Retribution
The first government response to a perceived threat is often to restrict civil liberties and the recent riots/looting were no exception. The PM wasted little time in proposing denying access to social media for naughty people, and today the home secretary is openly considering the introduction of blanket curfews.
A couple of stories flagged up by the beeb show how demonising technology is not only misguided and authoritarian, but will probably do more harm than good.
An information security professional - Greg Martin - blogged last week ‘Why you don't steal from a hacker'. Martin had his MacBook Pro nicked when a looter broke into his flat during the London riots. Fortunately - and you can't buy this kind of PR - he had installed open-source tracking software Prey on his Mac.
Within a couple of days Martin received notification that his Mac had been accessed and the software proceeded to pass on a bunch of info about what the thief was up to, including photos of the baddie himself taken with the webcam, his Facebook profile (including home address), and an account of his online activities. The thief was promptly nicked and the Mac returned.
Meanwhile Essex police appear to have got the memo that BlackBerry Messenger was extensively used by looters to coordinate their efforts. With unquestioning zeal they now seem to have embarked on a crusade against BBM on the apparent assumption it's now used exclusively for riot choreography.
They seem to think they've done well too, and have published a lengthy statement on the Essex police website detailing their many breakthroughs in the war on BBM. The first victory mentioned - clearly one of the highlights - was the arrest of a 20-year-old bloke for using BBM to arrange a water-fight, which is apparently a ‘serious crime'.
