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Many states have defied REAL ID for privacy (but mostly money) reasons. Now it looks like things are coming to a head with the DHS warning Maine that if they don't implement REAL ID, their identification may no longer be accepted at airports.

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When the police in Greece used a surveillance camera network to monitor demonstrations, the head of their Data Protection Authority (along with the deputy head and two others) all resigned in protest.

Too bad our leaders don't have the same level of integrity. We can't even get our new attorney general to admit that waterboarding is torture.

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"DHS is essentially whittling Real ID down to nothing—all in the name of denying Real ID is a failure," said ACLU senior legislative counsel Tim Sparapani. "Real ID is in its death throes, and any signs of life are just last gasps."

Let's hope so.

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There's noise about the government trying to secure the right to read anyone's e-mails any time without any kind of warrant. Since this is still in the works and nothing concrete has happened yet, I'll wait before saying much about it. You're free to read up on the issue using that link though.

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Nothing like treating people like animals to be tagged and tracked. Of course, it's much easier to start by tracking kids because they don't have much choice in the matter and when they grow up, they'll be less resistant to the practice. Enter surveillance society…

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. They portray the tests as successful, but as Bruce Schneier points out, "So now it's easy to cut class; just ask someone to carry your shirt around the building while you're elsewhere."

Or how about, "it's easy to get someone you hate in trouble by wearing their uniform for a few minutes while vandalizing the teacher's lounge."

Or "We had no idea that constantly bombarding students with radio frequencies in closed spaces during their formative years would lead to these kinds of mutations! Mrs. Johnson, you can't honestly expect us to pay to have Timmy's third arm removed can you?"

I love how companies start implementing RFID without any thought to the consequences.

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Cute names for bad laws aside, here's a solid report on the privacy implications of the "Protect America Act" and some recommendations on how to change it to make it acceptable.

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In the UK, ever the pinnacle of freedom and privacy, you can now be forced to decrypt any data that they believe has bearing on a criminal or terror investigation. Here's the really fun part (emphasis mine):

Individuals who are believed to have the cryptographic keys necessary for such decryption will face up to 5 years in prison for failing to comply with police or military orders to hand over either the cryptographic keys, or the data in a decrypted form.

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Even though cameras have been shown to be a great big boondoggle in the UK, Chicago apparently plans to repeat history.

Virtual Shield will capture, monitor, and "fully index" video from the Windy City's surveillance cameras. The software used to run the system will be able to recognize specific license plates, vehicle descriptions, and even patterns of behavior. If someone drops a briefcase on the El platform and it stays unattended for more than a minute, the system could alert the OEMC, which could then dispatch police officers to the scene.

Lovely.