Police Chief: ID cards, the surveillance society and eroding civil liberties
JAMES SLACK
A chief constable has broke ranks to complain about a lurch towards a “surveillance” society which is “eroding” civil liberties.
Colin Langham-Fitt also became the first senior officer to question the need for ID cards.
He said the controversial government scheme - which has rocketed in cost to more than £5billion - would be targeted by criminals.
Mr Langham-Fitt said: “They could become the gold standard of ID crime.
“It could raise the standards and stakes for those who wish to clone them or subvert the system.”
Ministers insist police broadly support the use of surveillance technology, including four million CCTV cameras.
The Home Office is even introducing talking CCTV cameras and considering the use of controversial “spy” satellite technology.
Mr Langham-Fitt, who is acting chief constable of Suffolk Police, said: “There should be a debate about the ongoing erosion of civil liberties in the name of the fight against terrorism and the fight against crime.
“Are we all happy to have our cards monitored wherever we go, to be on CCTV and to have our shopping tracked?
“With all this surveillance available, the question needs to be asked - are we happy with that? Does it make us feel better and safer?
“I haven’t got the answers but I would welcome the debate - a debate beyond the cliched response of ‘If you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about’.”
He added: “Every measure like this is going to impinge on civil liberties.
“The debate has to be had - are these sensible precautions in a dangerous world or are we reacting to things in the belief they will solve them but at the end of the day they might not have any impact?”
Criticism by a chief constable is the latest blow to the ID cards scheme, which has been widely derided and whose cost has spiralled by £640million in the past six months.
Last week Jack Straw, expected to replace John Reid as Home Secretary, said it would be under review by the new Government led by Gordon Brown.
Have Your Say: Police Chief: ID cards, the surveillance society and eroding civil liberties
Please read our posting guidelines before posting.
Alternatively you can discuss this report here.
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2007 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Surveillance, Civil Liberties & Human Rights News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Translations
Loading ...Related News
- Police Chief Fears a Big Brother Nation
- Spy drones added to UK’s ‘surveillance society’
- Academic: CCTV Leads To inequality In Legal Cases
- Don’t extend DNA database, says minister
- CCTV cameras get upgrade at police request
Email This Page To A Friend
Latest Headlines
- L.A. City Council Decides to Outlaw New Fast Food Restaurants
- A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom
- US oil pipeline politics and the Russia-Georgia conflict
- Pentagon can’t find $2.3 trillion, wasting trillions on ‘national defense’
- New Guidelines Would Give F.B.I. Broader Powers
- Scientists to study synthetic telepathy
- London tube workers hit back at profiteers
- Britain’s terror laws have left me and my family shattered
- Police to get £40m mobile fingerprinting kit
- Libby questioned on forged letter linking Saddam to 9/11
More Breaking News
Archive
