Redux Intl. Edition: China's real name Internet mandate

NSTIC: Oh.. it's an ID card for  everything online

TOP STORY

A National Digital ID, Courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service?
c/o Bloomberg

"When China passed a new law two weeks ago requiring people to give their real names when signing up for Internet and phone service, it raised alarms over the surveillance implications for the world’s largest population of Web users. It also highlighted what may be an uncomfortable reality for U.S. netizens: a national digital ID, which essentially is what China is proposing, isn’t entirely a foreign concept. The U.S. is also slowly moving to a system where online personas are inextricably linked to real-world identities, an idea with huge privacy and security implications. 

The tactics and enforcement mechanisms being explored in China and the U.S. are worlds apart, but the central idea is similar: knowing someone’s real name improves accountability online. That’s a double-edged sword, though, depending on who’s doing the accounting. 

The White House’s National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC, is leading the government’s efforts in this area."

:::MORE HERE:::

Biggest prob w/ use/overuse of biometric ID = once it's compromised, your identity is forever at risk. No way to replace #biometricchat A3
— Amie Stepanovich (@astepanovich) January 10, 2013

RELATED:

• Declare Your Independence podcast covers Biometric Internet Access 
• NATO’s global axis is where RFID, biometrics and NSTIC meet

Here is second life for news that matters:

U.S. and Canada Implementing Beyond the Border Perimeter Security Initiatives

WAKING UP ORWELL: S.1867, ATS decides if you are on TSA's naughty list while Holiday travelling

Canada’s expanding surveillance ‘should scare you’: privacy watchdog

Cavoukian said Monday the [Canadian] federal government’s proposed legislation could have a profound impact on privacy rights. She has sent a 20-page legal analysis of the legislation, which would make it legal for police forces to snoop on Internet users without requiring a warrant from a judge, to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

:::MORE HERE:::

RELATED NEWS: 

Internet has become 'surveillance machine': Julian Assange

TSA Finally Speeding Up The Airport Fast Lane

c/o Forbes

"If you are a member of CBP’s Global Entry, Nexus or Sentri Trusted Traveler programs, you may be able to access certain dedicated screening lanes. In conjunction with this service, CBP is installing Global Entry kiosks at certain Canadian airports where travelers are pre-cleared to enter the U.S. so they do not have to go through immigration or customs at a U.S. port of entry. Kiosks are, or will be installed at Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto by the end of this month although when I was in Montreal last week CBP knew nothing about the program. 

CBP will be issuing members of the Global Entry program a Sentri RFID card for a $15 processing fee. Sentri is currently being used at the Otay Mesa, San Ysidro, and Calexico border crossings in California and the El Paso (Stanton Street Bridge) crossing in Texas."

:::MORE HERE:::

RELATED Smart Card ID NEWS:

“The top contactless applications during the next five years are projected to be bank cards, government and healthcare ID cards, transportation and physical access cards. These four applications are projected to account for around 99% of units shipped in 2016.”

:::MORE HERE:::

Border deal could erode personal privacy in Canada: Report

BTC WORLD WATCH


c/o Vancouver Sun

Canada is being asked to compromise the civil rights of millions of Canadians without any guarantee the Americans will hold up their side of the bargain, says the report, written by Gar Pardy, a former senior diplomat to Washington.

:::MORE HERE:::

SEE ALSO: Canada to launch biometric passports by 2012

Canadian Border Agent Confiscated Haudenosaunee Passport, Called It ‘Fantasy Document’

REDUX: Watch what's happening to Canada AND An evolution of a Nebraska media blackout

BTC - As it turns out, the US and Canada share a lot of the same problems.


Here is second life for news that matters.

Canadian Filtering Tool Used in Middle East 

Public calls for more transparency in continental security negotiations

Canada introduces New, Plastic Cash

North American Security Products Organization (NASPO) audited by atsec (ATX)

G20 Anniversary: The weekend Toronto burned

LIVING AMONG US: Activists Speak of Police Infiltration

Suspended sentence for G20 demonstrator Jaggi Singh
[Wiki on Jaggi Singh]




IN OTHER NEWS:  Focus on Nebraska Nuclear Core Meltdown

BTC -Without a doubt underreported news bigger than Fukushima, because it's middle America.

