Here's an appropriate news story for Friday the 13th ...
The District of Coercion has now decided that the national security requires databases with biometric information on all American citizens. According to Canadian researcher Michel Chossudovsky:
"The latest Big Brother police state measure emanating from the Bush administration, with virtually no press coverage, is NSPD 59 (HSPD 24)* entitled 'Biometrics for Identification and Screening to Enhance National Security'. It is adopted without public debate or Congressional approval. Its relevant procedures have far-reaching implications.
"NSPD 59 goes far beyond the issue of biometric identification, it recommends the collection and storage of "associated biographic"information, meaning information on the private lives of US citizens, in minute detail, all of which will be "accomplished within the law".
Much of the information is already collected by government, but not already brought together into one place; such as date and place of birth, citizenship, current address, employment, phone numbers, use of government services, and tax filings. However, the Feds now want to also collect address, employment, and phone number history, bank account and credit card histories, and criminal database records on a local, state and federal level.
Mr. Chossudovsky also finds that the directive suggests the database could include "legal judgments or other public records documenting involvement in legal disputes, child custody records and marriage or divorce records."
Many civil libertarians today will celebrate yesterday's Supreme Court ruling upholding habeas corpus for the detainees at Guantánamo. But the more relevant question is, what good is it when we have all this surveillance? It would be interesting to know from the Bush Administration at what point they consider searches and seizures to be "unreasonable" (4th Amendment).
A virtual buckeye to Rob Williams at Vermont Commons.
* A complete text of NSPD59 is included with Mr. Chossudovsky's article.
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