Fears over privacy as police expand surveillance project (UK)

[inanna]

Source: UK Guardian

The police are to expand a car surveillance operation that will allow them to record and store details of millions of daily journeys for up to five years, the Guardian has learned.

A national network of roadside cameras will be able to "read" 50m licence plates a day, enabling officers to reconstruct the journeys of motorists.

Police have been encouraged to "fully and strategically exploit" the database, which is already recording the whereabouts of 10 million drivers a day, during investigations ranging from counter-terrorism to low-level crime.

But it has raised concerns from civil rights campaigners, who question whether the details should be kept for so long, and want clearer guidance on who might have access to the material.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/sep/15/civilliberties.police

[bemildred]

1. "Big Brother is watching!" nt

[annabanana]

2. Aha!. . The hundreds and hundreds of cameras covering all

the streets & street corners didn't freak them out.. but increased FOCUS and longer storage are the tipping points?

Oi Guv'ner

[AndyTiedye]

3. I Predict the UK Will See A Lot More of This:

http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm

[Lars39]

4. "There's something terribly wrong with this nation."