not paying phone bills consequences

[Plavt]

You might want to do some personal investigation into what Singapore has done and is in the processes of doing before you make those rash statements. They have already linked up 5 of the major databases already.

You might want to do some personal investigation into how databases actually work along with costs and other factors before making your own rash assumptions. Linking up 5 major databases does not mean they have linked up all databases which is most likely impossible. Your analogy with PBX boards is bullshit!

[JR8]

With all of the major databases in the country links together, it not hard to conceive that those databases are also linked to the law society and other legal bodies where debtors information is kept when companies decide to engage legal help to get payment.

Some bodies are able to share information (e.g. in the UK councils, Inland Revenue, Job Centres who pay benefits) but I doubt very much if all are linked. Accessing databases can be costly and is not as simple as a great many people think.

As a landlord I used to have quite a lot of dealings with the council in the UK. Latterly forms did state in the smallprint that any info given would be shared... well, basically right across all government institutions, in order to detect fraud etc.

I'm not suggesting that is automated (in the UK), but I do know of manual cross-checks that have been made re: residents owing council tax. This has not been random, rather specific cross=checks to detect fraud.

In SG call tracking is not labour intensive. Indeed back in the mid 90;s they were remotely monitored. My then bird worked in some secret-squirrel department at SingTel and so I got the low down. Certain keywords would send up flags on the system. I remember learning this just before my leaving party that year, and the joke was that all 30 odd attendees would all call each other on that evening and say 'bom*, Heroi*e, Ass*ssinate, cocai*e' and see if we could get the country's police force to show up for our BBQ.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I don't need to know how something works to understand that it does work.

[sundaymorningstaple]

With all of the major databases in the country links together, it not hard to conceive that those databases are also linked to the law society and other legal bodies where debtors information is kept when companies decide to engage legal help to get payment.

Some bodies are able to share information (e.g. in the UK councils, Inland Revenue, Job Centres who pay benefits) but I doubt very much if all are linked. Accessing databases can be costly and is not as simple as a great many people think.

As a landlord I used to have quite a lot of dealings with the council in the UK. Latterly forms did state in the smallprint that any info given would be shared... well, basically right across all government institutions, in order to detect fraud etc.

I'm not suggesting that is automated (in the UK), but I do know of manual cross-checks that have been made re: residents owing council tax. This has not been random, rather specific cross=checks to detect fraud.

In SG call tracking is not labour intensive. Indeed back in the mid 90;s they were remotely monitored. My then bird worked in some secret-squirrel department at SingTel and so I got the low down. Certain keywords would send up flags on the system. I remember learning this just before my leaving party that year, and the joke was that all 30 odd attendees would all call each other on that evening and say 'bom*, Heroi*e, Ass*ssinate, cocai*e' and see if we could get the country's police force to show up for our BBQ.

JR8,

The same system has been used for many years in the UK at RAF Menwith Hill by NSA. They had flag word/phrase systems in place as far back as the early 70's. This I know for fact as my 2nd Wife's father worked as a GS18 at Menwith Hill for 8 years for NSA up to 1975. Surely Plavt knows about all the fence hugging peacenicks up there who've been demonstrating there since the early 80's.

[Plavt]

[
As a landlord I used to have quite a lot of dealings with the council in the UK. Latterly forms did state in the smallprint that any info given would be shared... well, basically right across all government institutions, in order to detect fraud etc.

I'm not suggesting that is automated (in the UK), but I do know of manual cross-checks that have been made re: residents owing council tax. This has not been random, rather specific cross=checks to detect fraud.

Yes information is shared but it is only certain groups as I stated earlier and is amongs the reasons it is more difficult for UK citizen's to rumble the system as you have notice the checks were not random.
Please not the UK Data Protection act forbids the sharing of information in the vast majority of cases whether by computor or other means.

In SG call tracking is not labour intensive. Indeed back in the mid 90;s they were remotely monitored. My then bird worked in some secret-squirrel department at SingTel and so I got the low down. Certain keywords would send up flags on the system.

Although this is no big surprise that kind of monitoring may or may not go on, on a regular basis, her work was most likely routine. I am not saying call monitoring is always labour intensive but either way it costs money and as you know corporations don't like wasting resources especially in today's ecomomic climate.

