Richard's Kingdom

Dear Alun Michael MP,
This week we learnt that HM Revenue and Customs finally misplaced the 25 million database records they’ve been trying so hard to lose all year through negligence and gross misconduct. I am shocked, but not surprised, at the revelation that the Government has put millions of people at risk of fraud. I’m [...]

The Open Rights Group (ORG) is nominally two years old, and to mark the occasion, they have published a report (pdf) into their activities to date. Others have commented liberally on the organisation’s remarkable success over the past 24 months. I want to add my voice in congratulation and say a few words about what [...]

I am shocked and disappointed by the House of Commons’ attempt to exempt itself and the House of Lords from the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
It’s uacceptable for our leaders to seek refuge from legislation designed to improve the accountability and transparancy of public bodies. Why should there be a special exemption for MPs and [...]

The Government is using passports to coerce you into surrendering control of your identity.
Under the guise of improving passport security, the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) will begin forcing all new applicants to register with the ID cards database from April this year.
This morning, IPS Chief executive James Hall was in full spin mode: “I [...]

In November last year I wrote to James Hall, Chief Executive of the Identity and Passport Service, to follow up a discussion point from his live webchat on the Number 10 website. I wanted to find out more about the safeguards surrounding access to the National Identity Register (NIR) — the ‘big brother’ database of [...]