Mission creep

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/7341179.stm

A council has admitted spying on a family using laws to track criminals and terrorists to find out if they were really living in a school catchment.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89803687

Local councils in Britain are using covert surveillance legislation designed to combat terrorism to investigate such petty offenses as under-age smoking and breaches of zoning regulations. One couple has gone public after learning that they were tailed for two weeks to verify that they actually lived within the boundaries of the school their 3-year-old attends.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/11/poole_council_ripa/

Poole Borough Council has admitted using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), designed to regulate snooping by police and other bodies, to check the usual address of a three-year-old child applying for a primary school place.

The council is unrepentant and said it will continue to use powers available to it under the Act.

Þetta er svona.  Svo er fólk að biðja um myndavélar hér og þar, og græjur til að fylgjast með hinum og þessum; og það besta: það trúir á hryðjuverkamenn.