Blocking locator-type devices

[Q G Campbell]

In an earlier posting it was suggested that no-one can be entirely
blameless in the eyes of a State which runs such a massive surveillance
and security apparatus to counter Irish terrorism that even the most
innocent of encounters may result in your name being added to some
agency's database.=20

In response to this I cited "Gerraghty" and his latest book as a recent
source which gives detailed evidence in support of this view. I promised
to give a full reference. The book is:

  "The Irish War - The Military History of a Domestic Conflict"
  by Tony Geraghty and published by HarperCollins, London, 1998.
  ISBN 0 00 255617 0

He suggests at least 1 million names out of a population of 1.5 million
in Northern Ireland are now on some security agency's computer. He says
that in Britain the "total number of suspects" stored in various
intelligence databases is around 2 million.

The chapter entitled "The Eyeball, the Eavesdrop and the Judas Kiss" is
of particular interest. It describes the diverse intelligence bodies
that were created or operated in Northern Ireland from 1962 till 1998,
their methods, their successes and failures and the effect they have had
on the conflict and the policies/conduct of the government of the day.

He also describes how this vast apparatus of surveillance and
intelligence analysis had of necessity  spread to Britain and that its
success in catching terrorists such as the Harrods bombers has made
permanent the damage done by the conflict to our freedom of movement in
Britain without close, intrusive, state surveillance.

A quote from the book should bring this posting back on track by perhaps
giving a clue to the real source of the detailed draft Bills that
eventually became RIPA.

On page 162 Geraghty says [in 1998] of a [secret] 1997 5-part paper
prepared for the Army's GoC in the province and aimed at co-ordinating
surveillance strategy in Northen Ireland:

"Equally revealing of the army's pessimism about an end to hostilities,
regardless of ceasfires, was the strategy document's perception of the
legal framework for running future covert operations. It suggested:
'Working within the law is an essential element... We are entitled to
use a variety of means and devices and under certain circumstances to
enter private property.' Additional contributors to this secret analyis
disagreed. One noted that working within the law was a constraint on
rather than an element of surveillance, while the Ministry of Defence's
expert in MO (Military Operations) 2 demonstrated a chilling knowledge
of legislation as yet to be tabled in the House of Commons. He, or she,
wrote: 'While current military surveillance is protected within current
law it is worth noting that particular care must be taken to ensure that
the proposed legislation which will eventually replace EPA [Emergency
Powers Act] and PTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act] should safeguard
military surveillance rights.'"
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Quentin
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"Any opinions expressed above are mine. The University can get its own."
    =20

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Q G Campbell [mailto:Q.G.Campbell@newcastle.ac.uk]
> Sent: 14 February 2001 16:48
> To: ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> Subject: RE: Blocking locator-type devices
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> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Ben Laurie [mailto:ben@algroup.co.uk]
> > Sent: 14 February 2001 15:24
> > To: ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> > Subject: Re: Blocking locator-type devices
> >=20
> >=20
> > Q G Campbell wrote:
> > >=20
> > > The idea of a (random) noise generator located next to the=20
> > microphone is
> > > of more general application since it allows your phone to=20
> > continue to
> > > operate to receive calls.
> > >=20
> > > Placing your phone in an RF shielding bag or removing the=20
> > batteries to
> > > prevent your phone being used as a roving bug has side effects!
> >=20
> > I was concerned about it being used for location, not bugging.
>=20
> ** I know. My response should have been part of another, related,
> ** thread. However the issues are similar - preventing unwarranted
> ** (in all senses of that word) monitoring of your legititimate=20
> ** activities.
> [snip]
> > > > > Those of us who live blameless, if boring lives, have=20
> > nothing to worry
> > > about have we.  :-}
> >=20
> > Blameless? In whose eyes?
>=20
> ** Gerraghty directly answers this question in his latest book (**1)
> ** which is on the troubles in Northern Ireland. He gives=20
> some credible
> ** figures (**2) for the number of names on the various, known,
> ** "intelligence databases" in use there and in the UK and he=20
> describes
> ** the sort of mundane and innocent circumstances which could=20
> lead to a
> ** name being added. If having your name on one of these=20
> systems is the
> ** yardstick then there are a lot of "blameworthy" people among us.
>  =20
> Notes
>=20
>  (1) I will give the detailed reference in a later posting.
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>  (2) I think they sound credible on the evidence/sources he cites but
>      I will leave it to people to make their own judgement.
> =20
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