back to article Dozens of firms vie for £1bn crim tagging contracts

Ministers are preparing for a massive expansion in electronic tagging of offenders, with private security companies being invited to bid for more than £1bn worth of contracts in October, reports the Guardian. The use of electronic tagging has grown rapidly since it was first used in 1999 by courts in England and Wales to …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    30 companies have stocked up on this tech?

    Or is it like the gas companies, the shared hardware lies around and just the suit of the meterman changes?

    [Mind you, my gran is convinced British Gas gave more power than the one she has now, Eon I think.]

  2. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    So it does *nothing* about re-offending rates *unless* some actual "rehabiitation" occures

    So a £1Bn for tags.

    £100 for rehabilitation.

    This smells like one of those "We must *seem* to do something" along with a security business bung to me.

    Presumably the *real* benefit is that it's *cheaper* than building new UK prisons (especially on a £300 to change a light bulb PFI scheme).

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Coming for you!

    Give it 20 years and we'll all have them inserted into our bodies at birth and all they will need is to activate when needed to curtail our movements!

    Before you laugh, how many mugs sign up to sites like Facebook and hand over bucket loads of info? How many people think nothing of broadcasting their lives in load voices on a mobile phone in public? How many Gov websites are there taking and displaying our info and losing it on trains everyday? Security and privacy are just illusions these days, illusions given to us by big corps and Gov's. They simply want to make us feel like we are still individuals, when in fact we are just numbers that pay in the cash to receive some shiny goodies for being good little citizens.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wow...

    Keeping tabs on 20,000 offenders? Who knew there were so many seats inside parliament?

    They should hire that place out for the Olympic tennis tournament!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    IT angle?

    So, it's a GPS tag of some sort I assume ... vulnerabilities? hackable? Who's going to be the first to take one of these babies to pieces?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's not GPS.

      There are base stations in people's houses, attached to the landline, or something like that.

      The Crims get court orders for when they've got to be near it, and they go to court and ask things like "My aunt mabel's running a flower arranging course every third friday night where the day number's a prime number, can I go to it?" and this causes the roster to have to change.

      A far cheaper solution would be one of those big industrial plastic shredders.

  6. Winkypop Silver badge
    Coat

    Is there an app for that?

    I want to track the lags online.

    The iSteal or the iCon perhaps?

    <--- pick pocket

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Doesn't the iPhone do this aleady - just give them all smartphones.

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