LASTDAYS-WATCH is a collection of news items and other information that alert Christians should be aware of and watching as we progress farther into the Last Days.
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One of the things that Christians should be aware of is that technology now exists that can enable an Anti-Christian government to identify, monitor and control everyone.
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This is starting in the UK, but how long before somebody in Washington decides it's a great idea?
DNA tests sought 'for every Briton'
Every single person in the UK should be compelled to have their DNA on the national database in an effort to prevent crime, a senior police officer has argued. Currently about two million people who have been charged with criminal offences have their DNA profiles on the national database.
Full article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3088920.stm
Building a database of DNA samples of an entire population is only the beginning. RFID is technology that every Christian should learn about. The potential for misuse is positively awesome. To me the first thing it brings to mind is Revelation 13:16-17, "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
This technology exists RIGHT NOW!!!
Have a look at a sample here on this page:
https://gvsregistry.4verichip.com/index.html
"VeriChip is a miniaturized, implantable radio frequency identification device (RFID) that has the potential to be used in a variety of personal identification, security, financial, and potential healthcare applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip product contains a unique verification number and will be available in several formats. The verification number is captured by briefly passing a proprietary scanner over the VeriChip. A small amount of radio frequency energy passes from the scanner energizing the dormant VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the verification number."
This page contains a picture of a VeriChip next to a penny. It is about
the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen.
Let us not forget that implanting under the skin is not the only way to use this technolgy. At the rate that advancements are being made in miniaturization there nothing that you couldn't put an RFID chip into, even clothing!
Benetton to track clothing with ID chips
By Richard Shim
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
March 11, 2003, 5:03 PM PT
Retail clothing chain Benetton will soon add technology to its garments that allows for real-time tracking of its inventory.
Philips Semiconductor on Tuesday announced that it has provided partners with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips that they'll use in efforts to improve Benetton's supply- chain management system. What this means is that a box containing clothes of varying styles, colors and sizes can be scanned, and the information can be uploaded to Benetton's inventory tracking system instead of having to be checked in one piece at a time. The process could be faster, more accurate and efficient than bar codes because it wouldn't require the unpacking and hand checking of each garment.
Full article:
http://zdnet.com.com/2102-1103_2-992131.html
WalMart is probably NOT your friend!
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RFID ripples through software industry
Big name vendors including Sun, SAP, Oracle, and IBM have caught the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) buzz. Spurred in part by a WalMart edict that requires suppliers to tag all shipping cases and palettes with RFID by 2006, the vendors are rewriting their enterprise applications to integrate RFID data.
Full Story:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/09/26/38NNrfid_1.html
Just for good measure, in an effort to further track all financial
transactions, RFID Chips can actually be woven into paper money. This is a lot more
of a real possibility that many would think.
Euro bank notes to embed RFID chips by 2005
By Junko Yoshida
EE Times
December 19, 2001 (3:03 p.m. ET)
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The European Central Bank is working with technology
partners on a hush-hush project to embed radio frequency identification
tags into the very fibers of euro bank notes by 2005, EE Times has learned.
Intended to foil counterfeiters, the project is developing as Europe
prepares for a massive changeover to the euro, and would create an instant
mass market for RFID chips, which have long sought profitable application.
Full article:
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011219S0016
RFID Chips Are Here
RFID chips are being embedded in everything from jeans to paper money, and
your privacy is at stake.
By Scott Granneman Jun 26 2003 09:15AM PT
Bar codes are something most of us never think about. We go to the grocery store to buy dog food, the checkout person runs our selection over the scanner, there's an audible beep or boop, and then we're told how much money we owe. Bar codes in that sense are an invisible technology that we see all the time, but without thinking about what's in front of our eyes.
Full article:
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/169
Does your car have the "OnStar" or similar technology in it? Perhaps now is a good time to give serious thought to physically remove the wiring that makes "OnStar" work. Better yet, consider buying a car that never had it in the first place.
Will GPS tech lead to 'geoslavery'?
Tracking technology gives access to dangerous power
Tuesday, March 11, 2003 Posted: 10:10 AM EST (1510 GMT)
LAWRENCE, Kansas (AP) -- Jerome Dobson worries that 1984 may be just around the corner. Dobson, a University of Kansas research professor and president of the American Geographical Society, is concerned that technical advances carry the potential for bringing about George Orwell's nightmarish vision of a society that destroys privacy. This new threat, says Dobson -- a respected leader in the field of geographic information technologies -- is "geoslavery."
Devices currently on the market, for example, use satellites to locate and track people anywhere on the planet.
Full article:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/03/11/geo.slavery.ap/
Hall Monitors or Spies?
