• state databases of our information are growing, yet our access to public information is being eroded,
• copyright is becoming more restrictive, making a criminal out of a bedroom DJ who creates a mashup of old songs,
• the songs, films, phones and hardware we buy are so crippled with copy protection and DRM that we sometimes can’t even use the damn things legally.

None of this is necessarily the government’s fault. In the absence of their own technical knowledge, legislators regularly turn to Big Business for advice. Unfortunately, some of Big Business (not all) profits by keeping these very restrictions in place. The customer, the end user, the public misses out.

The Open Rights Group was set up as the voice of the other side of the debate. They don’t want anarchy and piracy on the open internet seas; just a chance to protect civil liberties wherever they are threatened by the poor implementation and regulation of digital technology.

Of course, ORG is a volunteer organisation and needs funds. As they’re on a big recruitment drive, they’ve asked supporters to help spread the word: so, without wishing to be too brazen, I do recommend you check them out if you’re not familiar with them, and maybe consider whether you could support the consumer side of an often under-reported and one-sided debate.

Did we really need any more convincing that a national ID database is a bad idea? Having worked in government and seen some of the extraordinary care some departments take over Data Protection, today’s breach is astonishing. I think this is the final straw that gets me signing up to No2ID tomorrow.

• Secure passwords keep you safer (Wired) – less trivial than the title suggests. It’s inspired me to kickstart the depressingly large task of updating all mine.
• So you want to be an Interaction Designer 2006? – Dan Saffer updates an important 2001 article.
• Thinking Machine – fascinating real-time visualisation of how a chess program looks ahead. Weak player, but great idea.
• Catfishing – a Wikipedia guessing game. I had a similar idea myself recently, but it turns out someone beat me to it. Maybe next time!