Traffic cameras used to harass and limit movement of peaceful protestors
[From Traffic cameras used to harass and limit movement of peaceful protestors - Boing Boing]
One of the concerns about surveillance cameras is the potential for government abuse. One form of abuse is using the cameras to target a political group. A historical example is the Red Squad. In this article, it claims the police added vehicles to a watch list because they attended a political protest. Once added to the watch list, a vehicle is going to be pulled over and searched. ANPR (license plate recognition) technology is used to identify a vehicle.
I hope the facts are wrong in this story. But its a chilling example of how surveillance systems can impinge on the freedom of citizens.
And, of course, police officers are less than discriminating about who they add to this list. For example, “Catt, 50, and her 84-year-old father, John” were added to the list because a police officer noticed their van at three protest demonstrations. And now Catt and John get pulled over by the police and searched as terrorists.
. . .
Officers have been told they can place “markers” against the vehicles of anyone who attends demonstrations using the national ANPR data centre in Hendon, north London, which stores information on car journeys for up to five years.
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