Big Brother Brussels

According to the latest report from Statewatch, new measures to fight terrorism on an EU scale, could lead to dramatic losses of privacy and individual rights.

A number of the proposals would introduce the wholesale surveillance of everyone in Europe and could potentially be used for social and political control:

1. Through logging all telecommunications (e-mails, phone-calls, mobilecalls, faxes and internet usage;
2. Tracking all air travel in and out and within the EU (effectively an EU version of the USA’s controversial PNR, CAPPS II and US-VISIT plans);
3. The fingerprinting of nearly everyone in the EU by the introduction of biometric passports and ID cards for citizens and the same for resident third country nationals.

These are of course part of a reaction to the terrorist attack in Madrid. Like anything to the state though and you can sure that they will get it wrong.

An analysis of the 57 proposals on the table at the EU Summit on 25-26 March in Brussels shows that 30 of these are relevant to this need. However, the analysis also shows that 27 of the proposals have little or nothing to do with tackling terrorism – they deal with crime in general and surveillance.

But there is no need to worry, the state is your friend isn’t it? If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear, is what Friends of Big Brother always say. How about this:

To allow account holders to be identified and Facilitate investigations into bank accounts and movements of funds

Money laundering is always boosted as an important crime to be targeted due to its links to other types of crime. But who’s to say that criminals rather than frustrated investors are the targets. When you consider that grabbing Gordon is even stealing our pension money, does it not make sense to hide the stash away from his grasping paws? My money is on any banking laws to be used primarily to stop us from keeping the lid on the cookie jar.