Government control freakery knows no bounds. Courtesy of Tim, this little gem:
Passengers travelling between EU countries or taking domestic flights would have to hand over a mass of personal information, including their mobile phone numbers and credit card details, as part of a new package of security measures being demanded by the British government. The data would be stored for 13 years and used to “profile” suspects.
So, we are all suspects now… That is just so typical of the New Labour control freaks – they measure everyone else by their own low standards of ethical behaviour. They are venal, self-serving and criminally inclined so they assume that the rest of us follow the same pattern. While the initiative comes from the unelected and unaccountable EU, our shysters want even more:
But Britain wants the system extended to sea and rail travel, to be applied to domestic flights and those between EU countries. According to a questionnaire circulated to all EU capitals by the European commission, the UK is the only country of 27 EU member states that wants the system used for “more general public policy purposes” besides fighting terrorism and organised crime.
So they want this information for “more general public policy services” whatever that is when it’s not gobbledygook. In plain English, to you and I, that is spying on us for no good reason. Be assured, I have no intention of providing these nasty little Stalinists with my credit card details or my mobile number – they would only give them to criminals lose them.
Of course, as Kay Tie points out in the comments on Tim’s piece – if we all lie and fill it with crap, it will be unworkable. I’m a forgetful cove. Numbers and I never really got along. I failed my eleven plus on maths, so I can hardly help it if I manage to transpose the odd number here or there or somehow get completely confused and add in numbers that weren’t there before. It’s not my fault, it’s a weakness…
Keeping tabs on everybody, apart from real criminals, of course.
Mark Wadsworth’s last blog post..“Easy targets for predators”
As long as you remember when you are transposing your digits that real bad guys use them as well. I’m sure you wouldn’t like to be tagged and monitored because you used a card number of someone who purchased child sex in Bangkok while he transposed his number as well.
I’m just going to deny having a credit card and mobile phone and I’ve already set up a dummy EMail that will never be used.
That’s always a possibility – however, with a little cunning, you can make sure that the number does not exist – the combination of numbers and expiry dates have to match up.
Another possibility is to use a different dummy number each time. And, of course, deny ownership of a mobile – I’ve done that in the past when people have asked for it.
Were you aware that they ask for it now when you tax your vehicle? They didn’t get it, mind…
It will be easy to lie about phone numbers. As a point of principle, I never disclose my phone numbers. But as many airlines require purchase by CC it will be more difficult to give duff information there.
I’ll disclose my land line number to those I believe have a legitimate need for it. Otherwise, I’m circumspect. I never give out my mobile number.
As for credit cards, you have a point, but I’m presuming (not having seen the full details) that just the one number won’t be enough…
What you need is one CC for all your government related business, such as airline tickets, and others for your own use.
Dummy EMail addresses are easy when you have your own domain and either get an old phone from some one you know or even better buy a new one for £10 but never even switch it on. Always remove the SIM and battery from these phones.
This will be fine until they tattoo your NI Number on your arm or more likely in this advanced age implant a RFID tag into your skull.