[NetBehaviour] MI5 seeks powers to trawl records in new terror hunt.

[marc garrett]

MI5 seeks powers to trawl records in new terror hunt.

Counter-terrorism experts call it a 'force multiplier': an attack 
combining slaughter and electronic chaos. Now Britain's security 
services want total access to commuters' travel records to help them 
meet the threat


The Oyster card, an RFID single-swipe card (which was recently cracked), 
was introduced to London's public transport users purportedly to make 
their lives easier. Now, British Intelligence services want some of the 
benefits by trawling through the travel data amassed by the card to spy 
on the 17 million Britons who use it. The article notes, "Currently the 
security services can demand the Oyster records of specific individuals 
under investigation to establish where they have been, but cannot trawl 
the whole database. But supporters of calls for more sharing of data 
argue that apparently trivial snippets; like the journeys an individual 
makes around the capital, could become important pieces of the jigsaw 
when fitted into a pattern of other publicly held information on an 
individual's movements, habits, education and other personal details. 
That could lead, they argue, to the unmasking of otherwise undetected 
suspects.

more...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/16/uksecurity.terrorism