Manitoba MLA | Report: CIA runs secret bases in Pakistan | U.S. set to launch Predator drones to monitor Manitoba border | Military Tech on the Home Front: Predator drones to begin surveillance of Canada-US border | Hoverdrone to be deployed to Iraq | Kids to Help Create Drones, ‘Fuzzy’ Line to Be Drawn between Military and Civil Spheres | Canadian military acquiring new helicopters, drones | Unmanned spy planes to police Britain | Austin police testing unmanned spy drones | Nunavut taken aback by military plan for drone patrols | U.S. to patrol Manitoba border with drone aircraft

Noah Schactman, Wired.com
June 17, 2010

God smiles when the Army spends a half-billion dollars on spy blimps the size of a football field.

I believe that’s the message Northrop Grumman is trying to convey in this illustration accompanying the company’s announcement of a $517 million, five-year contract to build three combat airships for the military.

The military already employs a fleet of blimps to look for enemies and relay communications. But none of them are as big, as high-flying, or as far-seeing as this Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle, or LEMV. It’s supposed to float at 20,000 feet for up to three weeks at a time, snooping on absolutely everything below with a variety of sensors.

“Basically what we see it as is an unblinking eye,” LEMV project manager Marty Sargent tells Inside Defense.

Sargent figures it would take as many as 12 of the military’s advanced Reaper surveillance drones “to do the same mission that the LEMV would do.”

The first airship is supposed to be inflated around 10 months from now. Eight months later, the Army hopes to have the first LEMV flying over Afghanistan. On that day, the clouds will part, the sun will shine, and the cherubs will sing as the unblinking eye begins looking for Taliban.

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What, are they going to try yellow stars next?

Related: French government prepares total ban on full Islamic veils | Niqab gets 2nd Quebec student expelled | US Airline Security Moves to Known Threat Descriptive Profiling | Australia to fingerprint, face-scan visitors from Muslim nations | ‘Unclear’ Whether US Air Security Profiling Violates Canadian Charter: Baird | US implements travel profiling: Tougher air screening for ’security-risk’ countries | They hate us for our bombs | How MI5 blackmails British Muslims

Paul Lewis, The Guardian
June 17, 2010

Bags placed over cameras in two Muslim areas of Birmingham after Guardian revealed scheme was a counterterrorism initiative

A project to place two Muslim areas in Birmingham under surveillance has been dramatically halted after an investigation by the Guardian revealed it was a counterterrorism initiative.

Bags are being placed over hundreds of cameras which were recently installed in the neighbourhoods of Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook, to reassure the community that their movements are not being monitored until a public consultation takes place.

Announcing that the cameras would not be turned on, West Midlands police and Birmingham city council apologised for not being “more explicit” about the funding arrangements of the project, which stipulated they should be used to combat terrorism.

But officials insisted the £3m project could still go ahead if the consultation showed support for the cameras. The programme could also be shelved altogether, which would require police and the council to take down the cameras.

Under the initiative, Project Champion, the suburbs were to be monitored by a network of 169 automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras – three times more than in the entire city centre. The cameras, which include covert cameras secretly installed in the street, form “rings of steel” meaning residents cannot enter or leave the areas without their cars being tracked. Data was to be stored for two years.

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Al-Qaeda has really big computers, and apparently they’re going to get us unless we let the NSA (or some other organization above state accountability) monitor networks.. See here and here and here for moves that have already been made to to create a global Internet Ministry (Mininet?). And then there’s cases like that of hacker Gary McKinnon, who found his way into a Pentagon computer, looking for evidence of UFOs and free energy. While we may dispute whether or not this is a productive use of one’s time – phreaking and hacking is how many of the present generation of digerati actually learned their skills – should Mr. McKinnon be subject to military response? And what would that entail, a drone strike? A bit cannon blasting his ISP with a government denial of service attack? We don’t know. All we know is that this really looks like it’s being hyped and trumped up to subject the free web to surveillance, as Wired has reported.

