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Imagine not being able to receive a passport until you obtain police clearance. Or perhaps a certificate of tax compliance. Or a DNA sample that ties in with your government medical record. Or simply paying an exorbitant fee.
Nothing is out of bounds for these people.
Ironically, one way that I’ve mitigated the constant encroachment on my freedom is by obtaining multiple citizenships. Frankly I wish I could have zero, but it’s nearly impossible to be stateless today.
Look what I got for three hours, six security checkpoints, and $82, 9/27/11
Can you imagine being trapped inside your home country, unable to leave? It may be closer to a reality than you realize. I’ll tell you a quick story to explain.
Does The US Government Want To Prevent You From Leaving?, 7/11/11
By next month, every driver in the U.S. will be required to have a black box in their vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will declare that all automobiles are required to contain the event data recorder - similar to those found in aircraft - in order to monitor driving habits and provide a snapshot of the final moment of impact if the car crashes. The snapshot will be able to be viewed by law enforcement, insurance companies and automakers and the owner of the vehicle will not be able to turn it on or off.
Black boxes for vehicles to be compulsory by next month, 5/25/11
New York senator Charles Schumer is calling for no ride lists for Amtrak similar to the no fly lists currently used in the nation’s airports.
“Anyone, even a member of al-Qaida could purchase a train ticket and board an Amtrak train without so much as a question asked,” Schumer said. “So that’s why I’m calling for the creation of an Amtrak no ride list. That would take the secure flight program and apply it to Amtrak trains.”
Sen. Schumer Calls for Train Station Gestapo Zones, 5/9/11
After repeatedly ordering a man to lower his window at a DUI checkpoint in California, police broke the window and arrested the car’s two occupants for resisting arrest.
The incident was caught on video by the passenger, which was released last week even though the arrest took place in February.
Police Break Car Window At DUI Checkpoint, 5/7/11
The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive.
The plan is a part of the administration’s “Transportation Opportunities Act,” an undated draft of which was obtained this week by Transportation Weekly.
This follows a March Congressional Budget Office report that supported the idea of taxing drivers based on miles driven.
Among other things, CBO suggested that a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax could be tracked by installing electronic equipment on each car to determine how many miles were driven; payment could take place electronically at filling stations.
Obama Floats Plan to Tax Cars by the Mile - and track your car too!, 5/5/11
I’ve long predicted there would come a time when the U.S. government began requiring individuals applying for or renewing their U.S. passports to prove tax compliance.
That time came a step closer earlier this month with a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report concluded that in 2008, the State Department issued passports to 224,000 citizens who owed nearly $6 billion in unpaid federal taxes.
Owe the IRS Money? Pay Up or You Might Not Be Able to Renew Your Passport, 4/25/11
We were stopped at an agricultural inspection station roadblock on our way to San Diego. This is inspection station was created to control COMMERCIAL goods entering into the state.
The states do have the authority to regulate commercial activity but as you will see most of the people they are stopping are not engaged in commerce.
Fruit Police Showdown, 4/18/11
When I applied for my first U.S. passport many years ago, I merely completed a simple application form and forked over $25 to the State Department. A few weeks later, my little blue book arrived, ready to accept stamps from friendly immigration agents worldwide.
That world ended on Sept. 11, 2001. Ordering a passport now sets you back $135, and you must also provide your Social Security number. According to the State Department:
Want a Passport? Better Find Your Circumcision Records!, 4/2/11
This is one report you do not want to miss. Americans are being detained for using cash! Gary Franchi presents the investigation into the Florida Department of Transportation.
Toll Booth Tyranny, 3/8/11
 Canadian defence researchers are investigating how brain signals might distinguish hostile intent from everyday emotions such as anger and fear. Though there is still much to learn, the goal is to push biometric science beyond identification techniques to a new frontier where covert security technology would secretly scan peoples’ minds to determine whether they harbour malicious intent.
Canadian defence scientists probe ‘biometrics of intent’, 3/7/11
A man in Tampa, Fla., has uncovered what he calls an illegal scheme by the state's turnpike authority to detain motorists who pay tolls with $20, $50 or $100 bills until they disclose personal information recorded by the state.
Joel Chandler first became aware of the practice when he paid a $1 toll with a $100 bill, and the toll taker refused to let his car pass until he filled out a personal information form. He then started testing the system, taping his encounters as he went through toll booths.
