Schlagwort: Great Britain

Facial recognition and mobility tracking: UK is monitoring foreign criminals with smartwatches

Five times a day, people awaiting trial or deportation can be prompted by an app to scan their face. Together with location data, the information will be stored by the prison administration for up to six years.

The UK Ministry of Justice wants to track convicted criminals with the help of detachable smartwatches. This is reported by the Guardian, citing plans by the prison administration. The practice would only apply to foreign national offenders (FNOs) awaiting trial or deportation. It would also enforce curfews and bans on entering certain regions.

Alternatively, the wearing of an electronic ankle bracelet could be ordered. With both systems, the Ministry of Justice plans to monitor the behaviour of about 21,400 people over the next three years, which is about 6,000 more than in March 2022. If they violate bail conditions, the prison administration will inform the Ministry of the Interior for further action. „Facial recognition and mobility tracking: UK is monitoring foreign criminals with smartwatches“ weiterlesen

Access to biometric data: Five states concede to U.S. government demand, MEPs speak of ‚blackmail‘

Visa-free entry to the United States will be tied to a new requirement. Officials there want to be allowed to conduct automated searches for fingerprints and facial images in national databases of EU states. In Brussels, questions now abound about the EU’s jurisdiction.

At least five governments worldwide have agreed to give the U.S. Department of Homeland Security access to their national biometric police databases. This is to become a new provision so that citizens of the countries concerned can continue to enter the USA without a visa. Most recently, Great Britain has agreed to such an Enhanced Border Security Partnership (EBSP); this was already known about Israel.

In addition, three EU countries are said to have already concluded a bilateral agreement with the government in Washington, MEPs in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) learned last Wednesday in a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to the EU. However, they remained unnamed. „Access to biometric data: Five states concede to U.S. government demand, MEPs speak of ‚blackmail‘“ weiterlesen

German Presidency: G7 countries support EU policy on chat control

In Eltville in November, the G7 interior ministers want to put pressure on internet companies to use filter technologies to detect sexual abuse and grooming of children. The driver is Great Britain, which is leading the way with a new law. Encryption is also affected.

On May 11, 2022, the EU Commission presented its proposal for a regulation to combat child abuse. This contains numerous obligations for Internet service providers, including measures to assess and minimize the risk of the spread of sexual abuse and grooming. If this risk is assessed as „high,“ authorities can issue so-called detection orders. Companies must then deploy filtering technologies that, as it stands now, will also block out encrypted communications.

The proposal, which the Commission drafted after repeated requests from the Council of 27 EU member states, will be discussed for the first time at the informal Justice and Home Affairs Council in Prague on Monday. In the Internet civil society, the plan, dubbed „chat control,“ is facing widespread opposition. The EU governments are now getting support from the G7 countries, whose heads of government addressed the issue at their summit in Elmau a week ago. Under the German G7 presidency, the interior ministers were subsequently tasked with taking measures. „German Presidency: G7 countries support EU policy on chat control“ weiterlesen

„Action day“ on Soundcloud: Europol also removes right-wing extremist content

Currently, removal requests to hosting providers only have to be voluntarily complied with, but on 7 June, the regulation on mandatory removal of terrorist online content will come into force. It only applies to jihadist propaganda. The German government is only now introducing an implementation law.

Once again, Europol has held a „Referral Action Day“ on the removal of internet content. This time the focus was on the online music service Soundcloud. The EU police agency reported around 1,100 illegal audio files and user profiles with terrorist or extremist content to the provider.

The „Action Day“ covered the week between 5 and 13 May. The activities were led by the Counter-Terrorism Centre, which was set up at Europol by EU interior ministers in 2015. This is also where the Internet Content Reporting Unit (EU IRU) is located, which is responsible for detecting and reporting content. „„Action day“ on Soundcloud: Europol also removes right-wing extremist content“ weiterlesen

Encrypted communication: UK remains member of EU interception group

Despite Brexit, British police can influence surveillance laws in the EU. The country is also represented in European secret service circles.

Notwithstanding its exit from the European Union, the British police will remain a member of a Standing Heads of Lawful Interception Units based at Europol. The UK is represented there by the National Crime Agency. This was confirmed by the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, in her answer to a parlamentary question by the pirate Patrick Breyer. The UK is thus the only third country in the group, which otherwise consists exclusively of EU members and the Schengen states Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.

The working group of the departments on telecommunications surveillance had once been founded as a strategic „5G Expert Group“ on the initiative of the German Federal Criminal Police Office. It was supposed to give the authorities access to the new telephone standard, which was actually tap-proof. After this was successfully pushed through in the European and international standardisation bodies ETSI and 3GPP, the group was given a new name and new tasks in October 2021. It is now to ensure that the needs of law enforcement agencies are taken into account when amending surveillance laws at EU level and in the member states. „Encrypted communication: UK remains member of EU interception group“ weiterlesen

Plans for „Prüm II“: EU member states also want to query driving licence facial images

In the framework of the Prüm decisions, police forces have networked their files for fingerprints, DNA data and motor vehicle data across Europe. A new regulation is to extend this to faces. Now there is a threat of further tightening.

