Face scans to start in UK airports - Yahoo! Tech
Yahoo Tech reports: "It's like something out of a sci-fi movie: This summer, UK airports (it's not clear precisely which ones) will begin using face scanning technology to verify that travelers are who they say they are. The scanners will be used to automate some passport checks with the goal of easing congestion in security lines caused by slowpoke humans verifying identity through comparing passport photographs with the face standing before them."

Comment: I think I'd like a "slowpoke human" to check my passport rather than a scanner and a database.

MI5 seeks powers to trawl records in new terror hunt - The Observer
The Observer reports: "Millions of commuters could have their private movements around cities secretly monitored under new counter-terrorism powers being sought by the security services."

Whistleblower: Cellular carrier giving FBI unfettered access - ars technica
ARS reports: "Computer security analyst Babak Pasdar says that a major mobile telecommunications carrier has a built-in backdoor that provides an undisclosed third-party with unfettered access to its internal technical infrastructure, including the ability to eavesdrop on all calls through its network. In an affidavit that describes the circumstances and basis for the allegations, Pasdar provides evidence which could indicate that the FBI is on the other side of the secret line, engaging in warrantless surveillance of mobile communications."

My Way News - UK Tests ID Card on Foreigners, Students
AP reports: "Britain will begin issuing national identity cards within months, targeting foreigners, airport staff and students in the first wave of the program, the government said Thursday."

My Way News - Bush Presses House for Surveillance Bill
AP reports: "President Bush said Monday that telecommunications companies should be thanked, not sued, for helping the government conduct warrantless wiretapping in the U.S. after the Sept. 11 attacks."

EU Drafts RFID Guidelines - Yahoo! News
PC World reports: "The European Commission has sketched out guidelines designed to help get RFID (radio frequency identification) technologies up and running in the European Union, but stopped short of proposing formal legislation in the area."

My Way News - Plan to Fingerprint All EU Visitors
AP reports: "The European Union's top justice official on Wednesday called for a massive shake-up of the bloc's border security, recommending that all visitors be screened and fingerprinted and a satellite surveillance system be set up to keep illegal migrants out."

My Way News - Senate OKs New Rules on Eavesdropping
AP reports: "The Senate on Tuesday approved new rules for government eavesdropping on phone calls and e-mails, giving the White House much of the latitude it wanted and granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that helped in the snooping after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

Vodafone to launch mobile phone money transfer service in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News
AFP reports: "The GSM Association, the global mobile phone industry body, estimates that about a dozen such schemes involving money transfer services are in operation throughout the world, with 10 million users."

My Way News - Encrypted Laptop Poses Legal Dilemma
AP reports: "Tien, the attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said a person's right to keep a password secret is a linchpin of the digital age. Encryption is 'really the only way you can secure information against prying eyes,' he said. 'If it's too easy to compel people to produce their crypto keys, it's not much of a protection.'"