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UK’s MI5 Wants Oyster Card Travel Data

“Currently the security services can demand the Oyster records of specific individuals under investigation to establish where they have been, but cannot trawl the whole database. But supporters of calls for more sharing of data argue that apparently trivial snippets ‘like the journeys an individual makes around the capital’ could become important pieces of the jigsaw when fitted into a pattern of other publicly held information on an individual’s movements, habits, education and other personal details. That could lead, they argue, to the unmasking of otherwise undetected suspects.”

UK Police Want DNA of ‘Potential Offenders’

“British police want to [1]collect DNA samples from children as young as five who ‘exhibit behavior indicating they may become criminals in later life’. A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers argued that since some schools already take pupils’ fingerprints, the collection and permanent storage of DNA samples was the logical next step. And of course, if anyone argues that branding naughty five-year-olds as lifelong criminals will stigmatize them, the proposed solution will be to take samples from all children.”

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