Wireless Tech to Track Building Occupants, Aid in Evacuations
By Paul Eng
Sept. 10- Even two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the images of crowds streaming out of the blazing World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon are still fresh on many minds.
Full Article:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/FutureTech/smartbadges030910.html
There is some small hope in the battle against the privacy invasion that is
RFID, but it is only a partial fix that still does not eliminate tracking.
One group has come up with a way to fool RFID scanners, but there is still
not a foolproof way to just plain silence them.
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RSA Seeks to Fix RFID Worries
Researchers at RSA Security Inc.'s lab have come up with a technique they said will eliminate many of the privacy concerns surrounding the use of RFID tags and enable enterprises and consumers to use the technology without worry.
The solution, which involves fooling RFID (radio frequency identification) readers into believing all possible tags are present at any given time, is an inexpensive, elegant answer to a number of the privacy and security questions being asked about RFID technology, security experts say.
Full Story:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1229497,00.asp
In the wake of 9/11/01 it was perfectly understandable that there were a lot of reactions in terms of increasing security. Yet in the name of security we have allowed some things to become law that we will regret some day.
The "Patriot Act", while sounding noble and patriotic, is one of those
laws.
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Patriot Act Opponents Say Law Endangers Rights
Thursday, September 11, 2003
By Peter Brownfeld
WASHINGTON -- Some conservative Republicans gave a chilly reception to recent explanations by Attorney General John Ashcroft about the USA Patriot Act, the controversial law expanding police powers to help law enforcement fight terror.
Full article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,97003,00.html
While we're on the subject of the "Patriot Act", Do you know what is in it?
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Although it passed in Congress almost without dissent in the aftermath of
Sept. 11, it's suddenly being revisited, and this time around some of the
folks holding opinions have actually read the thing. Among its detractors
are 152 communities, including several major cities and three states,
that have now passed resolutions denouncing the Patriot Act as an assault
on civil liberties.
Full articles:
Part 1
http://slate.msn.com/id/2087984/
Part 2
http://slate.msn.com/id/2088106/
Part 3
http://slate.msn.com/id/2088161/
Part 4
http://slate.msn.com/id/2088239/
Remember the Total Information Awareness project?
Well it is probably not nearly as dead as people think!
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What Price Freedom?
Did Congress Really Kill Pentagon's Snoop Project?
By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
Sep 26, 2003, 07:58
When Congress killed the Pentagon's vast computerized terrorism surveillance project, it secretly transferred some of the research and tools to other agencies but won't spell out exactly which ones.
Full article:
http://chblue.com/artman/publish/printer_3124.shtml
As if RFID, Total Information and Patriot are not enough, now the government is reaching for much greater power. All in the name of preventing terrorism. How long will it be before Christians are labeled terrorists or subversives and therefore subject to things like this?
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Justice Pushes for Looser Subpoena Rules
Bush Administration Wants Subpoena Power That Doesn't Require Approval From Judge or Grand Jury
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON Sept. 13 - The Bush administration wants to bring to the war on terror a subpoena power that does not require federal investigators to seek approval from a judge or grand jury.
Full article:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030913_325.html
Do you have privacy on the Internet? NO, and what little there is may
shrivel up and blow away in the winds of surveilance.
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Will Canada's ISPs become spies?
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
WASHINGTON--The Canadian government is considering a proposal that would force Internet providers to rewire their networks for easy surveillance by police and spy agencies.
A discussion draft released Sunday also contemplates creating a national database of every Canadian with an Internet account, a plan that could sharply curtail the right to be anonymous online.
Full article:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-955595.html
EDITORIAL: Stretching Patriot
Critics warned the expanded police powers authorized by the Patriot Act - - - - - - -- ratified weeks after the terror attacks of Sept. 11 -- would soon be used by opportunistic cops and prosecutors in areas far afield from any threat of al-Qaida-style terrorism.
Full article:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Sep-16-Tue-2003/opinion/22165930.html
And just in case you thought it was safe to do business online,
think again:
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eBay to Feds: come and get what you want
By Andrew Orlowski
Posted:19/09/2003 at 19:24 GMT
Israeli daily Haaretz has unearthed highly embarrassing, and disturbing comments by an eBay executive. To an audience of law enforcement officials, eBay's Joseph Sullivan boasts that his company's privacy policy is meaningless.
"We don't make you show a subpoena, except in exceptional cases," Sullivan told a closed-door session at the CyberCrime 2003 conference last week.
Full article:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/32936.html
More on eBay and the privacy of eBay users:
It's a long read, but well worth a look.
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http://www.hazeleger.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=PrLaw;action=display;num=1045867273
