Subject: Free Pint No.68 - Surveillance, Genealogy and Marketing Free Pint "Helping 30,000 people use the Web for their work" http://www.freepint.co.uk/ ISSN 1460-7239 3rd August 2000 No.68 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES from Sam Vaknin FREE PINT BAR In Association with Factiva a Dow Jones & Reuters Company Reviewed by Simon Collery TIPS AND TECHNIQUES "Netting your Ancestors: Genealogy Sites on the Internet for tracing UK Ancestors" By David Ogden BOOKSHELF "Dan Janal's Guide to Marketing on the Internet" Reviewed by Lindsey Annison FEATURE ARTICLE "Surveillance and Privacy" By Stephen Lafferty PORTAL, EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES CONTACT INFORMATION ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/030800.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** A TRADING PLACE FOR ALL YOUR NEEDS *** eBay - the world's largest person to person online trading community brings you a new way to buy and sell business equipment. With listings in computers to catering equipment the Business Exchange has something for all your business needs. Whether you're starting up or expanding your business, there's bound to be something for you. Registration is FREE so click here for more information on eBay's Business Exchange . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [eb681] >>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<< Free Pint is a community of business professionals who use the Web for their work. Members receive this free newsletter every two weeks packed with tips and articles by information professionals who share how they find quality and reliable information on the Internet. Sign up at for free access to the substantial archive of articles, book reviews, industry news and events, and have your research questions answered at the "Free Pint Bar". This newsletter is best read when printed out and viewed in a courier font. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EDITORIAL After many hours of design and development we are delighted to announce the launch of the new look Free Pint Bar. The new Bar has been programmed from scratch and so we've been able to build in all the things we wanted from the previous version. These new features include being able to send a posting to a friend, viewing a summary of the content of postings in the message index and having all the messages in one place (rather than having a separate Archive as before). You can also save your preferences in your Free Pint account, search across everything and choose exactly what you want to see (e.g. authors, ID number and dates) and in what format. Also, we have made it more secure by making the Bar read-only for guests but allowing members to post freely. The Bar is a tremendous place to form relationships - did you know that Simon was invited to join the Free Pint team after displaying his searching prowess at the Bar? Well, we've formed another exciting relationship, this time with Factiva, who we welcome as sponsors of the Bar. Factiva is a joint venture company formed by Reuters and Dow Jones and their generous support will provide even more stability to Free Pint as we continue to grow. Please do respond to Factiva's messages both in the newsletter and on the Web site as it is these relationships which ensure a bright future for our community. So check out Simon's summary below of the latest 50 topics and bring your tricky research questions to make the most of the new Bar at: http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar Since there are certain things in life you can't escape - apart from taxes and death - we've decided to cover two of these today by including articles on using the Internet to research your ancestors and surveillance techniques. Both of these topics are covered in detail along with the usual mix of reviews, tips and Free Pint miscellanea. We therefore hope you find today's edition useful and we value your feedback so please get in touch. Kind regards, William William Hann BSc MIInfSc Founder and Managing Editor, Free Pint e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436 Free Pint is a trademark of Free Pint Limited http://www.freepint.co.uk/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ***EARN MONEY WITH YOUR WEB SITE*** Linking to online merchants such as William Hill, Firebox.com, Quip!, Firedup.com & Allcures.com could earn you between 1 & 300 pounds in on going commission. These and other top brand merchants in the UK want to partner with web sites like yours to reward you for any sales &/or signups you drive to their site. All provide you with online stats, free technical support & a varied range of link types for use on your site. It only takes 2 minutes to join at http://www.ukaffiliates.com > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [ap682] >>> FREE PINT UPDATE FOR ADVERTISERS <<< If you're considering advertising here then you need the "Free Pint Update". This brief monthly email outlines the latest special deals such as this month's offer of 30,000 free banner exposures on the Web site. Sign up today at: http://www.freepint.co.uk/advert.