[Plavt]

The same system has been used for many years in the UK at RAF Menwith Hill by NSA. They had flag word/phrase systems in place as far back as the early 70's. This I know for fact as my 2nd Wife's father worked as a GS18 at Menwith Hill for 8 years for NSA up to 1975. Surely Plavt knows about all the fence hugging peacenicks up there who've been demonstrating there since the early 80's.

I am also trained on a PBX board and have worked with databases - which of course you don't know. Menwith Hill is a military establishment and it's purpose is to intercept communications. To believe every other department or every other database does the same thing is living in the realms of science fiction. Your statement 'I don't need to know how something works to understand that it does work.' shows how much you really know.

[sundaymorningstaple]

The photo recognition software is already in use, the biometric passport did hold only (sic!) photo and fingerprint information and shortly will be used to hold iris information as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUKql8zY_WA

Who knows what the are NOT telling us.

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/sutra2 ... iat#281548

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/sutra3 ... hub#390984

We had this discussion a long time ago.

[Plavt]

The photo recognition software is already in use, the biometric passport did hold only (sic!) photo and fingerprint information and shortly will be used to hold iris information as well.

Be a lot of use I'm sure;

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/12 ... crappings/

[sundaymorningstaple]

The photo recognition software is already in use, the biometric passport did hold only (sic!) photo and fingerprint information and shortly will be used to hold iris information as well.

Be a lot of use I'm sure;

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/12 ... crappings/

Oohhhh! I likes it! Will keep those pesky uppity Brits out of the US as they won't be able to come in without the biometric passport. Good deal. Defo you need to vote for them!

[Addadude]

There was an incident a few years ago shortly after the ERP gantry system was installed where drivers on the ECP were accidently overcharged one busy weekday morning. LTA announced that it would be no problem: all affected drivers would receive refunds to their home addresses via post. The funny thing was, up until this incident LTA had taken great pains to assure drivers that the ERP card reading system was effectively anonymous and personal details were not stored on the system.

Like it or not, we live in a world where the concept of individual privacy is becoming very diluted. And Singapore of all places probably leads the way. (Frankly, I wonder what else is injected into kids' arms when they get their BCG shots. A nano-scale chip or two perhaps?)

[ecureilx]

The funny thing was, up until this incident LTA had taken great pains to assure drivers that the ERP card reading system was effectively anonymous and personal details were not stored on the system.

Anonymous ? let me tell you - in another country, I was doing some work for some government agency, and was sent a survey form, and it said 'anonymous' and me and a couple of us decided to throw the form away .. and a day later, another form turns up .. asking us to 'kindly fill in the anonymous form' .. we junked it as well .. then we got a replacement form saying 'please, do fill in the form, as you haven't filled it in .. '

Now, trust me- other than an embedded microchip, no way would the form be traced - as there was no serial # or anything .. but .. me and my colleague are still at a loss as to how they knew the two guys didn't fill in, out of the 100 plus in that sector ..

Talk of anonymous forms

PS: how anonymous is the election vote slip in Singapore ? the first one who answers correctly gets bragging rights ..

[nakatago]

You want surveillance programs and privacy invasion? Wait till you get a load of this.

[JR8]

[ksl]

The photo recognition software is already in use, the biometric passport did hold only (sic!) photo and fingerprint information and shortly will be used to hold iris information as well.

Be a lot of use I'm sure;

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/12 ... crappings/

Oohhhh! I likes it! Will keep those pesky uppity Brits out of the US as they won't be able to come in without the biometric passport. Good deal. Defo you need to vote for them!

! Security wise all these electronic systems have major weak links, I was reading the other day some Sri Lankans arrived on tourist visa's with a stash of plain white chipped cards, they had been drawing cash from all the ATM machines, as they had recoded the cards with thousands of stolen UK bank details. I'm pretty sure the ERP is a easy to hack too by anyone with a little knowledge. Do the police cars pay? Oh well all those weirdos watching us like peeping toms can only breed more perverts in the end

[JR8]

The photo recognition software is already in use, the biometric passport did hold only (sic!) photo and fingerprint information and shortly will be used to hold iris information as well.

Be a lot of use I'm sure;

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/12 ... crappings/

Oohhhh! I likes it! Will keep those pesky uppity Brits out of the US as they won't be able to come in without the biometric passport. Good deal. Defo you need to vote for them!

USC&BP are repugnant enough without you advocating for them!

'We are the face of our nation'; yeah right, and a damned ugly one!