"This is a serious, serious criminal offense," Chandler told Tampa's WTSP-TV, "to illegally detain somebody without legal authority."
Drivers detained for FRN toll paying, 3/6/11
How is it possible to have so much information about one issue being published and most of the information is not correct? The Real ID implementation deadline has been extended. The truth is, unfortunately, this is no cause to celebrate.
Real ID is not about being a Republican or Democrat. Over 600 groups covering the entire political spectrum oppose Real ID. Religious denominations of nearly every faith have and are opposing Real ID. The Republicans proposed the legislation but Democrats also supported it. The legislation passed in the U.S. Senate without one “Nay” vote. There were tricks and shenanigans involved like attaching Real ID to other legislation that was a sure lock to pass. The Democrats after the fact took their best shot and attempted to have their own legislation passed called “PASS ID”. PASS ID was not an improvement. It contained many of the most onerous aspects of Real ID.
Real ID Act 2005: The reality versus the myth and why you should care, 3/5/11
People always ask about the privacy books I read and recommend. I have several books and many are very good. They can be very helpful companions to How To Vanish the book, so I thought I would share my library with you.
I have already written about The Sovereign Individual which gives a good big-picture view of the future of large organizations and individuals regarding privacy. The other books that I recommend are The Lifeboat Strategy by Mark Nestmann, How To Be Invisible by J.J. Luna, and How To Disappear by Frank Ahearn.
Bill Rounds: My Privacy Library, 3/2/11
For a moment, imagine a future where you are not able to drive a car, get on a plane, get on a train, vote, enter a federal building, open a bank account or get a job without a national ID card. You don’t think that could ever happen in America? Well, you might want to brush up on the Real ID Act because it is going to go into effect on May 11, 2011 unless something is done to stop it. When I first learned this, I was absolutely stunned. After all, wasn’t the Real ID Act supposed to be “dead”? A few years ago state legislatures across the nation were in an uproar over this law. The Department of Homeland Security was forced to delay implementation of it several times. But now it is back. You see, this is what the federal government often does. They will try to push something very unpopular through, and if they meet resistance they will “play dead” until the uproar has died down and then they will come right back and implement it anyway. This is what is happening with the Real ID Act.
Real ID Act Goes Into Effect On May 11, 3/1/11
As of last week, any person arrested and fingerprinted in California will now undergo an automatic immigration check. Biometric security measures are in widespread use, yet many issues are still debated - including privacy concerns. In this article, we are going to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of biometric security measures from both a technical and a social perspective.
Biometric Identification Begins In California for Anyone Arrested, 2/28/11
Ryan Ramos' 6 a.m. routine used to consist of the usual: a shower, breakfast, then a walk to the bus stop.
But now, the 14-year-old eighth-grader has another activity: punching an identification code into a cell phone-size GPS device.
Five times a day — when he wakes up, when he gets to school, after lunch, after school and at 8 p.m. — Ramos is required to enter his code into the machine. If he's not where he's supposed to be, the GPS provides a way to find him.
For chronic truants, a GPS program can help them make the grade, 2/25/11
The red light cameras that are sweeping cities across the country are pretty much scams because the companies who sell them end up splitting the fines with the municipalities.
It’s really nothing but a shakedown between a private corporation and a government entity.
And sadly, most of us believe there’s nothing we can do about it.
However, one Photography is Not a Crime reader living in California has been doing his best to inform people that they do not have to pay these fines.
And naturally, he’s been harassed by police for doing so, including two occasions where he was ordered to stop videotaping.
California Activists Harassed Twice While Protesting, 2/21/11
Remember how President Obama, while campaigning, promised to reject the questionable spying practices of the federal government of President Bush? Yeah, forget all that. Over the past two years, we've seen time and time again that he's actually extended those abuses even further. The latest to come out is that the Justice Department is now claiming that the FBI has the right to get phone records on any call made from inside the US to an international number without any oversight. You may recall a few years back that there was a similar controversy, when it came out that the FBI would regularly just call up phone companies and ask for records -- despite the fact that this violates certain laws designed to protect consumer privacy. Sometimes, they would just use post-it notes.
Obama Administration Says It Can Spy On Americans, But Can't Tell You What Law Allows It, 2/14/11
An angry and embarrassed Ontario woman who says she was strip-searched at the Ambassador Bridge without justification has sued two U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
The Detroit Free Press says Loretta Van Beek of Stratford filed the suit in Detroit federal court against the unnamed agents. She says she was en route to her Georgia vacation home last March when one agent strip-searched and groped her while the other one watched.