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES from Sam Vaknin * Cjb.net - My favourite URL redirect service. They provide a great service for e-mail and web sites, WITHOUT advertising! The addresses look like this: you.cjb.net. * Cartia.com - Highly unusual map of the net - themes or sub- themes (subjects or topics and their sub-categories) are linked in a topographic or synoptic map - an intuitive interface for surfing the web. * Adobe conversion - If you want to convert your documents to FDP this site will provide you with ten conversions free of charge. * Coolmail.net - Send e-mail in dozens of languages - the translation phase is transparent to the user and performed on site. Also, translates your e-mail to many languages on-line. * Wordreference.com - An on-line dictionary (Collins Unabridged 1998) - install a 76 Kb program and click on any word in any web site to receive an extensive, up to date list of definitions plus translation to 5 languages. Sam Vaknin is an economic and political columnist and a published and awarded author of short fiction and reference books. He is the author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited" and "After the Rain - How the West Lost the East". . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To submit your top five favourite tipples see the guidelines at or email > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = **** THE FACTIVA INFOPRO ALLIANCE **** The Factiva InfoPro Alliance is a partnership between Factiva, a Dow Jones & Reuters company, and information professionals. This partnership supports the professional development objectives of information workers and enables knowledgeable use of Factiva's high quality content and research tools in their organisation. Join the InfoPro Alliance at . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [fa683] >>> FREE NEWSFEED FOR ALL FREE PINT MEMBERS <<< http://www.freepint.co.uk/news As a member of Free Pint you have free access to our live feed of today's news in 200+ categories. It's your resource and so please make the most of it. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT BAR In Association with Factiva a Dow Jones & Reuters Company Reviewed by Simon Collery http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/030800.htm#bar There have been several puzzlers on the Bar in the last couple of weeks about ISPs (4154, 4369, 4162) and they have not been answered adequately yet. I know is supposed to be the bee's knees in these matters but I haven't found it very useful in the past. It's hard to search and a lot of its data seems to be out of date. So if you know of good ISP sites, please do drop into the Bar and tell all. But most questions do get an answer and we have been telling people how to find cybercafes (4293), domain suffixes (4184), UK local authority information (4262), the current time anywhere in the world (4115), telephone area codes (4302), government sites of the world (4349) and application service providers (4138). Sometimes people even answer their own questions (4241). Tipplers have informed us about good resources for medical research (4118), engineering (4230), plastics (4220), handhelds (4153), travel (4287), immigration to the UK (4289), news feeds and tracking services (4239, 4301). And though we have had suggestions about finding business information (4252), company director information (4356), employment patterns in the media (4130) and Internet growth rates (4297), we are always on the lookout for reliable sites with this sort of information. In fact, we can't get enough of it. Searchers have been asking about downloading problems (4202), European bookseller sites (4178), tracking changes in Web sites (4166), private company information (4193), search tutorials for Web designers (4286) and the reliability of information on the Web (4335). We have had reviews of two interesting search engines (4144, 4248), Web site evaluation resources (4177, 4269) and a search tool which allows you to find contact details for any Web site (4365), including this one. On the technical front there have been questions about scanning software (4226), embedding a RealPlayer window in a browser (4240), databases for intranets (4357), managing discussion lists (4363), Web developer rates (4129) and cheap domain name registration (4299). What's the future for RPG-400s (4305)? Not good, according to one imbiber. Maybe I won't bother finding out what they are. Some are wondering when ADSL and unmetered Internet access will be available to all in the UK (4276). The latter is coming slowly but the former may be some time yet. On the minds of others are aviation documents (4141), licensed landfill sites (4163), recruitment agencies (4212), KM vendors (4277), court case transcripts (4281), greeting cards (4300), distance learning (4192) and combining training with holidays (4214). It must be that time of year again. Simon Collery, Content Developer To read threads, view this summary online with activated hyperlinks at , visit the Bar itself or add the message number to the end of , e.g. . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Do you have a research question or Web-related comment? It's easy to post a message at . Visit daily for "Today's Tipple" - a different Web site reviewed every working day at the Bar. Access the Portal archive of Tipples at: . 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It's totally confidential and we don't store their details. http://www.freepint.co.uk/reco.