Automatic Number Plate Recognition in the UK
Spyblog has a article concerning Automatic Number Plate Recognition:
The technology is rapidly expanding technology amongst the 43 or so UK Police Forces.
John Lettice has a good article in The Register which cites a Police Information technology Organisation web page which lists the history of ANPR schemes.
Given the 25 to 30 million vehicles on the roads, it makes sense to use this sort of technology to try to clamp down on stolen or untaxed vehicles.
The use of mobile or fixed CCTV camera systems combined with a roadside police intercept team to conduct legal “stops and searches” of vehicles, where the grounds of “reasonable suspicion” have been provided by the ANPR lookup on the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency and Police Intelligence databases, should be a proportionate use of the technology and is to be welcomed.
However, we really do have serious concerns about using ANPR for “intelligence” rather than for “reasonable suspicion” stops and searches.
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