Related: Homeland Security’s Cyber Bill Would Codify Executive Emergency Powers | Lieberman Bill Gives Feds ‘Emergency’ Powers to Secure Civilian Nets | Cyber Command: We Don’t Wanna Defend the Internet (We Just Might Have To) | Pentagon: Let us monitor your network or else | US appoints first cyber warfare general | NSA head confirmed as chief of US cyber command | Cybersecurity event seeks to spur international talks | Danger Room What’s Next in National Security Prospective U.S. Cyber Commander Talks Terms of Digital Warfare | Canadian researchers reveal another botnet in China, call for state cybersecurity | U.S. cybersecurity bill introduced in Senate | Cyberattacks push CSIS to reach out to business | United States weighs massive expansion of Internet monitoring | Cyberwar Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet | Google, NSA may team up to probe cyberattacks | UN agency calls for global cyberwarfare treaty, ‘driver’s license’ for Web users | Death Of The Internet: Censorship Bills In UK, Australia, U.S. Aim To Block “Undesirable” Websites | Australia introduces web filters | Obama Wants Computer Privacy Ruling Overturned | UK Internet surveillance plan to go ahead | Security boss calls for end to net anonymity | Case for Internet spying not closed | Planned Internet, wireless surveillance laws worry watchdogs | UK ISPs condemn Internet surveillance plans | UK to found new ‘cyber-security’ units attached to national eavesdropping centre | ISPs must help police snoop on internet under new bill | UK plans to integrate ‘cybersecurity’ centre with US, Canada | Cybersecurity Is Framework For Total Government Regulation & Control Of Our Lives | Obama Set to Create A Cybersecurity Czar With Broad Mandate | EU wants ‘Internet G12′ to govern cyberspace | UK Home Secretary has secret plan to surveil, ‘Master the Internet’ | Should Obama Control the Internet? | Cybersecurity law would give feds unprecedented net control | Munk Centre researchers discover botnet, call for international cyberspace ‘legal regime’ | NSA Dominance of Cybersecurity Would Lead to ‘Grave Peril’, Ex-Cyber Chief Tells Congress | Do We Need a New Internet? | Defense Contractors See $$$ in Cyber Security | RCMP to helm a Canadian “cyber-security strategy” | Sweden approves wiretapping law | Law Professor tells tech conference: plans to shut down Internet already on deck

Vito Pilieci, The Ottawa Citizen
June 14, 2010

Top defence official travels to Ottawa to launch initiative

OTTAWA — The U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense stopped in Ottawa Monday to drum up support for a new international organization to combat cyber warfare.

“A nuclear missile comes with a return address,” William Lynn told an audience of about 100 at the Château Laurier. With cyber warfare, on the other hand, “international co-operation is imperative.

“We can’t defend our networks by ourselves. The cyber threat is much larger.”

Lynn said the threat posed by hackers and computer viruses is steadily growing and poses a threat unlike anything the global community has seen.

“Previously, we would refer to the level of lethality. Terrorists did not have access to lethal weapons,” Lynn said in a speech hosted by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute.

“That no longer holds true. Terrorist organizations have access to sophisticated cyber warfare (weapons).”

Lynn’s comments come on the heels of a simulation by the Bi-Partisan Policy Institute in the U.S. The political think-tank simulated an Internet-based attack that wreaked havoc on the financial markets, hammered the Internet connections of millions, shut off the cellular phone connections of more than 20 million users, and caused sporadic blackouts affecting more than 10 million American homes.

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Here is the relevant section of the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual, updated February 2010: “UAS operations are now being approved in the NAS [National Airspace] outside of special use airspace through the use of FAA-issued Certificates of Waiver or Authorization (COA) or through the issuance of a special airworthiness certificate. COA and special airworthiness approvals authorize UAS flight operations to be contained within specific geographic boundaries and altitudes, usually require coordination with an ATC facility, and typically require the issuance of a NOTAM describing the operation to be conducted” GPS tracking will certainly play a large part in this as it has just been mandated that all planes must have GPS installed for a next-gen air traffic control system. Expect to see UAVs all over US skies before too long.

Related: Predator drones to begin flying Texas border patrol in a matter of months | Waterloo firm creates ‘flying robot spies from the skies’ for global law enforcement market | UK Police use spy drone for first domestic arrest – without airspace clearance | Future police: Meet the UK’s armed robot drones | UK police plan to use military-style spy drones | US Domestic Espionage Alert: Spy Drone Discovered | US Air Force confirms new ‘Beast of Kandahar’ drone | Clinton confronted by Pakistanis over attacks by aerial drones | UN: Drone attacks may violate international law | Kandahar spy blimp raises privacy concerns | US drone ’shot down over Somalia’ | Canada’s military peers into future, sees drone patrols, draft, insurgency | 250-Foot Long Hybrid Airship Will Spy Over Afghanistan Battlefields in 2011 | Military spycraft patrols Ontario border from Fort Drum | Homing chips are CIA’s latest weapon against ‘al-Qaida’ targets hiding in Pakistan’s tribal belt | CIA: Our Drones are Killing Terrorists. Promise | Pentagon plans blimp to spy from new heights | Remote-controlled planes could spy on British homes | Predator drones patrolling border irk Manitoba MLA | Report: CIA runs secret bases in Pakistan | U.S. set to launch Predator drones to monitor Manitoba border | Military Tech on the Home Front: Predator drones to begin surveillance of Canada-US border | Hoverdrone to be deployed to Iraq | Kids to Help Create Drones, ‘Fuzzy’ Line to Be Drawn between Military and Civil Spheres | Canadian military acquiring new helicopters, drones | Unmanned spy planes to police Britain | Austin police testing unmanned spy drones | Nunavut taken aback by military plan for drone patrols | U.S. to patrol Manitoba border with drone aircraft

