Spy Cameras Curbed

The new Home Secretary, Theresa May, has made a promising start on behalf of persecuted motorists by insisting that police speed cameras be brought under much tighter regulation.

The UK's 4,000 Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras currently record some 10 million images every day. To date, it has accumulated nearly 8 billion records in its database.

Since the cameras are directed at oncoming vehicles, they record not only the number plate but also the images of the driver and any front passenger present. It is this aspect which has for some time concerned civil liberties campaigners.

The government are to consider the timescale for holding records, which is currently two years. The Home Secretary is demanding greater accountability for the database and in-built safeguards governing the use of the information gathered.

The concerns were highlighted recently by the case of 72 cameras in Birmingham, which were removed after it was learned that they were, in fact, funded by anti-terrorist agencies and had no real road safety purpose whatsoever.

Minister, James Brokenshire, considers that changes to the ways in which ANPR is employed are essential to restore public confidence.

"Both CCTV and ANPR can be essential tools in combating crime," he says. "But the growth in their use has been outside of a suitable governance regime.".

It has been proposed that the police should be obligated to log the information gathered and be clear as to the extent and the location of the cameras.

This should please groups like Big Brother Watch, who describe the present arrangements as, "an unnecessary and indiscriminate invasion of privacy."

The police remain defensive about ANPR, insisting that the cameras are directly responsible for the apprehension and successful prosecution of many burglars, robbers and drug dealers and that they are not targeted at innocent law-abiding motorists.

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