It started Saturday morning ....Electrical Fire Knocks Out Spent Fuel Cooling Pool at Nebraska Nuclear Plant

NPPD: Nuke Plant Could Be Shut Down “In Three Seconds”, Critics Still Worry

Nebraska nuclear plant meltdown possible? FAA restricts airspace

Then...US orders news blackout over crippled Nebraska Nuclear Plant: report

And finally the NYTimes decided to start reporting some news on Monday.

Nuclear forum calls for transparency, eyes new incident severity scale

Critical Cyber Asset, demonstrate how the Electronic and Physical Security Perimeters are protecting nuclear plants, Smart Grid

IN OTHER NEWS & COMMENTARY

The New FBI Powers: Cointelpro on Steroids

ACLU's, Mike German on Law and Disorder Radio explains New FBI surveillance powers

REDUX: Mexican biometrics, EU-US Data privacy, Egypt [International Edition]

Senate Intel Chair: Torture Did Not Lead To Bin Laden In Any Way @TPM

More and more evidence suggests a key piece of intelligence -- the first link in the chain of information that led U.S. intelligence officials to Osama bin Laden -- wasn't tortured out of its source. And, indeed, that torture actually failed to produce it. 

:::MORE HERE:::

Here is second life for news that matters: 

The 10 tools of Online Oppressors

WIRED: Domestic Surveillance Court Approved All 1,506 Warrant Applications in 2010

Commentary c/o Julian "squeaky clean" Sanchez: 

 Record Number of Americans Targeted by National Security Letters

NYTimes Op-Ed: Personal Data: Safer in America or in Europe

Children of Guanajuato, Mexico in Biometric Database

U.S. Attorney Escalates Attacks on Civil Liberties of Anti-War, Palestinian Human Rights Activists


Homeland Security Suspends Ineffective, Discriminatory Immigration Program

SEC’s Schapiro says surveillance tools ‘inadequate’

Canada, U.S. in talks to share surveillance data

U.S.-Canada to share refugees' biometric info

c/o CanWest News Washington

WASHINGTON — Seeking to enhance its efforts to crack down on fraudulent refugee claims, the Harper government on Tuesday announced it has struck a deal to share fingerprint information on asylum seekers with the United States.

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan made the announcement following a bilateral summit here with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Under the protocol, the U.S. will join a biometric data-sharing initiative Canada had already launched last summer with the United Kingdom and Australia.

"Biometrics continue to be a powerful tool to prevent terrorists and criminals from crossing our shared border and preventing identity theft and asylum fraud," Napolitano said at a news conference with Van Loan.

Canada's privacy commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, had expressed a series of concerns about the biometric data sharing when the plan was first announced in August. Stoddart's office questioned Ottawa about the need to collect fingerprints and sought assurances the personal information gathered would not be used for secondary purposes.

"While we are still reviewing their response, on the surface of it, it appears they have addressed most of our concerns," said Anne-Marie Hayden, a spokesperson for the privacy commissioner.

"They have advised us that under the protocol, biometric information will only be used for immigration and nationality issues. They have also told us that biometric matching information will only be one of many elements considered when assessing a file."

The privacy commissioner's office is still awaiting a response, however, on how Citizenship and Immigration Canada "plans to address our concerns about how refugees, a very vulnerable population, will be notified about the collection and use of their biometric information," Hayden said.

Napolitano said the U.S. will dispatch its chief privacy officer to Ottawa in early December for discussions with Canadian officials. "As we share information, we are committed to protecting privacy and civil rights," she said.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has argued biometric data sharing on refugee claimants dramatically increases the government's ability to identify foreign nationals who try to hide their past when seeking to enter Canada.

His office says the agreement allows countries to check each other's fingerprint databases but doesn't give them unfettered access to the information.