Jason Paur, Wired.com
June 14, 2010

The Federal Aviation Administration is studying how to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into U.S. airspace alongside conventional aircraft. Although UAVs have been flying in the United States for several years, they are limited to restricted airspace as well as portions of the borders with Canada and Mexico.

The problem of operating unmanned aircraft within the same airspace as conventional aircraft has been a contentious issue for pilots and carriers. Under an agreement the FAA signed last week with Boeing subsidiary Insitu, the feds will begin flying an unmanned aircraft as part of continuing research using air-traffic-control simulations. Insitu will provide the FAA with a ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system for the research, which will be conducted at the William J. Hughes Technical Training Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The goal is to evaluate how an air traffic controller can manage unmanned aircraft along with manned aircraft. The ScanEagle is a relatively small UAV with a 10-foot wingspan. It weighs less than 50 pounds. During the research program, the New Jersey National Guard will fly the UAV within current air-traffic-control simulations operating in a restricted airspace.

Other UAV makers, including General Atomics, maker of the larger Predator family of unmanned aircraft, have similar agreements with the FAA.

Unmanned aircraft do not currently fly within U.S. airspace except within a handful of restricted regions or with a special waiver. Versions of the General Atomics Predator have been flying border patrols for a few years now, even operating from airports with a mix of small general-aviation aircraft.

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If Canada as host country is providing a billion dollars worth of security, why is CSIS going around intimating that the US Secret Service (and others) will have powers to rough up protesters (or worse)? They should have no jurisdiction to act as law enforcement in this country.

Related: G8/G20: Cell phones to be jammed as motorcades move through Huntsville, Toronto | G20: Eastern Avenue Protest Jail | G20 Security unbridled: Cops bring out artillery as civil rights observers preach vigilance | Construction begins on Toronto G20 security barrier | G20 media centre with fake lake to cost $1.9M | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Mounties shun ‘sound cannons’ in urban settings ahead of G20 | 1,100 private security guards to work G8-G20 summits | Police detail G20 security zone | Toronto Police to take up to $100-million of G20 security funds | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | Toronto and Muskoka G8/20 Summit security costs hit $1.1B | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Toronto police agree to erase security zone pass info after G20 | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | Condo behind security fence during G20 summit | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto streets get 77 more surveillance cameras for G20 | Toronto G20 should address climate issues: Nicholas Stern, UN | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Fighter jets buzz Toronto, Muskoka in G20 test runs | Downtown Toronto To Be Transformed Into Locked-Down Police State This Summer | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Police State Canada 2010 and the G20 Summit | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Militarized police integrate with private security for G20 Toronto concourse drill | Small army to protect Toronto during G20 summit | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | Toronto G20 summit security to be ‘massive’ | RCMP needs 5,500 rooms during G20 summit | G20 ’sherpas’ meet with IMF, World Bank on Ottawa | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | G8/G20: Gearing up for the biggest security event in Canadian history | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | G20 security could strangle downtown | G20’s Metro Convention Centre location to bump baseball, pride activities | Harper confirms June G20 summit in Toronto | Is G20 more than Toronto can handle? | With only seven months to go, G20 site may be moved to Toronto | Top Mountie says Huntsville too small for G20 | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

CBC News
June 10, 2010

But who cares about jurisdiction when it’s a must-be to get the IOC’s favoured security company, a company that already has all the special contacts with US intelligence and the RCMP established. Sickening. Monopolistic. Wasteful. And since they’re paying twice what the competition offers, obviously not market driven. Kind of like the G20 itself.

