Maps and photographs now considered evidence of terrorism in the UK

Reposted from BoingBoing:

A Londoner was stopped by a London Transport Police officer under S.44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and had the presence of mind to whip out his video camera and record the officers tearing through his stuff. They officers admitted that they had no suspicion of him, no reason to search him and told him he'd be arrested if he refused. They riffle through his books (looking for terrorist words?) and go through his things. Welcome to Britain, now spread 'em. Stopped under S.44 of the Terrorism Act 2000

The bit about photographs and maps is sated by one of the officers involved while he's looking through the bag.

Daniel Ellsberg on warrantless wiretapping bill

What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before
Tuesday, July 8th from Tim Ferriss on Vimeo. via BoingBoing.

Snuggly is back!

Snuggly the Security Bear is back and this time he's here to explains Warrantless Wiretapping.

What It's Like To Fly With No ID Under The TSA's New Regulations

The Consumerist has the story of a man who's flown without ID under the new TSA rules. Here's the scary part:

So you know how the new TSA regulations went into effect yesterday, where you can only fly without ID if you "cooperate" with the TSA? Well, it turns out you also have to take a test about your personal life. They call up a service to administer it, and the last question they asked was which political party am I registered under (I correctly answered "democrat" and they still let me on board).

Read the full story on The Consumerist.

Your Papers Please: TSA outlaws ID-less flight

That is, unless you just say, you "forgot" your ID...

In a major change of policy, the Transportation Security Administration has announced that passengers refusing to show ID will no longer be able to fly. The policy change, announced on Thursday afternoon, will go into force on June 21, and will only impact passengers who refuse to produce ID. Passengers who lie and claim to have lost or forgotten their proof of identity will still be able to fly.

Yep, a terrorist would never lie and say "whoops I forgot my ID" now would they? The full story can be read on CNET News.com.

Visa Officially Says Stores Cannot Deny Purchases If You Don't Show ID

According to The Consumerist, here's VISA's official policy on stores requiring ID for a credit card purchase.

Merchants may not refuse to honor a Visa card simply because the cardholder refuses a request for supplementary information. The only exception is when a Visa card is unsigned when presented. However, "See ID" is not considered a valid signature. In these situations, a merchant must obtain authorization, review additional identification, and require the cardholder to sign the card before completing a transaction.

To report any merchant practices that you feel are inappropriate, please notify the disputes area at the financial institution that issued your card account. Your card issuing bank has access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations as well as to the Notification of Customer Complaint forms which should be used by your bank to document and file merchant complaints.

As an alternative, you may contact the Global Customer Care Services to report merchant practices that you feel are inappropriate. Please contact the Global Customer Care Services at 1-800-VISA-911 (1-800-847-2911). Please advise them that you were referred to file a complaint. The staff will be able to initiate a complaint form over the phone.

Warrantless wiretapping explained by Snuggle the Security Bear

Click the image to get the the video.
via BoingBoing

Keith Olbermann Special Comment ‘We will NOT fear George W. Bush!’

via RawReplay

Is Amazon.com spying on me?

This morning I watch three short videos on YouTube featuring ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. Several hours later I added a book to my Amazon.com wishlist and get the resulting 'here's what else you should buy" page. Oddly enough a Jeff Dunham DVD is one of the items suggested to me. Quick looks thorough my browser's history (shown below) Dunham only came up from YouTube and I'd not previously looked at any Dunham related items in Amazon.com. Coincidence? What do you think?

No, I won't show you my ID

Stores have been confusing me a lot lately. Despite many being concerned about ID theft, a lot of store have stopped having us sign for credit card purchases if it's under a certain amount. In Starbucks you don't have to sign if the purchase is less than $15. In Borders, less than $20. (These numbers may not be 100% accurate but they're close. I'm working from memory here.) Since there's nothing to sign, many of these merchants are asking to see your ID to prove you're you in lieu of comparing your signature. (Yes, many others are making you sign, and asking to see ID. This annoys me even more.)

The other piece of background information involves these two stories (1 & 2) from Consumerist.com. It seems that according to the Visa merchant agreement, "merchants cannot refuse to complete a purchase transaction because a cardholder refuses to provide ID." Doing so may lead to said merchant loosing the ability to accept Visa cards. (Writing SEE ID on the back of your card, unless that is your signature, is not valid however, no matter what you think.) You can probably see where I'm going with this.

On Sunday I was in Borders and ordered a beverage and cookie in their coffee shop. I handed over my Visa card and the clerk asked to see my ID. (Before even starting to process the transaction to see if my purchase was approved.) Since I'd been wondering what would happen, and since this was the third Borders I'd been into that day (but that's another story) I thought quickly enough to provide the following response: "No."

The clerk gave me a puzzled look. Obviously this wasn't the response she was expecting. "Excuse me?" she responded. I repeated my answer and said that it was against the company's agreement with Visa to require me to show ID as a requirement to complete my transaction. She wiggled her head a little and asked me to repeat myself. I politely explained again that they could not require me to show ID to complete my transaction according to their merchant agreement with Visa and added that "I would be happy to sign a slip so that she could compare my signature to the one on the back of the card." (Not remembering at the time that since my purchase was small that there would be no slip to sign.)

She flipped my card over and looked at my signature. I will admit that the card has seen better days and that the signature is a tad worn, but it is readable enough to compare to anything else I may sign. She then proceeded to show me the back of the card as if my worn signature was a problem. I stared back and continued to refuse to show my ID.

A pause, a sigh and a "whatever" later she ran my card through and completed my purchase. See, that wasn't so hard, wasn't it?

I got my coffee and my cookie ate them, then headed off to the front registers to pick up and pay for the book I had on hold. (My source of frustration and travel to three stores in one day.) In this case, the purchase was above the threshold for signing and I signed the slip presented to me. I was not asked for ID. Ironically, the signature on my card wasn't compared to the one I'd just scribbled either.

The End of the Private Life

The unexamined life, said Socrates, is not worth living. For a new generation of Americans and more, the unexposed life is not worth living. Digital diaries, online posts, life loggers and bloggers and Facebook and bed cams are increasingly making the very idea of a "private life" sound antique, retro, pointless.

Today, millions of people are pouring out their deepest intimacies, digitally, for perfect strangers. Ten years from now, says one, we will all have seen each other in our underwear. And maybe sooner.

This hour On Point: when all our kimonos are open - the end of the private life.