UK is getting all 1984...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8020039.stm

Download the communications consultation pdf and see what YOU think.

"In a purported effort to identify counterfeiters, the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. That means that without your knowledge or consent, an act you assume is private could become public. A communication tool you're using in everyday life could become a tool for government surveillance."

The full story: http://www.eff.org/issues/printers

ft. Dj Davvve aka b-boy & The Sheperd b2b w/ Lo-Jo

"... a new state-of-the-art security model..." 

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2006/NYC-Ring-Of-Steel25jan06.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London's_ring_of_steel

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0309-1317.2004.00511.x 

Each year since 1997, the US-based Electronic Privacy Information Center and the UK-based Privacy International have undertaken what has now become the most comprehensive survey of global privacy ever published. The Privacy & Human Rights Report surveys developments in 70 countries, assessing the state of surveillance and privacy protection.

From the report: "The 2007 rankings indicate an overall worsening of privacy protection across the world, reflecting an increase in surveillance and a declining performance on privacy safeguards."

"The 2007 rankings show an increasing trend amongst governments to archive data on the geographic, communications and financial records of all their citizens and residents. This trend leads to the conclusion that all citizens, regardless of legal status, are under suspicion."

Read more: http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-559597

Revealing BBC article about a declassified document called "Information Operations Roadmap". It was obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University using the Freedom of Information Act.

Officials in the Pentagon wrote it in 2003. The Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, signed it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4655196.stm

The link to the pdf version of the Roadmap:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/27_01_06_psyops.pdf

Mark Monmonier's book Spying With Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy: http://www.markmonmonier.com/work3.htm