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = TIPS AND TECHNIQUES http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/030800.htm#tips "Netting your Ancestors: Genealogy Sites on the Internet for tracing UK Ancestors" By David Ogden Tracing your ancestors is an increasingly popular hobby and one I would like to encourage you to take up. The Internet has transformed genealogy and today the majority of searches can be done at your PC rather than sifting through dusty archives. I will focus on research that can be done without leaving your home rather than making personal visits. Family Historians Start Here - a quick way into genealogical information from the Family Records Centre . The Public Record Office is the repository of the national archives for England, Wales and the United Kingdom. It was founded by act of Parliament in 1838 to bring together and preserve the records of central government and the courts of law, and to make them available to all who wish to consult them. The records, beginning with Domesday Book (1086), span an unbroken period from the 11th century to the present. The Public Record Office's Research Information Leaflets have been developed over the years by members of staff and are another essential resource. The Family Record Office, located at 1 Myddelton Street London EC1R 1UW ( Tel 0208 392 5300) has the following records: - indexes of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales since 1837 and indexes of legal adoptions in England and Wales since 1927 - Microform copies of Census of Population returns, 1841-1891 - Microfilms of registered copies of wills and administrations up to 1858 from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The centre provides a family history service to visitors, advising them on how to use the wealth of genealogical records. It can also advise on matters relative to the registration of births, adoptions, marriages and deaths, because the Public Record Office shares its facilities at the FRC with the Office for National Statistics. To order birth, marriage or death certificates by post, see the Office for National Statistics . To order birth, marriage and death certificates online, try Big Family - UK/Ireland Family History Research Centre . Enter the info you have and the research you require and they reply with a quote. The 1901 Census for England and Wales was taken on 31 March 1901. The population of England and Wales at the time was over 32 million. The 1901 Census returns will be made available for public consultation at the Family Records Centre on the first working day of January 2002. The Public Record Office is planning to digitise the 1901 Census returns and make them available electronically via the Internet. This project is seen as one of the first steps towards achieving the PRO's vision that in the 21st Century, its services and records will be accessible electronically on-site and around the world. An essential site to bookmark is GENUKI: the UK and Ireland Genealogical Information Service . The aim of GENUKI is to serve as a "virtual reference library" of genealogical information that is of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland. It is a noncommercial service, provided by an ever-growing group of volunteers in cooperation with the Federation of Family History Societies and a number of its member societies. Have a good look at the wide range of resources available. Rootsweb: this claims to be the Internet's oldest and largest free genealogy site. Join an email mailing list to share your research with others who have similar interests and have more experience. See the Rootsweb site for individual counties at and surnames at . Cyndi's List has an amazing 62,000 links to other genealogy resources, with "Internet stuff you need to know" (helpful technical advice) at and an excellent list of genealogy software at . Ancestry offers to help find your ancestor from its database of 550 million names. It is a subscription service but there is lots of helpful information available for free. The Society of Genealogists is slowly adding material to the web site - currently available are several information leaflets, a list of Parish Register copies in the Society's Library, details of articles in Genealogists' Magazine and Computers in Genealogy. The Society has an extensive library at 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London, EC1M 7BA (Tel 0207 251 8799) - I would highly recommend becoming a member. The Society runs two electronic mailing lists: one is a discussion list for Society members, the other is a news and information list open to all. Scots Origins is the official, Governmental source of genealogical data for Scotland. It is an online "pay-per-view" database of indexes from the genealogical records of the General Register Office for Scotland - the GROS. It costs 6 UK pounds for 30 "page credits". Each page consists of a maximum of 15 search results. The initial 30 page credits are valid for 24 hours from the time of payment (ie the clock starts when you pay). Further credits can be bought in 30 page increments for a further 6 UK pounds charge each time. Each further purchase restarts your 24 hour user period from the time of payment. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) produce the International Genealogical Index - over 600 million names extracted from vital records from throughout the world. Easy to search. Familia is a web-based directory of family history resources held in public libraries in the UK and Ireland - updated and maintained by the Family History Task Group of the EARL Consortium, Familia is the on- line starting place to find information about materials in public libraries which will help you trace your family history. Useful books: Genealogical Services Directory 2000 4.95 UK pounds - details of over 3500 organisations with Internet and email addresses. Ancestral Trails by Mark D. Herber and John Titford paperback, publ. 2000, Sutton Publishing; ISBN: 0750924845 Useful journals: Family Tree Magazine . Rootsweb Review: receive two free weekly e-zines. See the Rootsweb site listed above. Finally, for finding people who are still alive... try PhoneNetUK . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - David Ogden is Director of Library and Information Services at Sinclair Roche and Temperley, a major law firm specialising in international trade and transportation. For several years David has sought to trace his family history: the family mostly lived in Liverpool during the nineteenth century. Please note that he is not a professional genealogist and does not undertake research, but would be delighted to receive comments on the above information sources and exchange ideas. He may be contacted at . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Discuss this article with the author now at the Free Pint Bar * Access the entire archive of articles and issues > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Environmental Information on the Internet - 5 September 2000. The Internet is an excellent resource to use as a starting point for many Environmental queries. It offers access to unique collections of data and multimedia whilst complementing traditional hardcopy and online sources. This workshop is suitable for environmental workers, information professionals and business people. For further details tel 020 7412 7915 or email: antonio.catarinicchia@bl.uk or see our website at http://www.bl.uk/services/stb/courses.html > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [bl685] >>> FREE PINT FACT <<< Although it would be nice to be able to claim being "green" by publishing Free Pint by email, in fact it would only take about five and a half trees to produce enough paper to print the half a million pages and send them to our subscribers. [Please note: These figures have been deduced in a totally unscientific way by using AskJeeves to find a plausible answer at .] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT BOOKSHELF http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf "Dan Janal's Guide to Marketing on the Internet" Reviewed by Lindsey Annison "Online marketing is a new branch of an old tree". How true! There's nothing new under the sun and many people who view the Internet and its related technologies as a totally new medium, and have corresponding doubts and fears about how to approach it and benefit from it, will have those dispelled by this book. Dan Janal's Guide to Internet Marketing is a comprehensive, but clear and non-technical breakdown of online marketing strategy, website design for promotion, customer relationship management, copy writing for the online consumer, web PR, advertising, market research on the Net, and much more. His explanation of the paradigms of the 'new' marketing and their incorporation into existing marketing plans, corporate policy and responsibility, and advertising, is clear and precise. Coupled with the enforcement of the message that the Internet brings one-to-one relationships closer to all businesses, his explanations and descriptions will be welcome not only to those just entering the arena, but also act as timely reminders to those with experience who are suffering the Internet blight of information overload! Dan was part of the team responsible for the PR and promotion at the launch of America Online 15 years ago. His wide experience with corporate sites, non-profit making sites, entrepreneurs, at conferences, and at 'ground level' through his website , and consultancy show clearly in this book. Case studies and examples of technologies/tools available occur throughout this book, and his 103 reasons for being online are useful pointers to consider in extending your Internet presence to include further products, methods of delivery of information to target audiences, developing your business and marketing plans etc. Dan reiterates the valid point that the surfing consumer is first and foremost looking for information, and not hard sell or persuasion. His words should have all of us reaching for our FTP clients to upload facts, figures, surveys, reports, text, images and interactivity about our products to our websites immediately! Although several topics are covered thinly in this book (eg website promotion) there are plenty of other books, such as the Poor Richard and Guerrilla series, which cover these topics in more depth. As a reference book for established and successful marketing techniques, this is worth adding to your bookshelf if you are serious about bringing your products and services to the attention of an international consumer base. I feel this book will have a fairly long shelf life, even in this fast-changing world of the Internet, which is not true of some of the other marketing books on my bookshelf! > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lindsey Annison is a Web PR Consultant with Cybersavvy UK, conducting website quality appraisals, online PR and promotional campaigns for SMEs around the world. Details of campaigns, free articles, advice on search engines, META tags etc can be found on the website at . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf * Read about other Internet marketing books on the Free Pint Bookshelf * Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com * Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the Bookshelf To propose a business-Web-related book for review, send details to . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 20% OFF BULLSEYE PRO, THE INTERNET RESEARCH TOOL FOR PROS BullsEye Pro was developed for use by professional researchers who routinely conduct Web searches or track news. Search across the largest collection of databases and search engines, track by page or topic, filter with complete accuracy, organize by concept and disseminate searches in reports. Click and find out why BullsEye Pro is rated above other search tools by people in the competitive intelligence industry. http://info.intelliseek.com/promotions/fp.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [in686] >>> ACCESS YOUR PERSONAL FREE PINT ACCOUNT <<< Every subscriber has been allocated a password to allow them to modify their subscriptions and save their preferences. Visit the site today and login to your account. We'll email your password to you if you don't have it already. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FEATURE ARTICLE http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/030800.htm#feature "Surveillance and Privacy" By Stephen Lafferty This article is a brief introduction to the main subjects that make up the concept of surveillance. It is not comprehensive in breadth or depth, but it serves to illustrate the amount and quality of information, either personal or about surveillance technologies, available through the Internet. There are many different forms of surveillance, from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras through to DNA databases and loyalty cards. Many functions of British society, such as obtaining a credit card or a mortgage, would not be possible if one organisation or another did not collect information about individuals for later analysis. Surveillance is bound up with privacy. Britain is a signatory to two international agreements regarding Human Rights: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights . The latter will be incorporated into British Law on the 2nd of October 2000; giving the British public the power to challenge alleged breaches to article eight (privacy) in the British courts for the first time. One of the best-known surveillance methods today is CCTV. Industry news can be found in CCTV Today , a bimonthly magazine with articles from industry professionals and academics. It gives an excellent insight into developing technologies and crime prevention successes. One of the high-profile CCTV schemes to be featured in the magazine is the 'Ring of Steel' around the City of London. The City of London Police have some information about this. One unofficial organisation that presents an alternative view of CCTV is . The site contains many links to sites about the technology and its applications around the world, including Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), biometrics and the Trafficmaster system currently used to monitor traffic flow. There are also links to official reports about the effectiveness of CCTV in crime reduction, produced for the Scottish Office. Biometry is a method to electronically capture measurements of parts of the human body that are unique to individuals and do not change over time, such as the iris or fingerprints. Iris recognition systems have been piloted in Britain since 1994, and facial recognition systems have been in used for events and places such as Euro '96, the France 1998 World Cup and the London borough of Newham. A good introductory site for biometrics is Avanti , maintained by a former deputy chairman of the Association of Biometrics. An American perspective on the issue can be found at the Biometric Consortium ; the "US Government's focal point for research, development, test, evaluation, and application of biometrics-based personal identification/verification technology." This site contains records of official research into the technologies, together with an extensive series of links to other projects and organisations. Civil Liberties groups keep a regular watch over the activities of Governmental and non-Governmental organisations, relative to the development of technologies and policies that can be used for surveillance purposes. A good site for global current awareness is Privacy International , run by Simon Davies, who has held visiting professorships at the LSE and Essex University. The site contains an extensive archive of global news stories and links to other groups, but is not regularly updated. Statewatch is a European Government monitoring group, and publishes the 'Statewatch Bulletin' and 'European