1. Scrap the ID card scheme, the National Identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the ContactPoint Database.
2. Outlaw the finger-printing of children at school without parental permission.
3. Extend the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to provide greater transparency.
4. Adopt the Scottish approach to stopping retention of innocent people’s DNA on the DNA database.
5. Defend trial by jury.
6. Restore rights to non-violent protest.
7. A review of libel laws to protect freedom of speech.
8. Safeguards against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation.
9. Further regulation of CCTV.
10. Ending of storage of internet and email records without good reason.
11. A new mechanism to prevent the proliferation of unnecessary new criminal offences.
12. End the detention of children for immigration purposes.

Oh my!

As a digital- and civil-rights campaigner this list fills my heart with joy. The successful passage of this Bill through Parliament would not end the need to champion human rights in the digital era* however it would be a famous victory for that cause: we could say with certainty that this election, that the ousting of Labour from Government, was the point at which the high-water mark of authoritarian social policy in Britain was reached.

Some fellow campaigners have today urged caution and are reserving judgement until the details of the Bill are published. I cannot fault them for their cynicism however I am filled with hope that today we have seen not only the dawn of a new politics in Britain, but a new era of liberty, freedom, privacy and respect for human rights in the UK.

I shall be raising my glass to the death of ID cards and the Database State tonight!

* Three omissions stand out: repeal clauses 11-18 of the Digital Economy Act; make the NHS Summary Care Record opt-in rather than opt-out; end the Vetting and Barring scheme, abolish the Independent Safeguarding Authority and reform CRB checks to make them fair. It’s possible that these will be included in the detail of the Bill.

British civil liberties have been dismantled systematically since 2001. The National Identity Register, biometric passports, the NHS spine, Contactpoint and the Vetting and Barring Scheme are just a few of the most egregious privacy invasions we have suffered.

Our every move is watched with suspicion by the authorities. ANPR systems record every journey we make. Video and audio Surveillance Systems (SS) watch us in every public space and many private ones too. Thousands of public bodies abuse their RIP Act powers to spy on us for trivial reasons. The police can stop us and search us arbitrarily, and they keep “pre-crime” databases on the innocent. Our private communications are monitored, analysed and recorded both by the Government and private companies.

Yet often MPs want one rule for us and another for them. The children of MPs can be “shielded” on ContactPoint to protect their privacy – but ours can’t. Very few MPs have an ID card even though ministers have been doing everything in their power to coerce the public into “volunteering” for them. Many MPs voted to exempt themselves from the Freedom of Information Act, to protect their “privacy”, whilst passing laws that erode ours.

When it comes to liberty in Britain today, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. This hypocrisy has to end and the systematic assault on our civil liberties must be reversed.

The Power2010 campaign is conducting a letter writing campaign asking Prospective Parliamentary Candidates to:

…commit that, if you are elected, you will vote to repeal the Identity Cards Act 2006 and will defend our privacy as fiercely as you would defend your own and that of your family.

The above reproduces what I sent to Sheffield Central PPCs. You can take part in the campaign here.

UPDATE 2008/05/14 23:15:

Shortly after this post was published, I received an email from Cardiff Council:

Dear Mr King

I refer to your request submitted on 15th April. I regret that there has been considerable disruption to our FOI service as a result of an accident to our FOI Officer on the weekend of 19 April, as a result of which he is likely to be off work for several months.

(continues)

I assume this message was auto-generated by some kind of script, arriving as it did 37 minutes after the legal deadline for a response, and signed as it was by the “information manager”. I’ve just pinged back a reply to ask when they now expect to be able to send me the information I requested, given the (clearly unfortunate) circumstances.

On a personal note: there have been too many people around here suffering serious injuries lately. Look after yourselves, everyone – I don’t want to hear about any more.

Meanwhile in the real world, following up the story of Poole Borough Council using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act to spy on a pre-school child and her family, the BBC reported this week on a survey of local council RIPA use by the Press Association news agency. They have found the law being used by some councils to investigate such important priorities as littering, dog fouling and misuse of a disabled parking badge. (Sightings of unlicensed accordion players with primate business partners remain unconfirmed, but I’m confident that should any be spotted, the Clouseau Councils won’t hesitate to RIPA them into submission).

Sir Simon Milton, Local Government Association chairman, told the BBC,

“It’s wrong to suggest that these are specifically anti-terror powers.”

Then why did the Government sell the laws as being specifically required to combat “serious crime, including terrorism” in the media, in Parliament, and even on the Home Office website?

“There are strict rules to protect people from unnecessary intrusion, and whenever a council applies to use these powers they must prove that it is both necessary and proportionate to the crime being investigated.”

The proportionality test barrier can’t be very high if councils are able to satisfy themselves it’s met in cases of littering.

The article mentions that 19 councils asked for the survey questions to be submitted under the Freedom of Information Act, but it doesn’t list which ones. Fortunately, I have already submitted an FoI request to Cardiff council to find out how my local administration has used the laws since they came into force. I was hoping to discover whether Cardiff was a Clouseau Council in time for the local elections this week, but sadly the mandated one-month turn-around time expires a fortnight after the polls close.

How does your local authority shape up in the cracking-walnuts-with-sledgehammers department? Is this an election issue in your area? Hit the comments link and share your thoughts.

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 lords? Surely our highest public offices should be subject to the highest level of public scrutiny. This smacks of double-standards.

Between this bill and the current consultation on lowering the bar for rejecting FoI requests on grounds of cost, it seems the Government is running scared of it’s own legislation.

The contention that the proposed amendments are to safeguard the privacy of MPs’ constituents is specious at best: we have data protection laws for that, as well as an existing exemption in FoI, and a convincing argument that these are insufficient has yet to be presented.

Even if that were the case, the correct place to fix the problem would be in the Data Protection Act, not the Freedom of Informtion Act. FoI was never intended to protect the public, except in its role as a constitutional safeguard!

Today the Liberal Democrats launched a petition against the proposals. They are also encouraging you to write to a random Lord and express your displeasure (any lord will do – since they’re unelected they don’t have constituencies). If you decide to write, don’t forget to ask them to take action by voting to send this hypocritical law back to the commons with its tail between its legs.

Keep Parliament honest!