| 16 July 2008
Freedom is something most people regard as very close to their hearts. Living
in “the West” or a “democracy.” The “American
Dream.” The Freedom to do business, create wealth. Until, it seems, governments
start talking about security and protection against the dark forces of evil
– whether it be terrorism, drugs, or even benefit fraud. That at least
was the conclusion of The Economist in a
recent article entitled Mary Poppins and Magna Carta based on a
survey carried out in June by YouGov PLC.
Despite Benjamin Franklin's sage advice that those who would give up liberty
and security deserve neither, the British public seems more than happy to trade
a little liberty for a the promise of more security.
Successive governments have conned us that by giving up just a little more
freedom each time they ask, we increase our security. This has been going on
for a long time now, and the effects really are becoming noticeable –
especially to people like me who live offshore and just visit the UK on occasions.
As restrictive new laws are brought in, uses for them tend to multiply. In
March it emerged that local councils in the UK had been using surveillance powers
intended for deployment against terrorists and serious criminals to spy on people
trying to game the school-admissions system.
As David Davis, the British Member of Parliament who recently resigned to make
his point, says:
The government presents these issues as Faustian trade-offs between security
and liberty. The reality is that draconian measures rarely make us safer and
often jeopardise security. That is not a trade-off. It is a con…
Gordon Brown has indeed done just this. He claims that new authoritarian powers
for the state are “guarantors of liberty.” Shall we believe him?
For a start, says David Davis, look at the British national ID card scheme
and its overseas equivalents such as America’s REAL ID which effectively
seeks to create a USA national ID card by standardising state ID cards. There
is no convincing evidence that terrorists are using fake identities –
the September 11th hijackers used their own US IDs to board the planes, and
the national ID card schemes already in place in Germany and Spain did nothing
to prevent terrorist plots there.
The ID cards common in European countries, however, are much less dangerous
to our liberties than those proposed by Blair, Brown and their cronies, because
they use a limited amount of data which remains broadly in control of the card
holder. They are not “swiped” by terminals linked to a national
database wherever you go, while the British ID card will be.
Promises that sensitive personal data will be carefully protected also look
rather limp. Last November, CDs containing 25 million child-benefit records
were reported lost. On June 12th a civil servant was suspended after top-secret
papers about terrorism were found on a train; on the same day another set of
documents—this time on financial fraud—turned up on a different
train! Five days later it emerged that a laptop stolen from the office of a
cabinet minister may have contained confidential documents, violating data-protection
rules.
Yet, the British public, according to The Economist/YouGov survey, trust the
government a lot more than private firms with their personal data. Odd, since
more than half of British consumers have signed up voluntarily for supermarket
loyalty schemes which track their purchasing habits.
Privacy is a basic human right, and you should think very carefully every time
you are asked for personal information. Give out personal information on a strict
“need to know” basis. If a few companies don’t want to do
business with you that way, or try to bribe you with a free toaster, just live
with it. You’ll be glad you did.
To finish, here’s another thought from Ben Franklin that seems very appropriate
to our themes of freedom, wealth and privacy: "Sell not virtue to purchase
wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."
Look forward to more blog entries about Freedom, Wealth and Privacy. I hope
you enjoy them and that you can use the information here to benefit your business
and your life. In turn I would much appreciate your feedback, comments and questions.
I can be contacted via info@petermacfarlane.net
Peter Macfarlane is joint editor of The Q Wealth Report an established
newsletter dedicated to informing readers about creating, protecting and growing
wealth in a secure offshore environment. It also covers international living,
banking, retiring and investing. Visit www.QWealthReport.com
to see more.
If you would like to know more about the opposition to the UK National
ID card scheme, visit www.no2id.net.
You have been reading an entry on the following blog:
The Q Wealth Report
Peter Macfarlane of The Q Wealth Report blogs on Freedom, Wealth and Privacy
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