Monitor' bimonthly on a subscription basis. The site also contains a searchable database with over 25,000 references, but the content is kept a year out of date. Cyber Rights and Cyber Liberties is a Leeds University-based group founded by Yaman Akinedez. It maintains an archive of news relating to the British and European Government's policies about freedom of information and surveillance, together with commentary on the legislation by individuals with legal qualifications. The site also publicises forthcoming public events and contains links to mailing lists about cryptography and surveillance. It is updated irregularly. The Foundation for Information Policy Research is a London-based group run by Caspar Bowden, designed to "stud[y] the interaction between information technology and society". It contains extensive archives of documents relating to (among other items) the new Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill. The site is regularly updated and the content is presented in a readable manner. An American perspective on Civil Rights and Liberties can be found at the Electronic Freedom Foundation . The site has a bias towards American society, but contains lots of useful information relating to cryptography, digital privacy, censorship and free expression. The EFF also have a regular email newsletter that can be subscribed to from the homepage, and also broadcast news items on their own Internet radio station. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is a California-based group with extensive resources about identity theft. The site contains fact sheets about actions to take if you find yourself to be a victim of identity theft and an extensive archive of cases that the group took up on behalf of individuals. The site has an American bias and all sections are updated regularly. The British Government has several Bills relating to privacy and surveillance going through Parliament at the moment. The RIP Bill is the most contentious, reversing as it does the burden of proof on an individual to prove that they have lost their private key for encrypted emails, and providing a two-year jail sentence too. The Government introduced this Bill to unify LEA powers of surveillance scattered across other Bills. Commentaries on the Bill and its amendments can be found at the Civil Liberties sites mentioned above. The Freedom of Information Bill arose out of Tony Blair's 'Your Right to Know' 1997 White Paper about open government (Cm. 3818). This, along with the Data Protection Act 1998 will allow the British public to discover what information is held about themselves on various public and private databases. Several companies that deal in reselling personal information are used for credit reference purposes. Two of the main credit reference agencies are Experian and Equifax . Any individual can obtain their credit history by writing to either agency (Equifax Plc, PO Box 3001, Glasgow, G81 2DC; Experian, Consumer Help Service, PO Box 8000, Nottingham, NG1 5GX) with a cheque for 2 pounds (UK) and a list of addresses for the past five years. Companies use these credit histories when individuals apply for HP agreements, credit cards, mortgages etc. People who find incorrect information held on file can ask for it to be amended. Experian signed an agreement in January with the Higher Education Statistics Agency in order for companies to validate the academic qualifications of interviewees by matching applicants' details with Experian's databases. Experian also resell their databases to direct marketing firms in order to better correlate campaigns with customers. A useful place to start looking for direct marketing information is the Direct Marketing Association . The site is divided into members and non-members' sections. The non- members' section deals with codes of practice, how-to guides, industry -self-regulation and events. This section also has details of mail and telephone preference services, where unwanted direct marketing mail and telephone calls can be reduced once an individuals' details have been entered on to the relevant registers. Mailing label information can be found at , a key site for those interested in direct marketing. Registration is required. An alternative view of direct marketing strategies can be found at Junkbusters . The site includes advice on how to minimise cold-calling companies, email spamming, banner adverts such as those provided by Doubleclick and cookies. Information is provided for a variety of operating systems and in a variety of languages. The site is updated regularly and free from advertising. Privacy Journal is an American subscription newsletter that has been active since 1974. The web site offers privacy tips and latest news, together with adverts for books by the author. The web site is unreliable to download, frequently returning blank pages. Personal information can be found in the Electoral Register and telephone directories. These can be searched online at 192.com . This site requires users to register (name, address and email address) and gives twenty free searches of the database per month. People not wishing to appear on the databases can complete and send a fax-back form (provided) at a cost of 1.50 pounds per minute. Information provided from searches includes the name, address, telephone