The Jitterbug Phone...Turns Out It's For Seniors

And, Of Course, UK ID Card Database Abused

from the and-so-it-goes dept

Mon, Jun 8th 2009 6:30pm — Mike Masnick

It's been pointed out time and time again, that if a government (or a corporation) puts together a big database of information on people, that database will be abused. It's just what happens. Yet, with the UK gov't looking to store (or have ISPs store for it) all sorts of info, it's worth noting that its current ID card database was apparently being abused to look up info on celebrities. Yes, the people doing the snooping were apparently caught and fired, but it still highlights that these sorts of databases are never really private, and someone with access will always try to use them for purposes beyond what was intended.

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Filed Under: abuse, database, uk

9 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2009 @ 6:40pm

It happens. If it was all on paper cars in a filing cabinet, someone would sneak in to read it. It isn't technology, it's people, lay the blame where it belongs.
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CleverName, 8 Jun 2009 @ 6:54pm

Vroooom
Do the paper cars make noise while driving around in the filing cabinet
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2009 @ 7:08pm

Re: Vroooom
sorry, cards... the keyboard is slowly dying off.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2009 @ 7:13pm

Re:
The point is that they shouldn't be keeping all this data where it can be abused in the first place.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 8 Jun 2009 @ 7:32pm

Re:
It happens. If it was all on paper cars in a filing cabinet, someone would sneak in to read it. It isn't technology, it's people, lay the blame where it belongs.

Indeed. Of course it happens. But the problem is that the gov't thinks it's okay to collect more and more data, assuming it doesn't happen. The problem isn't the technology -- it's the gov't wanting to collect more data.
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CopyJosh (profile), 8 Jun 2009 @ 8:21pm

The government already has it...
It's not that the government doesn't already have this information, it's the means by which they are keeping this information. Having this information stored at the ISPs sounds pretty insecure, but as always, everyone needs to be monitored by everyone so it's a good sign that this was nipped in the bud. I don't honestly see anything wrong with a "national id scheme" (sounds a little biased against it) after all, what's different between that an a social security number? Again, the means by which the information is secured.
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Teka, 8 Jun 2009 @ 10:52pm

Re: The government already has it...
The Social Security number system is actually a good example of whats wrong with government tacking piles of data together.

Originally, it was a simple worker-tracking scheme, implemented to make sure that people received the SocSec compensation they had been promised in accordance to the amount of time they worked. In fact, if I remember correctly, there were, and perhaps still are, laws in place surrounding the system explicitly preventing the use of your SS number as any other kind of ID or tracking system.

Now we have companies asking for your SS on any kind of form they can think of, to be used, abused or improperly accessed by anyone, right along with (my own experience) public schools using SocSec as Student numbers, given to everyone from the principal to lunch ladies right along with the student's name, address and the like. Could things like this also explain the Hugely growing trend of illegal SS# use by illegal aliens?

And now with the National ID plans, and counterparts around the world, Governments (and companies right behind them)are putting together even more towering lists of your personal details all tied back to a single number string. More details to be data mined, stolen, improperly added-to and of course kept secret from you.

More Information = More Abuse, which is amplified the moment these databases get online.
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Mechwarrior, 9 Jun 2009 @ 6:39am

Also consider what happens when your SSN is stolen. Its not pretty. Now imagine every piece of information about you stolen. That will definitely not be fun.
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Yosi, 10 Jun 2009 @ 1:42am

Re:
If you ask Mike, information can not be "stolen", right? It's
"infinite good", right?
So feel free to use his SSN any time you please.
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