British Government to Monitor All Vehicles

[mustang84]

From 2006 Britain will be the first country where every journey by every car will be monitored

Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years.

Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years.

The network will incorporate thousands of existing CCTV cameras which are being converted to read number plates automatically night and day to provide 24/7 coverage of all motorways and main roads, as well as towns, cities, ports and petrol-station forecourts.

By next March a central database installed alongside the Police National Computer in Hendon, north London, will store the details of 35 million number-plate "reads" per day. These will include time, date and precise location, with camera sites monitored by global positioning satellites.

Already there are plans to extend the database by increasing the storage period to five years and by linking thousands of additional cameras so that details of up to 100 million number plates can be fed each day into the central databank.

The new national surveillance network for tracking car journeys, which has taken more than 25 years to develop, is only the beginning of plans to monitor the movements of all British citizens. The Home Office Scientific Development Branch in Hertfordshire is already working on ways of automatically recognising human faces by computer, which many people would see as truly introducing the prospect of Orwellian street surveillance, where our every move is recorded and stored by machines.

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It looks like "1984" is becoming a reality in some parts of the world. Does anyone else think that some governments are using the terrorism card as an excuse to infringe on the public's privacy? How many years will it be before each of our homes has a telescreen and black helicopters are circling about?

[sciguy_0504]

I do think it's overkill (somewhat) but I don't know. I don't think I'd care because 1) I'm not doing or planning to do anything wrong), 2) it'll help with accident investigations (insurance), 3) help catch criminals and 4) help stop crime (kidnappings, etc). Plus, it really is only a matter of time before cars start blowing up in our countries (the next phase of the fanatics' war) so they do have a terrorism excuse, too. How this will help stop car bombings, I'm not sure. I wonder if people will care more about it if they start happening? We all pass dozens of cameras as we go about our daily activities. At the bank, in line at the store, on the highway, etc. Of course, it's not as bad in the U.S./Canada as it is in Britain. I think London has a camera on literally every street corner. Edit: spelling. Edited December 23, 2005 by sciguy_0504

[pow]

I really don't mind, as long as they're not speed cameras. Normal CCTVs are okay, as long as I trust the people behind them. Britain has been pretty tough on terrorism, and they seem experienced because ofthe IRA and everything.

[bobo]

It's a matter of time before it happens in this country, with or without our knowledge.

[mustang84]

We all pass dozens of cameras as we go about our daily activities.  At the bank, in line at the store, on the highway, etc.

[post="62614"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

But the difference with those cameras is that the information isn't fed into a central database. The footage from the camera at your local bank or convience store can be retrieved by the police if needed, but ultimately the information is in the hands of the establishment owner who would only call upon it when a violation of the law has occured. With this other centralized system, the information is fed directly into the hands of the few where it is stored and categorized. If I lived in Britain, I would be uneasy about a select few that had access to where I ate, shopped, traveled on the weekends, etc. I'm all for living in a safer world, but I'm not so paranoid that I want to live with Big Brother spying on me, my family, my friends, my neighbors, and my fellow citizens. Ultimately, someone higher up will abuse that power.

[razoredge]

Yes thats total bullshit. Its a way of catagorizing individuals. If you ever do get in trouble it will be used against you for any and all bad habits. We already have this going on in NY at toll booths and they did have cameras for sppeding in some ares Im not sure what the current status of that is. I know of someone that was sent a letter becasue the times on there NYS Thruway tickets indicated that they got from on booth to exit booth way to fast. I beleive this is part of the goal with Onstar and GPS tracking as well. Im also suspect of Geico, sorry if thats not spelled right. I called them for an insurance estimate years ago and the questions they were asking me had nothing to do with driving or road and car use. I felt it was a way of compiling information to put in a data base. The price they did give me was way out of touch so I dont see how they are getting the businees to pay for the expensive add campaigne that they have been running frequently for years and years. Now here at one store chain we need to sign a list when we buy kerosene for heating. I dont trust any of this.

[Enzora]

I don't think I'd care because 1) I'm not doing or planning to do anything wrong),

[post="62614"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Innocence has never guaranteed that your rights won't be infringed upon.

[sciguy_0504]

Innocence has never guaranteed that your rights won't be infringed upon.

[post="62678"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

How else will my rights be infringed upon? I find it hard to believe that having your picture taken or appearing on video is a violation of your rights. Is it my right to privacy to pick a booger or something?

[CARBIZ]

And who is going to decide when you've done something wrong? You are taking the assumption that all governments now (and in the future) are benign. Sure, maybe you don't mind today, but what about 5 years from now when they start putting them in the workplace, too? The government never backs off once they've gotten a new power; they will always demand more. Speeding laws are a relatively innocuous example. Mostly everyone agrees that 60 mph (100 km/hr up here) is silly for many of the roads they are posted on; however, as long as it is nothing more than a thinly disguised tax most of us don't care enough to protest. Who on this Board can claim they have never EVER broken a law? Speeding? Ever smoked a joint? Did you drink before you were of age? Did you drop acid a few times in college? Ever had sex in a public space? Did you ever once screw up and thank God (or whomever) that you got away with it and vowed never to do it again? Sigh. I believe Big Brother (or at least a version like in the movie Minority Report) is inevitable. Although I can see a lot of good coming of it, I have been on the s**tty end of the stick just enough times (being gay and up against regressive laws all my life!) with the police to know that I don't like the idea of ANY government knowing where my car is going to be at all times. YOU SHOULD BE WARY TOO.

[Sixty8panther]

Holy F***ing shit. Well that settles that. If I had at some point for some reason had an inclination to move to GB I'll NEVER live there now. The UK really is becoming our worst nightmare of Big Brother. Time to get Paranoid my Anglo-Saxon friends.

[balthazar]

Stories like this (it's not a joke, right?) always remind of the described lifestyle of the Unibomber... and how he may have been onto something. I have no desire to have my every move filmed & databanked, and I have no desire to PAY for that, either.

[VenSeattle]

I guess this will encourage dishonest people to use public transport...

[pow]

I guess this will encourage dishonest people to use public transport...

[post="62879"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Which are already heavily monitored... that's how they learned the identities of the London underground bombers. This extends it to the public roads, not inside your home or anything.

[razoredge]

The only laws I have little regard for are some traffic laws, like the dead stop, or speed limits and I think that is what this is about. MONEY, you would be getting tickets in the mail and you couldnt fight them because they would have a video or stored data as proof. It sure is alot of wasted money when there is far more important battles in socioty to fight. They are already well aware of terriorists and what they are up too. I dont think this has as much to do with that as they are claiming. Once your SS # is tainted today you are done, history, out of the game, everything is background checks on your SS. They could look back 20 years and find something stupid you did in late teens or early twenties. Job application ? Right straight into the trash can, your done. Its the worst form of segregation and ethnic cleansing imaginable, its one thats going on and you dont even know it. Data compiled client catagorized future determined and mapped

[Sixty8panther]

I have no desire to have my every move filmed & databanked, and I have no desire to PAY for that, either.

[post="62867"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Excellent point. This has to be a serious chunk of change.



I'd love to live "off the grid". Just have some nice buit not extravagant house up in the woods of Vermont or Maine. Own 170 acres and a warehouse full of used cars. I'd have to have the internet though... :P