"Previous trials show that biometric information sharing works," Kenney said in a statement Tuesday. "The data sharing helps uncover details about refugee claimants such as identity, nationality, criminality, travel and immigration history, all of which can prove relevant to the claim."

When Canada, the U.K. and Australia initially signed the agreement last summer, they sought to allay privacy concerns by agreeing no central database of fingerprints would be created.

The information-sharing pact is part of a broader government initiative to introduce biometrics into Canada's immigration and refugee screening system — a plan that continues to raise red flags for privacy advocates.

"We have made them aware of our concerns with respect to what seems to be a general trend toward an increased collection of biometric information," Hayden said.

Native NY Backlash, ONEIDA speaks...

"If you are not a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, fear not. The Saint Regis Indians, the Oneida Indian Nation of New York and the Haudenosaune (otherwise known as Onondaga, et al) are right in line (as well as every other federally recognized tribe). And guess what? You get to have your "Nation's" logo on the card (maybe even your Indian name). No one will ever know you finally declared your subjugation to your oppressors. Hell, you won't even have to show the card. It will transmit who and what you are from your pocket.

So let's hear it for those defenders of Sovereignty and Native rights. "

Ohnkwe Ohnwe, Of Native Pride

CANADA: The Nation's Deathbed

Canada's viral documentary on the Security & Prosperity Partnership

BTC  Review- The Nation's Deathbed is one of the few documentaries out there about the SPP/NAU or the Secured Prosperity Partnership and how it affects someone other than the U.S.  In August of  2007, riots precipitated over meetings in Montebello, Canada evading common knowledge. Media manipulation obscured the challenge to national soverignty facing the North American Continent.

One stark example carried in the film, is the incorporation of propagandized vocabulary, like the word "harmonize" to directly affect trade barriers. This translates to lowering Canadian standards over many things including the use of pesticides with crops and food.

While it mimics other youthful, 9-11 Truth documentaries flooding the web and grassroots media, it brings a distinct experience of Canada's open recognition of the challenges to it's sovereignty.  This is identified right down to the Amero currency and a new continental identity in line with the Western Hemisphere Travel initiative.

CANADA: Who are you going to believe?

BTC - Reports - 12-10-08

According to Canada's Public Safety there is no knowlege of any rioting. There was an acknowlegement of protestors supporting the new coaltion to hold ground against current Prime Minister Harper. National Defense has not responded yet to whether or not U.S. troops are on the ground in Canada for the purposes of civil defense.

If you have friends or family who have personal accounts about what is happening on the ground, please have them contact BeatTheChip@gmail.com

Canada: “Progressive coalition” rallies fail to denounce constitutional coup

By Carl Bronski and Eric Marquis
10 December 2008

About 3,000 people gathered in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square last Saturday to support the parliamentary coalition formed last week between the Liberals, the Canadian ruling class’ traditional party of government, and the social democrats of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in an effort to unseat the minority government of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The Toronto rally was one of several organized in cities across Canada in recent days by Liberal, NDP, and Green Party supporters and by the trade union bureaucracy. In Montreal, at a rally Saturday that was attended by about one thousand, these were joined by supporters of the regionally-based, pro-Quebec independence Bloc Quebecois.

The rallies occurred after a tumultuous week in Canadian politics, culminating with Harper, whose government faced imminent defeat on a non-confidence vote sparked by its parsimonious economic and fiscal update, prevailing upon Governor-General Michaëlle Jean to close parliament for seven weeks in order to buy his government more time to drive a wedge between the coalition partners. Never before had parliament been prorogued (suspended) so as to prevent MPs from voting out a government.

Can Harper Prorogue Parliament? - 12-3-08

RaiseTheHammer.org

Given the paucity of Prime Minister Stephen Harpers options as Monday's confidence vote draws closer, pundits and analysts are coalescing around the conclusion that he will ask Governor General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament until his government tables their budget on January 27, 2009.

Here's where it gets interesting. Generally, the Prime Minister will ask the GG to prorogue Parliament - i.e. to discontinue a Parliamentary session - after completing a busy legislative agenda so that the MPs can go back to their constituency offices and get caught up on local matters before the next session starts.

