Wythenshawe?

Right, bets on how long it'll have been open forwhen the first attempt to break in and remove the kit is made...?

That's ok then...

Here was me all in a tizz about the guvmint syping on us, police state, 1984 and all that but now I know they're sending it to Wythenshawe I'm not worried any more.

Reasion being, it'll never get onto a computer because the thieving scrotes will have had em all away before they even get unpacked.

Paris, in another life she'd be a wythenshawe chav too.

Hoorah - that's an arrest rate of 0.0036%

So 2,700 arrests as a result of 75,000,000 records is a hit rate of 0.0036%.

And that's arrests, *NOT* convictions, so we can assume that a good proportion of those won't even have led to charges being brought.

With that kind of result, wouldn't it be cheaper and more accurate just to stop every twenty-ninth passenger carrying a duty-free bag in their left hand and wearing a green hat?

Paris, for all the obvious reasons...

The usual suspects

So they monitor all the entries by plane, ferry and train and it will catch all:

illegal immigrants - except those that enter illegally in the back of a truck.

drug smugglers - except those that remember the UK is an island with a lot of coastline

terrorists - except the ones that know about the land border with Eire

How does that help?

Illegal immigrants arriving at Bristol International airport outside office hours are given a card and asked to report to immigration on the next working day. Apparently not all of them do...

idiots!!

Of course the real 'undesirables' will simply come in on a yatch and completely miss being counted in or out.

yet another good idea without an ounce of common sense from, to quote someone almost as daft, the 'one eyed scottish idiot' and his cronies

'Journalists' from certain cynical web sites better only book one way tickets because they may have trouble getting back in!!

Terrorists will be perfectly safe

I used to do audits of various government agencies watch list systems.

One police force a handy rule for name matching - it automatically replaced 'Al' and 'Ali' with Alistair. This allowed them to match arrests reports on 'Mad Ali Frazer' but did seem to miss a lot of those middle eastern chaps.

Another did use the US OFAC list of naughty people/companies - but they couldn't download the list from the web - so retyped it. If there is an A1 (a-one) Yamani bank out there - then at least one agency is onto your terrorists links.

A major agency for a bit of the UK known for terrorism and Gaelic spellings couldn't handle accented characters. So you could arrest someone but if they had an é character in their organisation's name it wouldn't match their records.

@Pete

ahhh.... but providing details of the success rates wouldn't breed the levels fear and distrust that they require everyone in this country to have in order to muscle their 'Security' measures into law.

I may be cynical but if the fear wasn't there, if terrorists weren't hiding in the washing basket or behind the dustbin (What do you mean you haven't seen them? They're there I tell ya, the G'ment says so!), then I suspect our Government would have a hard time explaining what the hell they were playing at!

Or am I granting the general British populace with too much intelligence and freedom of thought?

Black helicopter for obvious reasons....

@AC

Dude, you ought to write for The Reg!!!! Someone give that man a Job! :D

ummm...

Has no-one though that searching passenger records for some people on an internationl wanted list is going to be a bit pointless? If I was a wanted international criminal mastermind wouldn't I just travel under an assumed name that changes quite a lot?

"Potential threats to public security" - Everyone!

"The Home Office said the database will however be used to track the movements of people deemed "potential threats to public security"."

Everyone is a "potential threat to public security", since we all have the potential to choose to commit crimes.

Even if they don't mean everyone, it's still worryingly vague. Do they include activists who are opposed to the Big Brother Surveillance State, just in case?

Is this an example of the kind of FUD with which they deter people from actively campaigning against this growing police state? Better avoid drawing attention to yourself, otherwise "300 police and immigration officers" will be closely watching your every move in and out of the country - just think how many will be monitoring you while you're here in your home country!

Would this be part of why there aren't more people actively campaigning? Simply because of fear of the potential consequences?

ARGGHHH, STOP IT!, STOP IT!, STOP IT!

As a frequent flier I already have to endure running the gauntlet past the yellow shirted job centre rejects parroting "have you got any liquids, creams, wall filler, swarfega, KY Jelly in your luggage? ", before having to half strip for the sodding x ray machines, with an obligatory feel up by a 250lb former rugby player, and then, just when you think your safe, they swoop on you again and demand you take your shoes off for yet another scan.

Now will be added to this delightful mix the inevitable mix up of my traveling patterns with a known Columbian drug mule!! (Can hear the rubber gloves snapping now ouch!)

Mind you, if there is a hell when you die boiling lava and red hot irons will be a cinch compared to what they put you through at the average UK airport.

European borders?

What about European borders? Aren't Europeans supposed to have free travel between countries?

Are these people vetted

I hope every one in the data center has the new super CRB check, as I take my children on holiday and they will be on the database too.

So are all the people in this super center vetted?

Mines the one with the tissues and a clean hanky in the pocket ( what dads always have)

People deemed...

"potential threats to public security".

Start with the occupant of Number 10 Downing Street and work your way downwards, then!

Glad I'm out of it

"This information is used for law enforcement purposes to detect serious criminals, fraud and other illegal activity - not to check where people go on holiday."

So presumably, if they check you out, and you're not found to be a terrorist, they delete all the data on you.

I think not.

Anyway, weren't the only terrorists that actually successfully terrorised the UK (London) in recent times British nationals? You've got to wonder what the point is.

Mine is the one with the Canadian plane tickets in the pocket.....

Except some holiday destinations

"This information is used for law enforcement purposes to detect serious criminals, fraud and other illegal activity - not to check where people go on holiday[*]."

[*] With the possible exception of the 'stans, Nth Korea, Iran, etc?

Mine's the one with "Afganistan on $20 a day" in the pocket.

Wrong tactic if you want this not to happen

Instead of complaining loudly, I think that there could be a simple tactic that will allow you to stay clear of this kind of system forever. Just give the project to a consortium of the four or five biggest consulting firms. Of course, it needs to be full of expensive consultants in the latest technologies as well as security experts (not only IT security but all kinds of security) Of course it will cost an arm and a leg, but by giving the project those two features you're almost assuring yourselves that the project will be a spectacular failure.

Yes, there's a price for everything, including freedom. But this one looks really cheap (after all, what's a few billions more in these times of bailouts?) and you'll not be able to tell the difference between this project and other failed big IT initiatives.

The icing on the cake would be that it could also help alleviate the troubles of unemployed IT workers, but probably the executive bonuses will eat all available cash.

@Ac, Related Development

Bravo. Well said that man!

You people do realise that your betters don't actually WANT you to travel?

Soon only the very important and the very rich will be ALLOWED to travel.

Better get used to it.

@Martin:16.26

Eire? No such place. Unless you are speaking in Irish. In the English language, the name of the place is Ireland.

Also, in case you aren't already aware, there will be border checks between NI and GB. But there won't be border checks between NI and Ireland. So your arguement doesn't really stand up on that particular instance.

@Anonymous Coward - And in a related development...

your post made my day lol, we NEED a revolution, afraid Manchester seems to be NoobLabours 'favourite' place at the moment.

Real reason Wacky Jacqui was there

When she visited Wythenshaw last week:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/30/idcard_cobblers/

@AM

Then surely this is a GB.gov initiative ?

Or are you going to tell that nice Mr. Robinson that he's no longer a subject of the United Kingdom?