ENGLAND New facial-recognition system at King's Cross is to be investigated by the Lords

IT reporter(wp+EBC):::

The facial-recognition system at King's Cross is to be investigated by the ENGLAND  data-protection watchdog.

Media exposure of live facial recognition at the site prompted the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to look into how it was being used.

The ICO will inspect the technology in place and how it is operated to ensure it does not break data protection laws.

The regulator said it was "deeply concerned" about the growing use of facial-recognition technology.The Financial Times was the first to report a live face-scanning system was being used across the 67-acre (0.3-sq-km) site around King's Cross station in London.

Developer Argent said it used the technology to "ensure public safety" and it was just one of "a number of detection and tracking methods" in place at the site.

But the use of cameras and databases to work out who is passing through and using the site has proved controversial.

So far, Argent has not said how long it has been using facial-recognition cameras, what is the legal basis for their use, or what systems it has in place to protect the data it collects.

In its statement, the ICO said: "Scanning people's faces as they lawfully go about their daily lives, in order to identify them, is a potential threat to privacy that should concern us all."

The regulator said it was keen to ensure that King's Cross developer was using the technology in accordance with UK laws governing the use of data.

• King's Cross developer quizzed on face recognition
• Facial recognition use prompts call for new laws

"Put simply, any organisations wanting to use facial recognition technology must comply with the law - and they must do so in a fair, transparent and accountable way," said the ICO.

It must have documented how and why it believed its use of the technology was legal, proportionate and justified, it added.

Argent has not yet responded to a request for comment by BBC News.

The mayor of London is also quizzing developer Argent about its use of facial-recognition systems.

Sadiq Khan wrote to the company and said there was "serious and widespread concern" about the legality of facial recognition.

ENGLISH retailers call for business rates freeze

Business reporter(wp+reuters):::
More than 50 British retailers, including Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L), Marks & Spencer (MKS.L), Asda (WMT.N) and Morrisons (MRW.L) have urged the government to freeze business rates to help out the struggling sector.In a letter to the new finance minister Sajid Javid, published on Tuesday, the retailers called on the government to take action to “fix the broken business rates system”.

Business rates are taxes to help pay for local services, charged on most commercial properties, including shops, warehouses, pubs, cafes and restaurants. They are currently calculated according to the rental value of properties and have an annual inflationary uplift or multiplier.

The letter asks for a freeze in the business rates multiplier to stop another tax rise.

The retailers’ letter was coordinated by lobby group, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which has for years complained the current system is unfair.It points out that the industry is the largest private sector employer in Britain, employing about three million people. While it accounts for 5% of the UK economy, it is burdened with 10% of all business taxes, and 25% of business rates.

“This disparity is damaging our high streets and harming the communities they support,” said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.

The letter comes a day after BRC-Springboard data showed 10.3% of shops in Britain were vacant, the highest rate in four years, adding to the growing gloom in the sector.Another survey from the BRC published earlier this month showed British retailers reported the weakest July sales growth since records began.

Last month new prime minister Boris Johnson announced a 3.6 billion pound fund to support town centres.

Javid is due to set out his spending for the 2020-21 financial year next month.

EDITORIAL:::ENGLAND BUSINESS REFORM ACT 2019

ENGLAND ALL TYPES OF EXPORT&IMPORT SHOULD STOP UNTIL NEXT ORDER FOR FOOD&HEALTH &DRESS SAFETY FROM POISONED FOODS(BLACK MAGIC!!!) FROM EXTERNAL IMPORTED COUNTRIES..AS WELL ALL PROUDCT SHOULD PRODUCE THEMSELVES IN WITH HIGHEST PRIORITY BESIS FOR INTERNAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT FOR THEIR VERY BEST CITIZENS ...

ALL FACILITIES SHOULD GIVEN VERY BEST TRACK ORIENTED PEOPLE FROM ORIGINAL ENGLISH PEOPLE THOUSE ARE PROVED VERY BEST FOR THEIR COUNTRY FOR ANY TYPES OF BUSINESS,FOODS PRODUCTION,DRESSES AND ANY IMPORTANT RELATED PRODUCTS REQUIRE HIGHLY FOR FELLOW CITIZENS(VERY SCREENED ORIGINAL CHAKED FOR LAST 2000 YRS HISTORY)

EDITORIAL:::HOIUSE OF LOARDS REFORM ACT VERY STRICT &SCREENED WAY

ENGLAND Highest authourity(Very much Independent Authourity) should restrictedly maintain its member only from original ENGLAND Genius Fellow&Honarable citizens who contribute with highest secrifice for country and its honarable people whome track record very well from born to running for better and very best ENGLAND FUTURE CITIZENS and safer ENGLAND

Engineer,Scientist,Professor,Journalist,Creative people may select for new loards member and its adminstrative people with highest concern from original very screened English fellow citizens(must not fake people).....

EDITORIAL:::ENGLAND All Kind of Politics Ban and Lower parliament House of commons also ban should effect december 2019

for better ENGLAND best future all types of political activity ban within december 2019 as well house of commons ban in same day should permited by House of Loards Lower parliament&Odd unnessecery politics must ban immedietly...as well ENGLAND oversease territorries should effect the Law

ENGLAND Law Enforcment Authority freeze more than 100 million pounds in accounts on bribery fears

Banking crime reporter(wp+reuters):::British police have frozen eight bank accounts containing a total of more than 100 million pounds, which is suspected to have derived from bribery and corruption overseas.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday a London court had approved the Account Freezing Orders (AFOs), the largest granted to date, and that police would recover the funds if investigators proved it had been intended for unlawful use.

The NCA said it could not provide any details that could identify individuals related to the accounts.

AFOs and Unexplained Wealth Orders, that allow police to freeze assets until property owners account for their wealth, are part of a toolbox introduced last year to help stem a tide of suspected corrupt cash washing through the country.

London has long attracted corrupt foreign money, especially from Russia, Nigeria, Pakistan, former Soviet states and Asia, and the NCA estimates that around 100 billion pounds of dirty money is moved through or into Britain each year.

“The NCA is ... seeking to ... convince the NCA’s foreign counterparts that even if they cannot prosecute untouchable oligarchs at home, if they have assets here, these can be attacked,” said David Corker, a partner at law firm Corker Binning.

ENGLAND offers £25 million contract to maintain drug supply after Brexit

Health reporter(reuters+wp):::

Britain is asking logistics providers to bid for a 25 million pound express freight contract to deliver medicines into the country on a daily basis after it has left the European Union on Oct. 31.

The Department for Health and Social Care said the contract would form part of its contingency plans to deal with any complications that stem from Britain’s departure from the world’s biggest trading bloc.

The service is intended to deliver small parcels of medicines or medical products on a 24-hour basis, with an additional provision to move larger pallets carrying goods on a two-to-four day basis.

“I want to ensure that when we leave the EU at the end of October, all appropriate steps have been taken to ensure frontline services are fully prepared,” health minister Chris Skidmore said in a statement.

The contract will run for 12 months, with a possible further 12-month extension. The department has already sought to help companies build up buffer stocks of medicines and procured additional warehouse space.

The British government was embarrassed earlier this year after it signed a 14 million pound contract with a company to provide extra ferries in the event of a no-deal Brexit, even though the company did not have any ships. It later scrapped that contract.