The Governor General, officially the Head of State's representative in Canada, has long served as a figurehead who formally approves the decisions of the government, i.e. the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet, on behalf of the Queen. However, that rubberstamping function is predicated on the Prime Minister having the confidence of of the House of Commons.

Since re-forming the government after the October election, Harper has not yet demonstrated the confidence of the House, and the three opposition parties representing a majority of MPs have publicly stated that he has lost their confidence.

As a result, it is possible that the GG will refuse to grant Harper's prorogue request until he first survives a confidence motion. If so, that gives the coalition an opportunity to vote no confidence in Harper and ask the GG for a chance to form the government before dissolving Parliament and calling an election.

Harper's desperate hope is that the GG will grant his prorogue, giving the deep-pocketed Conservative Party almost two months to run a negative PR campaign aimed at discrediting the coalition and breaking it up so that he can survive a confidence motion when Parliament resumes.

He may argue that under such extraordinary circumstances, the House of Commons and the Canadian public need a chance to cool down and think through the options before rushing into the Constitutionally sound but politically tenebrous alternative of allowing the three also-rans of last October's election to form a government. {CONT.}

HAPPY 4th of July: Unique News with a BTC Spin

We here at BeatTheChip can get bored with all the same old "Real ID IS REALLY REALLY BAD," all of the time.  So we decided to freshen it up with some World and Technology news.

So get some BBQ'd food  and a drink and read this, it may free your mind...

What happens when Nacho Libre meets federales imposing consequences over his national ID?  No better story than the truth, as NewsWeek tells the story of a Mexican boxing contender fighting his way out of a bureaucratic comedy of errors with his national ID.

A Juneau travel agent has had it with TSA "abusing it" when it comes to travellers who can't board their flight over possessing a Real ID license. He is suing Alaska's DMV for implementing the Real ID Act saying , "As of 1 July, it is a pain in the ass to get a driver's license," Scannell said.

It's good that he has this Alaskan running for Senate to help out. (Listen carefully - there are fireworks going off!):

Apparently the UK has similar problems with a national ID program and their "vunterland" security chief . They are fighting back, as The Guardian UK reports:

"Britain's leading airline bosses have accused the government of using their industry as a political pawn in the national identity card debate by forcing aviation workers to join the scheme next year.

In a scathing letter to the home secretary, Jaqui Smith, the chief executives of British Airways, easyJet, Virgin Atlantic and BMI said that forcing airport workers to have and ID card from November next year was "unnecessary" and  "unjustified".

Here's a story on the burgeoning market for surveillance technologies that can track you AND attack you.  Apparently 2008 is a great year to being the war and surveillance technologies business, as Seeking Alpha reports.  Amid our "resilient" heros is L1 Technologies.  I wonder if they ever got us that head shot of their Board Member- former CIA chief, George Tenet.

Canada is getting in on the new money, making all kinds of weird demands on Real Estate brokers for ID reporting with every single transaction.  You might want to look for these mild mannered looking guys while you're at it.

Meanwhile back in the U.S. - Virginia to be exact - a retail employee with some balls and ethics teams up with Congressman Ed Markey to AVENGE RIGHTEOUSLY the following:

"An unknown number of customers had their personal information stolen  in {a corporate} hacking - which may have been going on for up to three years, according to TJX officials."

WHAT?!  CORPORATIONS HACK INTO DATABASES FOR PRIVATE INFORMATION?!!

Oh well, public-private entities have just made all of that insidious dirt work legal parsing for the course. Our favorite legal cretin is AAMVA- if you have a magnetic strip on your license they've been selling your information in their "private" sector for years.

I am still tracking down an absolutely BRILLIANT story I read about a man in Florida the suing the US government over the sale of his facial biometrics as "information".  The lawsuit has more to do with a type of copyright infringement, the US government didn't get his express consent to license his image to sale to corporate vendors (through people like AAMVA).   

We can do that? We can sue our government over selling our images and private information?

Hell - class action lawsuits may pile up after all!

DHS thinks they are superbad if they can have your biometrics WATERPROOFED!!