number, email address and map location courtesy of Multimap , together with door-to-door directions to the desired location. One of the largest companies to compile and resell individuals' Internet histories is Doubleclick . This American company uses cookies to display advertising banners on web pages. It has over 100 million cookies scattered world wide, recording individuals' web browsing habits. Doubleclick also owns Abacus and its database of two billion consumer credit transactions, which has the potential to be used for data-matching purposes (i.e. recording who you are, what you have bought, sites you have visited and how often, etc). Individuals can opt-out of Doubleclick's advertising network using the information provided at . An unofficial site that reveals the type and amount of information given to Doubleclick by a web browser can be found here . Information on cookies can be found at Cookie Central , together with tips and software for managing and editing those cookies that are on your system. The site also provides news and analysis of how companies are using cookies and errors that arise in cookie codes. Web browsers frequently send out information to sites viewed without the knowledge of the user. Privacy.net offers the opportunity to discover the type and amount of information that a web browser broadcasts. The Gibson Research Organisation also offers a similar service, together with software that can keep information private. Some groups create software to demonstrate security weaknesses in computer operating systems. L0pht Heavy Industries are such a group, who have been regularly updating their web site with information about operating systems and patches for weaknesses discovered since 1992. Another group is The Cult of The Dead Cow (so named after the abattoir in which the leaders first met) who offer the program Back Orifice 2000 (BO2K), a Trojan program offering remote access to any Windows machine. An impartial opinion about the capabilities of BO2K can be found at Sophos along with details of many other Trojan programs and viruses. Other Trojan programs include Net Bus and Sub Seven and impartial information can be found at CERT , Symantec and Kumite , all of which are regularly updated. Aside from CCTV cameras, the road-using public are also surveilled by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) using speed cameras. UK GATSOs and American mirror at www.gatsos.com/> is an amateur site dedicated to providing the locations of GATSO speed cameras on a county-by-county basis . Users are encouraged to contribute information together with map references from Multimap, and the site is updated regularly. The site also provides a disclaimer as to the accuracy of the information and does not encourage users to break speed limits. Another unofficial site relating to LEA surveillance technologies is Chris Longhurst's Speed Trap Bible . This amateur site provides detailed information relating to the varieties of road traffic surveillance technology in use today, together with traffic legislation and subjective commentaries. The site also provides links to a mailing and discussion list about speed traps. From national to international surveillance, and the ECHELON network. No statement has ever been made in any Journal of Record by any alleged member of the network. All reports of this global telecommunications surveillance system are as a result of investigative journalism or an individual who has allegedly had contact with the technology or bureaucracy. An unsubstantiated FAQ can be found at the American Civil Liberties Union web site , part of the ECHELON Watch set of web pages. In November 1999, the BBC reported that Bill Blick, Inspector General of Intelligence and Security of Australia's Defence Signals Directorate admitted that Australia played a part in gathering telecommunications signals for the network. The European Union has an official interest in investigating ECHELON, having commissioned two reports; 'An Appraisal of the Technologies of Political Control' and 'Interception Capabilities 2000' . The latter report was written by Duncan Campbell, a journalist who has investigated privacy and surveillance issues at a Governmental level for more than twenty years. His original report on ECHELON was published in the New Statesman in 1988. Finally, the British Secret Service (MI5) and the Government Communication Headquarters both publish information regarding their responsibilities as defined under the Interception of Communications Act <1985>, the Security Service Act <1989> and the Intelligence Services Act <1994>. The last two Acts can be read in .pdf format on the MI5 web site. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Stephen Lafferty is currently completing an MSc. in Library and Information Science at UCE in Birmingham. His research interests include privacy rights, customer profiling, data mining, biometrics and online tracking technologies. He is happy to discuss issues relating to this article or researching other topics, and can be contacted at . