The law on the retention of DNA samples in Scotland could soon be tightened by the closing of a “legal loophole”. Currently, people who accept “direct measures” such as fines, as an alternative to prosecution, cannot have their DNA kept in the police database. Nationalist MSP Stewart Maxwell plans to amend a bill at Holyrood…
Category: Surveillance
UK drugs test for claimants sparks row over unemployment benefits
Controversial government plans to allow Jobcentre staff to “order” benefit claimants to undergo tests for drug and alcohol dependency are in breach of European law and unlikely to work, according to leading addiction charities. The proposals, outlined in the welfare reform bill, which is due before the House of Lords next month, are part of…
Sweat Becomes Offenders’ New Snitch
Fredrick Kunkle and Derek Kravitz report: The government has buried its nose in Bari Lynne Williams’s personal business. Almost literally. Twenty-four hours a day, whether she’s jogging, sleeping or managing a pool hall, Williams wears a high-tech sensor on her ankle that can detect the faintest whiff of alcohol in her perspiration. If she sneaks…
Privacy and the 2010 Olympics
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has created a web page to address privacy concerns and the 2010 Olympics: Next February and March, Canada will host the world at the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. As the first international “mega-event” to take place in Canada in the post-9/11 era, the Vancouver Winter Games…