Database State – a comprehensive map of UK government databases (2009)

In recent years, the UK Government has built or extended many central databases that hold information on every aspect of our lives, from health and education to welfare, law–enforcement and tax. This ‘Transformational Government’ programme was supposed to make public services better or cheaper, but it has been repeatedly challenged by controversies over effectiveness, privacy, legality and cost.

Many question the consequences of giving increasing numbers of civil servants daily access to our personal information. Objections range from cost through efficiency to privacy. The emphasis on data capture, form-filling, mechanical assessment and profiling damages professional responsibility and alienates the citizen from the state. Over two-thirds of the population no longer trust the government with their personal data.

This report charts these databases, creating the most comprehensive map so far of what has become Britain’s Database State.

All of these systems had a rationale and purpose. But this report shows how, in too many cases, the public are neither served nor protected by the increasingly complex and intrusive holdings of personal information invading every aspect of our lives.

By Ross Anderson, Ian Brown, Terri Dowty, Philip Inglesant, William Heath, Angela Sasse (March 2009)
Published by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd., York, UK

More info (Guardian)

Direct download:
Database State – full report (PDF, 879KB)
Database State – Executive Summary (PDF, 260KB)

EFF: Surveillance Self-Defense (2009)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has created this Surveillance Self-Defense site to educate the American public about the law and technology of government surveillance in the United States, providing the information and tools necessary to evaluate the threat of surveillance and take appropriate steps to defend against it.

Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) exists to answer two main questions: What can the government legally do to spy on your computer data and communications? And what can you legally do to protect yourself against such spying?

After an introductory discussion of how you should think about making security decisions — it’s all about risk management — we’ll be answering those two questions for three types of data:

First, we’re going to talk about the threat to the data stored on your computer posed by searches and seizures by law enforcement, as well as subpoenas demanding your records.

Second, we’re going to talk about the threat to your data on the wire — that is, your data as it’s being transmitted — posed by wiretapping and other real-time surveillance of your telephone and Internet communications by law enforcement.

Third, we’re going to describe the information about you that is stored by third parties like your phone company and your Internet service provider, and how law enforcement officials can get it.

In each of these three sections, we’re going to give you practical advice about how to protect your private data against law enforcement agents.

In a fourth section, we’ll also provide some basic information about the U.S. government’s expanded legal authority when it comes to foreign intelligence and terrorism investigations.

Finally, we’ve collected several articles about specific defensive technologies that you can use to protect your privacy, which are linked to from the other sections or can be accessed individually. So, for example, if you’re only looking for information about how to securely delete your files, or how to use encryption to protect the privacy of your emails or instant messages, you can just directly visit that article.

More info

PDF (Printer-friendly HTML)

Harold Abelson, Ken Ledeen, Harry Lewis: Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion (2008)

“Wherever you go…whatever you say, write, photograph, or buy…whatever prescriptions you take, or ATM withdrawals you make…you are generating information. That information can be captured, digitized, retrieved, and copied –anywhere on Earth, instantly. Sophisticated computers can increasingly uncover meaning in those digital traces–understanding, anticipating, and influencingyou as never before.

Is this utopia? Or the dawning of a 1984/Brave New World horror world? Whatever you call it, it’s happening. What kind of world are we creating? What will it be like to live there? Blown to Bits offers powerful and controversial answers to these questions–and give you the knowledge you need to help shape your own digital future, not let others do it for you. Building on their pioneering joint MIT/Harvard course, the authors reveal how the digital revolution is changing everything, in ways that are stunning even the most informed experts.

You’ll discover ten paradoxical truths about digital data–and learn how those truths are overturning centuries-old assumptions about privacy, identity, and personal control.

You’ll view the indelible digital footprints you’re making when you search Google…send emails and text messages…write Microsoft Word documents…download MP3s…make cellphone calls…post blog entries…pay highway tolls…use your supermarket discount card. And you’ll see how others could be following those footprints, in ways you never thought about, and might not like.

Writing in plain English, the authors illuminate the myriad implications of the digital revolution, answering the questions you’ve wondered about–or ought to wonder about. Who owns all that data about you? What do they owe you? How private is your medical information? Is it possible to send a truly secure message? Who can you trust for accurate information when traditional media is replaced by thousands of unfiltered Internet sources?

Along the way, they reveal the decisions governments and corporations are making right now that will shape your future…and show how to have your say in those decisions. Because you have an enormous stake in the outcome. We all do.”

Publisher Addison-Wesley, 2008
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
ISBN 0137135599, 9780137135592
366 pages

Book website
Interview (Democracy Now!, 2009)

PDF