And the whole process is veiled in secrecy thanks to the need for ‘National Security’ which has cast a shadow over the country since, as Baird points out, 9/11. And the worst thing is that it’s admitted that security guards during the summit are going to be federalized and integrated with the police – this represents a STASI-fication of Toronto policing, and everyone’s nodding sagely and pontificating on how necessary this is. Perhaps there would be a different response if they knew troops are running checkpoints all over the US in violation of Posse Comitatus law, the UK is setting up its own cadres of secret police to watch and snitch on everyone, private security is being used for policing in Toronto’s Chinatown as a ‘pilot project’, they send undercover cops out to watch kids have a little rally against the armed cops in their schools, Toronto Police are trialing license plate scanners now, Ontario cops are getting ID scanners, TAVIS is throwing its weight around demanding ID on the streets, come on people! These are pieces of a global puzzle and we need to put it together soon because our liberty hangs in the balance. A police state, as CBC Ideas has rightly described this tilt in North America, is neither desirable nor necessary, and we shouldn’t be running a test bed for tyranny in this city.

Related: G20 media centre with fake lake to cost $1.9M | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | 1,100 private security guards to work G8-G20 summits | Toronto Police to take up to $100-million of G20 security funds | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | Toronto and Muskoka G8/20 Summit security costs hit $1.1B | Toronto streets get 77 more surveillance cameras for G20 | Fighter jets buzz Toronto, Muskoka in G20 test runs | Small army to protect Toronto during G20 summit | RCMP needs 5,500 rooms during G20 summit | G8/G20: Gearing up for the biggest security event in Canadian history | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Siri Agrell, The Globe and Mail
June 8, 2010

Provincial ministry scrambling to vet company and hundreds of guards before summit

The company awarded a federal government contract to provide private security for the G8 and G20 summits is not licensed in Ontario.

Contemporary Security Canada, a subsidiary of a U.S.-based company that did private security for the Vancouver Olympic Games, was selected by the RCMP to provide about 1,100 workers to screen pedestrians throughout the summits in Huntsville and Toronto.

But security guards and their companies are required by provincial law to be licensed, and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services said Contemporary Security Canada is not approved.

“No, they’re not,” said Laura Blondeau, spokeswoman for Minister Rick Bartolucci. “We are scrambling to do that due diligence with the aim of getting them licensed so they can proceed. So we’re kind of behind the eight ball on this.”

Ms. Blondeau said the ministry was informed of the issue “within the last two weeks” and said awarding a licence typically takes four to six months. Ministry staff are doing background checks on the company and the security guards it has hired for the high-profile international event.

“My understanding is that the RCMP has a long-standing relationship with this company,” she said. “So they secured them and we found out about it after the fact. It’s an inconvenience.”

The company must pay a fee and go through a rigorous process to become licensed, and Ms. Blondeau said it will be able to work at the summits only if approved.

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As though coordinated (it is), UK and Australian (oh, and Canadian) style anti-camera tyranny comes to the US of A. You may remember it as the country of former reknown as a defender of free speech and civil liberties.

Related: UK: Photographers protest over terror search laws | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | UK: From snapshot to Special Branch: how my camera made me a terror suspect | UK: Photographer questioned under anti-terror laws for taking pictures of Christmas lights | UK: Big fall in police use of stop-and search powers after outcry | Winnipeg police confiscate documentary filmmaker’s camera | Guardian reporter detained for taking picture of sea near Bilderberg conference | Police seizures of cameras prompts B.C. complaint | Police erased cellphone video of fatal shooting, witness alleges | Pre-Olympic transit ads encourage citizen surveillance | UK: Calling the police to account for anti-photography law | UK Terror Law To Make Photographing Police Illegal | Australian Citizen Journalist Charged for Filming Police under Anti-Terror Law | UK Big Brother police to get ‘war-time’ power to demand ID in the street | Charges laid after Winnipeg street blocked off for hours

Mike Masnick, Techdirt.com
June 4, 2010

Back in April, we wrote about the case of a motorcyclist in Maryland who was wearing a helmet-mounted camera while riding his motorcycle (admittedly, above the speed limit). As he stopped at a traffic light, an off-duty police-officer in plain clothes and an unmarked car jumped out of his car with his gun drawn. All of this was caught on video. No matter what you think of the cop’s reaction, what happened later is ridiculous: after the biker, Anthony John Graber III, posted the video from his helmet cam to YouTube, he was arrested for illegal wiretapping, based on Maryland’s two-party consent rule for recording. As we explained at the time, wiretapping laws that require all parties to consent were not, at all, designed for this type of situation.

However, apparently this sort of thing is becoming all too common — and stunningly, many courts are siding with the cops. Gizmodo recently had a good article highlighting how police in states that require all parties to consent to recordings have been using this law against being videotaped in public, and the courts are siding with them. What’s really scary is that most of those laws even have clearly written exceptions for recording in public places “where no expectation of privacy” exists.

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