With a new „Regulation on automated data exchange for police cooperation“, the European Commission wants to network biometric photographs in police databases across Europe and make them searchable with facial recognition. In this way, a police authority can inquire whether information is available on an unknown person in other countries. A proposal to this effect from last December is currently being discussed by the Council of Ministers of the Interior and Justice, after which the Parliament is to deal with it.

The background is the Prüm Treaty, which seven EU member states signed 17 years ago in the Eifel town. It regulates cooperation in the exchange of fingerprints, non-coding DNA data as well as motor vehicle and owner data. In 2008, the multilateral agreement was transferred into the legal framework of the EU via the EU-Prüm Decision. The Schengen states Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are also involved in the network, as is Great Britain after Brexit. „Plans for „Prüm II“: EU member states also want to query driving licence facial images“ weiterlesen

First type certificate: Israeli drone may fly domestic missions in future

Arms manufacturers want to market their long-range drones for interior ministries or agriculture, but to do so they must fly over populated areas. Market leaders are working feverishly to obtain the necessary permits.

For the first time, the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority has issued a permanent permit to fly a drone in civil airspace. The type certificate was granted to the defence company Elbit for its „Hermes Starliner“, as the company announced in a press release yesterday. According to a spokesperson, Elbit spent six years working on the certification, a process that involved „thousands of man hours, dozens of audits, laboratory tests, ground tests, intensive flight tests and thousands of documents“.

Until now, civilian and military flights of such large drones in Israel were restricted to reserved airspace. According to the aviation authority, the certification that has now taken place meets the applicable NATO standards for the integration of heavyweight drones. Accordingly, the drones used by the military can use civilian airspace – for training, for example – and ascend over populated areas. „First type certificate: Israeli drone may fly domestic missions in future“ weiterlesen

Germany and Great Britain: Confiscation of asylum seekers‘ mobile phones can be illegal

In many cases, European authorities confiscate the phones of refugees after they have crossed the border in order to check their identity or to identify those helping them to flee. The people concerned do not always get their devices back. This means additional stress in the asylum procedure.

The Home Office in London admitted on Thursday that the blanket confiscation of migrants‘ mobile phones is illegal. According to the British daily Independent, Home Secretary Priti Patel’s lawyer told this to the High Court. The judges are hearing a case brought by three asylum seekers from Iraq and Iran. They were arrested in 2020 after entering the country in small boats across the English Channel. In December, an appeals court ruled that this did not constitute illegal entry.

The authorities detained the devices for at least three months following an order and examined them forensically. According to the newspaper, in search of phone numbers, messages, pictures, videos, traffic data and GPS coordinates the entire memory of the devices was read out. The plaintiffs‘ lawyers believe that the practice could affect hundreds or thousands of mobile phones a year. This is contrary to data protection and the European Convention on Human Rights, the British Home Office has now confirmed. The practice of pressuring asylum seekers to hand over their PIN numbers was also unlawful, it said. „Germany and Great Britain: Confiscation of asylum seekers‘ mobile phones can be illegal“ weiterlesen

Chat control: Schengen states should promote decryption of messengers

The EU Commission is collecting outstanding cases with which it can promote the interception of messengers. Great Britain is going even further.

In six weeks, the European Commission plans to present its proposal for „legislation to effectively combat child sexual abuse“. According to the meeting calendar, this could take place on 2 March as things stand.

Presumably, the package also includes the long-awaited proposal for a regulation to identify, remove and report „illegal online content“ to combat child sexual abuse. Providers of messenger services or chat programmes would be obliged to automatically search their customers‘ communication for relevant material and make it accessible to law enforcement.

Originally, the planned regulation was already announced for spring of last year. The reason for the delay is probably the explosive nature of the law. It also affects encrypted content, including services such as Signal, Threema or Whatsapp. MEP Patrick Breyer has coined the catchword chat control for this forced screening. As with data retention, this is a mass surveillance of all citizens without any reason. „Chat control: Schengen states should promote decryption of messengers“ weiterlesen

Crossings to the UK: EU police to install hidden cameras on French and Belgian beaches

With several police actions, the riparians of the English Channel want to prevent unwanted crossings of migrants. German authorities plan internet campaigns against the sale of inflatable boats and engines. After Brexit, the UK is taking part in these measures funded by the Council of the EU.

Up to 27,000 people may have crossed the English Channel into Britain without passport checks this year alone, tripling their numbers from last year. Crossings in rubber dinghies sometimes take place several times a day and usually very early in the morning, with popular departure points being the French coasts of Bray-Dunes and Dunkirk on the Belgian border.

Britain and France had already concluded several agreements on joint migration control. The government in London recently paid 63 million Euros for the expansion of French patrols, the further doubling of police forces deployed there, comprehensive surveillance technology also in the air as well as floating barriers at port facilities and estuaries. In light of the accident with 27 deaths this Wednesday, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is demanding even more efforts from French President Emmanuel Macron.

„Crossings to the UK: EU police to install hidden cameras on French and Belgian beaches“ weiterlesen