Van Beek says she was detained for two hours, then sent to a windowless cell and ordered to strip because she neglected to disclose she had raspberries in her vehicle.
Ontario Woman Sues Over Strip-Search At Ambassador Bridge, 2/10/11
The year 1984 has come and gone, but the political philosophy of 1984 seems alive and well as the 21st Century marches forward into a brave new world.
Alphabet soup lettered agencies seem to be springing up anew each day that passes, like fresh weeds after a summer thunderstorm. And as security trumps liberty, the observation by one of the earliest Americans—Benjamin Franklin—comes to mind: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Big Brother arrives with iris eye-scan ID on cells, ATMs, PCs, 2/9/11
The administration is putting the final touches on its National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC), which is intended to lay the foundation for a digital ecosystem to better manage online identities, but it could face an uphill battle in public adoption.
Schemes for strong authentication have come and gone over the last 20 years, from the ill-fated Clipper Chip to digital signatures, because there has been no consumer demand for them, said James Lewis, director and senior fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ technology and public policy program.
The Trouble With Selling Biometric ID To The Public: ‘There is no demand’, 2/3/11
DARPA defines biometrics as "the science and technology of measuring and analyzing biological data." Biometric technology has a trickledown theory, where military technology eventually makes its way into civilian applications. Biometric recognition is not just something from a fictional spy-thriller.
Since 9/11, the government and law enforcement increased the use and collection of biometric identification in the name of security to identify terrorists or criminals. Yet civil liberty advocates worry about the increased use of biometric recognition as well as the storage and management of government databases. However, biometric recognition technologies continue to emerge.
Biometric recognition: more than a fictional spy-thriller, 2/3/11
If Hoyos Corp. has its way, the world will soon resemble a Tom Cruise movie.
A closely held company based in Puerto Rico, Hoyos makes devices that photograph human irises for identification purposes, like the technology featured in the films “Mission: Impossible” and “Minority Report.”
In the movies, the technology protects super-secret labs and high-security vaults, helps chase down criminals and flashes personalized ads. In the real world, it screens employees of Bank of America Corp. and travelers at London’s Heathrow Airport and helps New York City police track prisoners.
As key patents expire and costs fall, Hoyos wants to make the technology ubiquitous, installing it on mobile phones to verify online payments and cash machines to replace bank cards that require personal identification numbers, said Chief Development Officer Jeff Carter.
'Minority Report' May Come to Real World With Iris Recognition, 2/1/11
According to in-house memos now circulating, the DHS has issued orders to banks across America which announce to them that "under the Patriot Act" the DHS has the absolute right to seize, without any warrant whatsoever, any and all customer bank accounts, to make "periodic and unannounced" visits to any bank to open and inspect the contents of "selected safe deposit boxes."
Further, the DHS "shall, at the discretion of the agent supervising the search, remove, photograph or seize as evidence" any of the following items "bar gold, gold coins, firearms of any kind unless manufactured prior to 1878, documents such as passports or foreign bank account records, pornography or any material that, in the opinion of the agent, shall be deemed of to be of a contraband nature."
DHS memos also state that banks are informed that any bank employee, on any level, that releases "improper" "classified DHS Security information" to any member of the public, to include the customers whose boxes have been clandestinely opened and inspected and "any other party, to include members of the media" and further "that the posting of any such information on the internet will be grounds for the immediate termination of the said employee or employees and their prosecution under the Patriot Act." Safety deposit box holders and depositors are not given advanced notice when failed banks shut their doors.
U.S DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY HAS TOLD BANKS - IN WRITING - IT MAY INSPECT SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES WITHOUT WARRANT AND SIEZE ANY GOLD, SILVER, GUNS OR OTHER VALUABLES IT FINDS INSIDE THOSE BOXES!, 1/30/11
We all have important documents that we need to keep track of. Lots of us have some things that are very expensive or even priceless that we never want to lose. You need to hide valuables somewhere. Storing these items can be tricky if we want to make sure that they aren't lost, stolen, or confiscated. If you hire someone else to hold on to them for you, you add an extra layer of risk that they won't keep their promise. A family Bible and old family photos are almost value-less in a damage calculation in a lawsuit. Here are some of the 3 best ways to discreetly hide your valuables at your own house.
3 Ways to Hide Valuables at Home, 1/12/11
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