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Respond to this article and chat to the author now at the Bar * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Access the entire archive of articles and issues > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Receive even more FREE business management advice - straight to your desktop - with our award winning monthly newsletter, 'Down to Business'. Providing handy hints and tips on all manner of business management and development; you can subscribe to this worthwhile FREE e-zine today by visiting: http://www.printhouse.co.uk/emaildtb or by sending a blank email to subscribe@printhouse.co.uk The 'Down to Business' newsletter, brought to you by PrintHouse Corporation. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [dt687] >>> FREE PINT PRESS COVERAGE <<< To read the latest coverage about Free Pint in the media http://www.freepint.co.uk/press.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT PORTAL http://www.freepint.co.uk/portal The launch of the Free Pint Portal was well received in the last issue of Free Pint and so we've added this new section to the newsletter to keep you informed of additions over the last two weeks. When researching an industry in a country we think it is useful to have links to trade associations. Directories like Yahoo! and Looksmart have already created pages of country specific industry trade associations and so we are creating direct links to the correct place in these and other directories rather than reinventing the wheel. We have therefore started by adding links to the trade association lists for most of our 86 industries in the UK, Canada and Australia. You can view these in one of two ways: either visit the country page and filter by industry, or visit the industry page and filter by country. If you have a particular country you'd like us to cover next then please let us know. There is a new sub-section "Reference" in the "Information and Libraries" industry which includes Web sites geared to reference enquiries and relevant to Today's Tipples from the Bar. The Internet Searching category also now allows you to search directly in a number of search engines as well as giving convenient access to all regional Yahoo!s. For most countries we have now added direct links to the current time, telephone directories and currency conversion tables. This is in addition to the regional company research and search engine links, flags, weather and country overview which already appear. We are building the Free Pint Portal to make business information research easier for you. Therefore please do make the most of this resource and suggest how we can improve and add to it as you would like to see it develop. To make this easy, each section has an "A" link for Additions and an "E" for Errors. We do therefore encourage you to tell us what you'd like to see added or if there are any mistakes. William Hann, Managing Editor > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Free Pint Portal gives you access to the full range of Free Pint content by subject industry and country as well as a large number of selected external resources at . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FORTHCOMING EVENTS http://www.freepint.co.uk/events Those hungry for conferences in August could visit the Americas Conference on Information Systems in California. Or they may find the 66th IFLA Council and General Conference in Jerusalem, Israel, to be more to their taste. If you feel like being more daring you could try the Extreme Markup Languages 2000 conference in Canada. The Search Engine Strategies event for August will be held in San Francisco and the International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining will be held in Boston, for the less extreme. Simon Collery, Content Developer Full details of these and many other forthcoming conferences and exhibitions in the online-information and Internet industry can be found on the Free Pint Events page . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT GOLD This time last year we were honoured with a visit from supersearcher Reva Basch, who was interviewed by supersearcher Marylaine Block. These should be familiar names to information professionals of all kinds. And there was an article on information overload, something I'm sure we who wallow in information out of choice would never suffer from. * Free Pint No.44, 5th August 1999 "Interview: Reva Basch, Super Searcher" and "How will we survive Information Overload?" . This time two years ago we had an article about finding trade associations on the Web and what information such sites can give us. We also had one about the need for news aggregation, examining the state of the art news aggregation sites. * Free Pint No.20, 6th August 1998 "Trade Associations on the Web" and "The Need For News Aggregation" . Simon Collery, Content Developer > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES [Provisional] * Business Information Portals * Film Industry * * Aeronautics and aerospace science and technology * * UK Tax Resources on the Web * Reflexology Sources * Patents * * European Document Delivery * Geology * ICQ * * Knowledge Management * Mental Health Sources * If you have a suggestion for an article topic or would like to write for Free Pint then please contact me or view the guidelines for authors on the Web site at . Rex Cooke, Editor > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Thank you for reading today's Free Pint and we hope you enjoyed it. 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