Dumbest salvo yet in the war on terror, courtesy of the London police

Cory Doctorow 7:17 am Sat Aug 30, 2008

Today I spotted this sign at a Tesco's grocery store in Islington, London — it might just be the single stupidest salvo in the war on terror to date, courtesy of the London Metropolitan Police:

Terrorism: If you suspect it, report it

TERRORISTS NEED INFORMATION
Observation and surveillance help terrorists plan attacks. Have you seen anyone taking pictures of security arrangements?

TERRORISTS NEED TRANSPORTATION
If you work in vehicle hire or sales, has a sale or rental made you suspicious?

TERRORISTS NEED TO TRAVEL

Meetings, training and planning can take place anywhere. Do you know someone who travels but is vague about where they are going?

TERRORISTS USE COMPUTERS

Do you know someone who visits terrorism-related websites?

TERRORISTS NEED COMMUNICATION
Anonymous, pay-as-you-go and stolen mobiles are typical. Have you seen someone with large quantities of mobiles? Has it made you suspicious?

Translation: god help you if you worry about CCTVs in your neighbourhood, get into an argument at the car-rental agency, don't feel like telling your co-workers that you go off to have regular dialysis treatments, look at websites that the guy next to you in the Internet cafe isn't familiar with, or can't get credit and use pay-as-you-go phones instead. After all, the police here don't even need to charge you with a crime in order to lock you up for 42 days.

Absolutely the stupidest salvo in the war on terror to date, Tesco's, Islington, London, UK

About Face: EFF's new campaign to end government use of face surveillance

Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation launched About Face, a new national campaign to end governmental use of facial recognition technology for surveillance at all levels — city, state and federal. READ THE REST
EFF and ACLU triumph as federal judge rules that warrantless, suspicionless device searches at the border are illegal

Back in 2017, EFF, ACLU and ACLU of Massachusetts sued the US government on behalf of 11 travelers whose devices had been subjected to warrantless, suspicionless searches by Customs and Border Protection at the US border. READ THE REST
EFF is hiring a development director!

EFF has just posted a job listing for a development director, seeking someone to "take charge of EFF's eleven-person Development Team in their efforts to raise over $13 million each year," starting late 2019 or early 2020. READ THE REST
These training courses are essential to startup CEOs seeking venture capital

Do you have a team in place? Have you scoped out your competition? Do you know the right level of funding you need? And most importantly, why should I give you money when so many others are looking for the same thing? Those are all questions an investor will often ask a startup entrepreneur —… READ THE REST
RoboKiller eliminates 99% of spam phone calls, but that's not why spam callers hate it

One of the few silver linings of America's pandemic era was seeing an overall decline in one of the biggest nuisances of life in our modern age: spam phone calls and texts. In April 2020, Americans were only beset by 3 billion robocalls, a number that sounds huge — and is — but still was… READ THE REST
30 deals on air conditioners, fans, purifiers, and more to help prepare for record heat this summer

From the United States and Canada to the UK, the story is shaping up the same — forecasters see a blistering, even potentially record-breaking hot summer ahead. We can all sit around and moan about it or point fingers at potential causes, but in the end, the only form of address that really matters is doing… READ THE REST