2011 Census

On the 27th of March next year all UK households will be compelled by law to fill in a Census. I admit that I get more worked up about this sort of thing more than most people. The arrogant presumption that we are somehow state property, the compulsion to complete it & the sheer impertinence of the […]

Marcus Povey

On the 27th of March next year all UK households will be compelled by law to fill in a Census. I admit that I get more worked up about this sort of thing more than most people. The arrogant presumption that we are somehow state property, the compulsion to complete it & the sheer impertinence of the […]

Reporting online terrorists

There was a small ripple around the internet this morning caused by the Home office opening up the Beta terrorist reporting tool. To what extent the reports from this tool are monitored is unclear, but I suspect this will cause more problems that it solves. Even before we consider the rather broad definition the government […]

Marcus Povey

There was a small ripple around the internet this morning caused by the Home office opening up the Beta terrorist reporting tool. To what extent the reports from this tool are monitored is unclear, but I suspect this will cause more problems that it solves. Even before we consider the rather broad definition the government […]

Business in the Panopticon

Anyone who has spoken to me for more than a few minutes knows that I am very much a civil libertarian at heart, and believe that the so called compromise between freedom and security is one of the worst kinds of politically motivated false dichotomy. Having grown up under the threat of IRA bombings and […]

Marcus Povey

Anyone who has spoken to me for more than a few minutes knows that I am very much a civil libertarian at heart, and believe that the so called compromise between freedom and security is one of the worst kinds of politically motivated false dichotomy. Having grown up under the threat of IRA bombings and […]