£1000 reward for Gordon Brown's fingerprints!

[andyandy]

Sure it's a bit of a gimmick, but I quite liked the idea

Two of Britain's leading civil liberties groups are to offer a £1,000 reward for the fingerprints of the Prime Minister or Home Secretary - a move that could leave both groups open to prosecution for incitement.

The anti-ID cards group No2ID and the campaign organisation Privacy International will this week take out spoof 'Wanted' posters in tube stations and pub lavatories offering the cash to anyone who can lawfully obtain either the fingerprints of Gordon Brown or Jacqui Smith. An initial print run of 10,000 has been commissioned.

The posters, resembling those issued by US sheriffs hunting outlaws in the Wild West, are backed by an internet campaign and accuse Brown and Smith of 'identity theft'. They stipulate that 'the fingerprint must be obtained lawfully and can be located on a beer glass, doorknob or any object with a hard surface. Corroborating evidence is required to ascertain the identity of these thieves.' The £1,000 reward will then be paid to the charity of the 'bounty hunter's choice', as the posters put it. The poster continues: 'As fingerprint technology spreads, this government will essentially have back-door access to your computers, files, wallets and even cars and homes. We are offering this bounty to teach these individuals a lesson about personal information security.'

Phil Booth, of No2ID, said the campaign was designed to highlight the increasing sensitivity of fingerprinting as a political issue. 'Having committed the largest data breach in history, the government is about to perpetrate the largest identity theft in history,' he said.

'I'm sure the government will seek legal advice to see if we can be prosecuted,' said Simon Davies, director of Privacy International. 'But it would be a foolish government that would try to charge civil rights groups.'

Hopefully it will highlight some of the absurdities of the current obsession with biometric data. I hope they manage to get some prints

 

[TragicMonkey]

Can't they just lift them from Tony Blair's buttocks?

 

[andyandy]

Can't they just lift them from Tony Blair's buttocks?

Unfortunately not, Tony Blair's buttocks are firmly wrapped around George Bush's love sausage....

 

[shemp]

Can't they just lift them from Tony Blair's buttocks?

Those would be his lip prints.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Unfortunately not, Tony Blair's buttocks are firmly wrapped around George Bush's love sausage....

That's not a love sausage. It's a hatred link.

 

[JonWhite]

I do hope they not only get the prints but also make full use of them.

Instructions courtesy of Bad Science.

 

[andyandy]

I do hope they not only get the prints but also make full use of them.

Instructions courtesy of Bad Science.

I wonder if there are any coppers who could get them onto a crime scene

 

[Darren Pollard]

This is why fingerprints as ID is worthless, do not miss this vid folks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M8D4wWYgsc

 

[andyandy]

This is why fingerprints as ID is worthless, do not miss this vid folks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M8D4wWYgsc

Interesting video, whilst not "easy" it looks easy enough for people with sufficient motivation (ie criminals) to master relatively straightforwardly. If the fingerprint ID systems were ever rolled out, I expect there would be a thriving professional industry providing people with all their faked fingerprint needs. Ho hum.....